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cyan · cool

#97dcec

a light, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue

Token name suggestion: Morning Lagoon

RGB
151, 220, 236
HSL
191°, 69%, 76%
CMYK
36, 7, 0, 8
Luminance
0.6382

#97dcec is a light vivid cyan, 191° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.76:1). As text it scores 1.53:1 on white — use #1B7F96 instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(191 69% 76%)rgb(151 220 236)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#97dcec
Hue
191°
cyan
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6382
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.76:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 4.6
Chroma
23.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.854
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 13
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue191° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

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

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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
Red10%
Green80%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#97dcec
HEX (8-digit)#97dcecff
RGBrgb(151, 220, 236)
RGBArgba(151, 220, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(191, 69%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(191, 36%, 93%)
HWBhwb(191 59% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(36%, 7%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(83.9 -17.7 -14.7)
LCHlch(83.9 23.0 219.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.854 0.072 213.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.49, 63.82, 88.84)
Decimal9952492
Display P3color(display-p3 0.592 0.863 0.925)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #97dcec;
background-color: #97dcec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #97dcec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#97dcec] bg-[#97dcec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #97dcec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.592, green: 0.863, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.592, green: 0.863, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#97DCEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF97DCEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF97DCEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 220, 151)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(151, 220, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(151, 220, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 151, 220, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5922f, 0.8627f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{151,220,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #97dcec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #97dcec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#145B6C, #D3E9EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #97dcec 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: #F3FAFB;
  --brand-100: #E7F5F8;
  --brand-200: #CAEAF2;
  --brand-300: #97dcec;
  --brand-400: #71CFE5;
  --brand-500: #41BFDC;
  --brand-600: #26AFCF;
  --brand-700: #2092AC;
  --brand-800: #19758A;
  --brand-900: #165564;
  --brand-950: #0E353F;
  --brand: #97dcec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E4ED;
  --brand-hover: #79D2E6;
  --brand-pressed: #5BC8E1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142124;
    --brand-ink: #D3E9EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FAFB',
        100: '#E7F5F8',
        200: '#CAEAF2',
        300: '#97dcec',
        400: '#71CFE5',
        500: '#41BFDC',
        600: '#26AFCF',
        700: '#2092AC',
        800: '#19758A',
        900: '#165564',
        950: '#0E353F',
        DEFAULT: '#97dcec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FAFB,
  '100': #E7F5F8,
  '200': #CAEAF2,
  '300': #97dcec,
  '400': #71CFE5,
  '500': #41BFDC,
  '600': #26AFCF,
  '700': #2092AC,
  '800': #19758A,
  '900': #165564,
  '950': #0E353F,
);
$brand-base: #97dcec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FAFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F5F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CAEAF2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#97dcec", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#71CFE5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#41BFDC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#26AFCF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2092AC", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#19758A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#165564", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E353F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #97dcec · 13.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #97dcec as text scores 1.53:1 on white and 13.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #145B6C at 5.02:1.

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
#1B7F96 · 4.64:1
AA on white−41% L
#1B7F96
The quick fox
#145E70 · 7.33:1
AAA on white−50% L
#145E70
The quick fox
#97dcec · 13.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#97dcec
The quick fox
#97dcec · 13.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#97dcec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #23A0BD 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
#97dcec on white: 1.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#97dcec on black: 13.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.53:1AaAa
Slate 501.46:1AaAa
Slate 1001.39:1AaAa
Slate 2001.24:1AaAa
Slate 3001.03:1AaAa
Slate 4001.68:1AaAa
Slate 5003.12:1AaAa
Slate 6004.97:1AaAa
Slate 7006.79:1AaAa
Slate 8009.59:1AaAa
Slate 90011.70:1AaAa
Black13.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D0D7ED
deuteranopia · #C2CDEC
tritanopia · #77E3E1

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. #97dcec is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FAFB
#E7F5F8
#CAEAF2
#97dcec
#71CFE5
#41BFDC
#26AFCF
#2092AC
#19758A
#165564
#0E353F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3FAFBDarkest = 950 · #0E353FText step on white = 800
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 0.018 213.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 213.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 213.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.056 213.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 213.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 213.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 213.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 213.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 213.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 213.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 213.8);
}

Colors that work with #97dcec

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E4ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8C9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B01C25
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#145B6C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F8FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
Hover#79D2E6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5BC8E1
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A3E5F4
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 #97dcec

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #145B6C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #23A0BD

Meaning and mood

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

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#ECA797
Analogous left#97ECD2
Analogous right#97B2EC
Split-complement 1#EC97B2
Split-complement 2#ECD297
Triadic 1#EC97DC
Triadic 2#DCEC97
Tetradic#D297EC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°191°

#97dcec sits at 191°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.2%
Green86.3%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
151
0x97
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan36.0%
Magenta6.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 50%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#97dcec text on a black background

contrast 13.76:1

Card sample

#97dcec text on a white background

contrast 1.53:1

Card sample

#97dcec on grey

1.39:1

#97dcec on its own surface

1.44:1

#97dcec on its dark surface

10.81:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(151, 220, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(151, 220, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #97dcec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #97dcec, #97A3EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #97dcec, #A097EC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #97dcec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #97dcec;
caret-color: #97dcec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #97dcec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F8FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #97dcec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#97dcec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #97dcec 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, 220, 236, 0.5)
rgb(151 220 236 / 50%)
#97dcec80
hsl(191 69% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #97dcec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#97dcec1a#F5FCFD
20%#97dcec33#EAF8FB
40%#97dcec66#D5F1F7
60%#97dcec99#C1EAF4
80%#97dceccc#ACE3F0

Gradients from #97dcec

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, #CBEDF5, #97dcec 45%, #145B6C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #97dcec, #7D84E7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #97dcec, #ECA797);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E5F6FA 0%, #97dcec 45%, #145B6C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C2F4E0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B1C0F1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #145B6C 0%, transparent 65%), #97dcec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #97dcec

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.

#97dcec 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.

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 13.76:1.

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.

#97dcec, answered

What color is #97dcec?

#97dcec is a light vivid cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 4.6). It sits at 191° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #97dcec?

rgb(151, 220, 236) — 151 red, 220 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 59.2% / 86.3% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #97dcec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(191, 69%, 76%) and hsv(191, 36%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #97dcec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6382 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.76:1.

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

Black. It scores 13.76:1 against #97dcec, versus 1.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #97dcec accessible on a white background?

#97dcec on white scores 1.53:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1B7F96 to reach 4.5:1, or #145E70 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #97dcec?

#ECA797 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EC97B2 and #ECD297, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #97dcec?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E4ED for borders, #4B8C9B for secondary text, #B01C25 as an accent and #145B6C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #97ECD2 and #97B2EC stays calm, while #ECA797 is the loudest partner.

What is #97dcec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(36%, 7%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #97dcec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #97ECDD; nudged cooler, #96C8ED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #97dcec?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 13 away. That is a visible difference, so define #97dcec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #97dcec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#97dcec] or text-[#97dcec], 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 #97dcec with 50% opacity?

rgba(151, 220, 236, 0.5), or #97dcec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CBEEF6; over black, #4C6E76.

Is #97dcec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 12.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #97dcec mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #97dcec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CBEDF5, #97dcec 45%, #145B6C). For more colour, a short hue run to #7D84E7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #97dcec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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