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#97bbcb

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

RGB
151, 187, 203
HSL
199°, 33%, 69%
CMYK
26, 8, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4643

At a glance

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

Hex
#97bbcb
Hue
199°
cyan
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4643
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.29:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 7.3
Where it sits
Hue199° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness69%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% cool

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

Every format

HEX#97bbcb
RGBrgb(151, 187, 203)
HSLhsl(199, 33%, 69%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 8%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(73.8 -8.4 -12.0)
LCHlch(73.8 14.7 235.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.771 0.045 226.7)
Decimal9944011
Display P3color(display-p3 0.592 0.733 0.796)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #97bbcb;
background-color: #97bbcb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#97bbcb] bg-[#97bbcb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #97bbcb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.592, green: 0.733, blue: 0.796)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#97bbcb")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF97BBCB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 187, 151)

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 #97bbcb · 10.29:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.04:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.29:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #97bbcb as text scores 2.04:1 on white and 10.29:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#97bbcb on white: 2.04:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#97bbcb on black: 10.29:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B2B9CC
deuteranopia · #ABB3CB
tritanopia · #87C0C0

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #97bbcb 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.

#F5F8F9
#ECF1F4
#D4E2E8
#B4CEDA
#97bbcb
#699DB4
#528AA3
#447388
#365C6D
#2A4450
#1B2B32
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2B32
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F8F9;
  --brand-100: #ECF1F4;
  --brand-200: #D4E2E8;
  --brand-300: #B4CEDA;
  --brand-400: #97bbcb;
  --brand-500: #699DB4;
  --brand-600: #528AA3;
  --brand-700: #447388;
  --brand-800: #365C6D;
  --brand-900: #2A4450;
  --brand-950: #1B2B32;
  --brand: #97bbcb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #97bbcb

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#F5F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9DBE4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4D8199
Captions on the surface
Accent#8C4440
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B4855
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF4F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #97bbcb

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#CBA797
Analogous left#97CBC1
Analogous right#97A1CB
Split-complement 1#CB97A1
Split-complement 2#CBC197
Triadic 1#CB97BB
Triadic 2#BBCB97
Tetradic#C197CB

RGB percentages

Red59.2%
Green73.3%
Blue79.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.6%
Magenta7.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Color previews

#97bbcb text on a black background

contrast 10.29:1

Card sample

#97bbcb text on a white background

contrast 2.04:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(151, 187, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(151, 187, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #97bbcb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #97bbcb, #9798CB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #97bbcb

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#97bbcb in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

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

#97bbcb, answered

What color is #97bbcb?

#97bbcb is a light soft cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 199° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #97bbcb?

rgb(151, 187, 203) — 151 red, 187 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 59.2% / 73.3% / 79.6% by channel.

Is #97bbcb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4643 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 10.29:1.

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

Black. It scores 10.29:1 against #97bbcb, versus 2.04:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #97bbcb?

#CBA797 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CB97A1 and #CBC197, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #97bbcb?

For interface work: #F5F8FA as the surface, #C9DBE4 for borders, #4D8199 for secondary text, #8C4440 as an accent and #2B4855 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #97CBC1 and #97A1CB stays calm, while #CBA797 is the loudest partner.

What is #97bbcb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 8%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #97bbcb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #97CBC8; nudged cooler, #95B2CD.

Work with #97bbcb in the Color Lab