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blue · cool

#98acba

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Harbour

RGB
152, 172, 186
HSL
205°, 20%, 66%
CMYK
18, 8, 0, 27
Luminance
0.3973

#98acba is a light soft blue, 205° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.95:1). As text it scores 2.35:1 on white — use #5F7A8D instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(205 20% 66%)rgb(152 172 186)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #98acba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#98acba
Hue
205°
blue
Saturation
20%
soft
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3973
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.95:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.4
Chroma
10.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.734
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 15.6
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue205° of 360°
Saturation20%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #98acba.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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#98acba
HEX (8-digit)#98acbaff
RGBrgb(152, 172, 186)
RGBArgba(152, 172, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(205, 20%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(205, 18%, 73%)
HWBhwb(205 60% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 8%, 0%, 27%)
LABlab(69.3 -3.9 -9.5)
LCHlch(69.3 10.3 247.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.734 0.030 238.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.56, 39.72, 52.19)
Decimal10005690
Display P3color(display-p3 0.596 0.675 0.729)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #98acba;
background-color: #98acba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #98acba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#98acba] bg-[#98acba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #98acba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.596, green: 0.675, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.596, green: 0.675, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#98ACBA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF98ACBA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF98ACBA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 172, 152)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(152, 172, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(152, 172, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 152, 172, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5961f, 0.6745f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{152,172,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #98acba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #98acba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#33424C, #DAE1E6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #98acba 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: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-100: #EDF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D8DFE4;
  --brand-300: #BCC9D2;
  --brand-400: #98acba;
  --brand-500: #7993A5;
  --brand-600: #627F93;
  --brand-700: #526A7A;
  --brand-800: #415462;
  --brand-900: #323F48;
  --brand-950: #1F272D;
  --brand: #98acba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-border: #CED8DE;
  --brand-hover: #839BAC;
  --brand-pressed: #6D8A9D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161D22;
    --brand-ink: #DAE1E6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F9',
        100: '#EDF0F2',
        200: '#D8DFE4',
        300: '#BCC9D2',
        400: '#98acba',
        500: '#7993A5',
        600: '#627F93',
        700: '#526A7A',
        800: '#415462',
        900: '#323F48',
        950: '#1F272D',
        DEFAULT: '#98acba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F9,
  '100': #EDF0F2,
  '200': #D8DFE4,
  '300': #BCC9D2,
  '400': #98acba,
  '500': #7993A5,
  '600': #627F93,
  '700': #526A7A,
  '800': #415462,
  '900': #323F48,
  '950': #1F272D,
);
$brand-base: #98acba;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8DFE4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BCC9D2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#98acba", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7993A5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#627F93", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#526A7A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#415462", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#323F48", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F272D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #98acba · 8.95:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.35:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #98acba as text scores 2.35:1 on white and 8.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #33424C at 4.42:1.

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
#5F7A8D · 4.51:1
AA on white−20% L
#5F7A8D
The quick fox
#465B69 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−32% L
#465B69
The quick fox
#98acba · 8.95:1
AA on blackalready passes
#98acba
The quick fox
#98acba · 8.95:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#98acba

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8098AA 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
#98acba on white: 2.35:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#98acba on black: 8.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #98acba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #98acba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.35:1AaAa
Slate 502.24:1AaAa
Slate 1002.14:1AaAa
Slate 2001.90:1AaAa
Slate 3001.58:1AaAa
Slate 4001.09:1AaAa
Slate 5002.03:1AaAa
Slate 6003.23:1AaAa
Slate 7004.41:1AaAa
Slate 8006.23:1AaAa
Slate 9007.60:1AaAa
Black8.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A6ABBB
deuteranopia · #A1A7BA
tritanopia · #8FB0B0

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. #98acba 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.

#F6F8F9
#EDF0F2
#D8DFE4
#BCC9D2
#98acba
#7993A5
#627F93
#526A7A
#415462
#323F48
#1F272D
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1F272DText 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 0.008 238.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.012 238.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.018 238.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.024 238.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.028 238.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.030 238.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.030 238.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.028 238.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.025 238.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.021 238.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.017 238.4);
}

Colors that work with #98acba

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#F6F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#CED8DE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5C7789
Captions on the surface
Accent#7E554E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#33424C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F3F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161D22
Dark-mode background
Hover#839BAC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6D8A9D
Two steps down
Disabled#DBE2E7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9DB7CA
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 #98acba

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 #33424C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8098AA

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
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#BAA698
Analogous left#98BAB7
Analogous right#989BBA
Split-complement 1#BA989B
Split-complement 2#BAB798
Triadic 1#BA98AC
Triadic 2#ACBA98
Tetradic#B798BA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°205°

#98acba sits at 205°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.6%
Green67.5%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
152
0x98
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.3%
Magenta7.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)27.1%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#98acba text on a black background

contrast 8.95:1

Card sample

#98acba text on a white background

contrast 2.35:1

Card sample

#98acba on grey

2.14:1

#98acba on its own surface

2.20:1

#98acba on its dark surface

7.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #98acba;
Background color
Panel with #98acba background
background-color: #98acba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #98acba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(152, 172, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(152, 172, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #98acba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #98acba, #9B98BA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #98acba, #A398BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #98acba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #98acba;
caret-color: #98acba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #98acba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F3F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #98acba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#98acba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #98acba 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(152, 172, 186, 0.5)
rgb(152 172 186 / 50%)
#98acba80
hsl(205 20% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #98acba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#98acba1a#F5F7F8
20%#98acba33#EAEEF1
40%#98acba66#D6DEE3
60%#98acba99#C1CDD6
80%#98acbacc#ADBDC8

Gradients from #98acba

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, #BDCAD3, #98acba 45%, #33424C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #98acba, #8C86AE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #98acba, #BAA698);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CFD8DF 0%, #98acba 45%, #33424C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B7CFCA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AAABC6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #33424C 0%, transparent 65%), #98acba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #98acba

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.

#98acba 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 8.95:1.

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.

#98acba, answered

What color is #98acba?

#98acba is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 205° on the hue wheel with 20% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #98acba?

rgb(152, 172, 186) — 152 red, 172 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 59.6% / 67.5% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #98acba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(205, 20%, 66%) and hsv(205, 18%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #98acba a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3973 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #98acba?

Black. It scores 8.95:1 against #98acba, versus 2.35:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #98acba accessible on a white background?

#98acba on white scores 2.35:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5F7A8D to reach 4.5:1, or #465B69 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #98acba?

#BAA698 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BA989B and #BAB798, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #98acba?

For interface work: #F6F8F9 as the surface, #CED8DE for borders, #5C7789 for secondary text, #7E554E as an accent and #33424C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #98BAB7 and #989BBA stays calm, while #BAA698 is the loudest partner.

What is #98acba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 8%, 0%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #98acba warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #98B9BA; nudged cooler, #96A9BC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #98acba?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 15.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #98acba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #98acba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#98acba] or text-[#98acba], 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 #98acba with 50% opacity?

rgba(152, 172, 186, 0.5), or #98acba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CCD6DD; over black, #4C565D.

Is #98acba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 14.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #98acba 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 #98acba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BDCAD3, #98acba 45%, #33424C). For more colour, a short hue run to #8C86AE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #98acba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #98acba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.