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blue · cool

#97abbd

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Light Steel Blue

Token name suggestion: Linen Sapphire

RGB
151, 171, 189
HSL
208°, 22%, 67%
CMYK
20, 10, 0, 26
Luminance
0.3938

#97abbd is a light soft blue, 208° on the wheel and 82/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.88:1). As text it scores 2.37:1 on white — use #5C7992 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(208 22% 67%)rgb(151 171 189)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #97abbd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#97abbd
Hue
208°
blue
Saturation
22%
soft
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3938
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
82/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.88:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 7.7
Chroma
11.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.732
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 15.1
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue208° of 360°
Saturation22%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #97abbd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool82% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red17%
Green74%
Blue9%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#97abbd
HEX (8-digit)#97abbdff
RGBrgb(151, 171, 189)
RGBArgba(151, 171, 189, 1)
HSLhsl(208, 22%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(208, 20%, 74%)
HWBhwb(208 59% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(20%, 10%, 0%, 26%)
LABlab(69.0 -3.0 -11.5)
LCHlch(69.0 11.9 255.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.732 0.034 245.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.51, 39.38, 53.81)
Decimal9939901
Display P3color(display-p3 0.592 0.671 0.741)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #97abbd;
background-color: #97abbd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #97abbd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#97abbd] bg-[#97abbd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #97abbd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.592, green: 0.671, blue: 0.741)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.592, green: 0.671, blue: 0.741, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#97ABBD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF97ABBD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF97ABBD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(189, 171, 151)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(151, 171, 189)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(151, 171, 189)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 151, 171, 189)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5922f, 0.6706f, 0.7412f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{151,171,189}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #97abbd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #97abbd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#31414E, #DAE1E7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #97abbd h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #EDF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D7DEE4;
  --brand-300: #BAC8D3;
  --brand-400: #97abbd;
  --brand-500: #7690A8;
  --brand-600: #5F7C96;
  --brand-700: #4F677D;
  --brand-800: #3F5364;
  --brand-900: #313E4A;
  --brand-950: #1E272E;
  --brand: #97abbd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CDD7DF;
  --brand-hover: #8199AF;
  --brand-pressed: #6B88A1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161C22;
    --brand-ink: #DAE1E7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#EDF0F2',
        200: '#D7DEE4',
        300: '#BAC8D3',
        400: '#97abbd',
        500: '#7690A8',
        600: '#5F7C96',
        700: '#4F677D',
        800: '#3F5364',
        900: '#313E4A',
        950: '#1E272E',
        DEFAULT: '#97abbd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #EDF0F2,
  '200': #D7DEE4,
  '300': #BAC8D3,
  '400': #97abbd,
  '500': #7690A8,
  '600': #5F7C96,
  '700': #4F677D,
  '800': #3F5364,
  '900': #313E4A,
  '950': #1E272E,
);
$brand-base: #97abbd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7DEE4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BAC8D3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#97abbd", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7690A8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5F7C96", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4F677D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3F5364", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#313E4A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E272E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #97abbd · 8.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.37:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #97abbd as text scores 2.37:1 on white and 8.88:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #31414E at 4.45:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#5C7992 · 4.56:1
AA on white−20% L
#5C7992
The quick fox
#455A6C · 7.16:1
AAA on white−32% L
#455A6C
The quick fox
#97abbd · 8.88:1
AA on blackalready passes
#97abbd
The quick fox
#97abbd · 8.88:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#97abbd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7E97AD is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#97abbd on white: 2.37:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#97abbd on black: 8.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #97abbd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #97abbd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.37:1AaAa
Slate 502.26:1AaAa
Slate 1002.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.92:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.08:1AaAa
Slate 5002.01:1AaAa
Slate 6003.20:1AaAa
Slate 7004.38:1AaAa
Slate 8006.18:1AaAa
Slate 9007.55:1AaAa
Black8.88:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A4ABBE
deuteranopia · #9FA7BD
tritanopia · #8DAFB1

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #97abbd is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F7F9
#EDF0F2
#D7DEE4
#BAC8D3
#97abbd
#7690A8
#5F7C96
#4F677D
#3F5364
#313E4A
#1E272E
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1E272EText step on white = 700
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.009 245.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 245.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.021 245.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.027 245.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.032 245.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.034 245.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.034 245.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.032 245.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.029 245.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.024 245.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 245.4);
}

Colors that work with #97abbd

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F6F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CDD7DF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#59748C
Captions on the surface
Accent#81574B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#31414E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF2F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161C22
Dark-mode background
Hover#8199AF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6B88A1
Two steps down
Disabled#DCE3E9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9CB6CC
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #97abbd

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #31414E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7E97AD

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight33/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#BDA997
Analogous left#97BDBC
Analogous right#9798BD
Split-complement 1#BD9798
Split-complement 2#BDBC97
Triadic 1#BD97AB
Triadic 2#ABBD97
Tetradic#BC97BD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°208°

#97abbd sits at 208°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.2%
Green67.1%
Blue74.1%
R · 0–255
151
0x97
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
189
0xbd

CMYK percentages

Cyan20.1%
Magenta9.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)25.9%

Total ink coverage is 56%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#97abbd text on a black background

contrast 8.88:1

Card sample

#97abbd text on a white background

contrast 2.37:1

Card sample

#97abbd on grey

2.16:1

#97abbd on its own surface

2.21:1

#97abbd on its dark surface

7.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #97abbd;
Background color
Panel with #97abbd background
background-color: #97abbd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #97abbd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(151, 171, 189, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(151, 171, 189, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #97abbd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #97abbd, #9C97BD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #97abbd, #A697BD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #97abbd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #97abbd;
caret-color: #97abbd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #97abbd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF2F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #97abbd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#97abbd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #97abbd over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(151, 171, 189, 0.5)
rgb(151 171 189 / 50%)
#97abbd80
hsl(208 22% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #97abbd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#97abbd1a#F5F7F8
20%#97abbd33#EAEEF2
40%#97abbd66#D5DDE5
60%#97abbd99#C1CDD7
80%#97abbdcc#ACBCCA

Gradients from #97abbd

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #BDC9D5, #97abbd 45%, #31414E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #97abbd, #8E84B1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #97abbd, #BDA997);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CFD8E1 0%, #97abbd 45%, #31414E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B6D1CE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ACAAC9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #31414E 0%, transparent 65%), #97abbd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #97abbd

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#97abbd in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 8.88:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#97abbd, answered

What color is #97abbd?

#97abbd is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 208° on the hue wheel with 22% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #97abbd?

rgb(151, 171, 189) — 151 red, 171 green and 189 blue out of 255, or 59.2% / 67.1% / 74.1% by channel.

What is #97abbd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(208, 22%, 67%) and hsv(208, 20%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #97abbd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3938 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #97abbd?

Black. It scores 8.88:1 against #97abbd, versus 2.37:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #97abbd accessible on a white background?

#97abbd on white scores 2.37:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5C7992 to reach 4.5:1, or #455A6C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #97abbd?

#BDA997 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BD9798 and #BDBC97, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #97abbd?

For interface work: #F6F7F9 as the surface, #CDD7DF for borders, #59748C for secondary text, #81574B as an accent and #31414E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #97BDBC and #9798BD stays calm, while #BDA997 is the loudest partner.

What is #97abbd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(20%, 10%, 0%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #97abbd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 82 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #979DBD; nudged cooler, #869CB5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #97abbd?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 15.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #97abbd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #97abbd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#97abbd] or text-[#97abbd], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #97abbd with 50% opacity?

rgba(151, 171, 189, 0.5), or #97abbd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CBD5DE; over black, #4C565F.

Is #97abbd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 12.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #97abbd mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #97abbd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BDC9D5, #97abbd 45%, #31414E). For more colour, a short hue run to #8E84B1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #97abbd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #97abbd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.