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#9becf4

a light, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Pale Turquoise

RGB
155, 236, 244
HSL
185°, 80%, 78%
CMYK
37, 3, 0, 4
Luminance
0.7349

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9becf4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9becf4
Hue
185°
cyan
Saturation
80%
electric
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
85%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7349
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.70:1
Closest name
Pale Turquoise
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue185° of 360°
Saturation80%
Lightness78%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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#9becf4
RGBrgb(155, 236, 244)
HSLhsl(185, 80%, 78%)
CMYKcmyk(37%, 3%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(88.7 -22.7 -11.7)
LCHlch(88.7 25.5 207.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.894 0.080 203.7)
Decimal10218740
Display P3color(display-p3 0.608 0.925 0.957)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9becf4;
background-color: #9becf4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9becf4] bg-[#9becf4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9becf4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.608, green: 0.925, blue: 0.957)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9becf4")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9BECF4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(244, 236, 155)

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 #9becf4 · 15.70:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.70:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9becf4 as text scores 1.34:1 on white and 15.70:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9becf4 on white: 1.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9becf4 on black: 15.70:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E0E5F5
deuteranopia · #D1DAF4
tritanopia · #77F2EE

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9becf4 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.

#F3FBFC
#E6F8F9
#C6F1F5
#9becf4
#67E2EE
#35D9E9
#18CBDD
#14A9B8
#108793
#10626A
#0A3D42
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFCDarkest = 950 · #0A3D42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E6F8F9;
  --brand-200: #C6F1F5;
  --brand-300: #9becf4;
  --brand-400: #67E2EE;
  --brand-500: #35D9E9;
  --brand-600: #18CBDD;
  --brand-700: #14A9B8;
  --brand-800: #108793;
  --brand-900: #10626A;
  --brand-950: #0A3D42;
  --brand: #9becf4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9becf4

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E9ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B949B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BB112C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D6A73
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FBFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
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 #9becf4

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

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#F4A39B
Analogous left#9BF4CF
Analogous right#9BBFF4
Split-complement 1#F49BBF
Split-complement 2#F4CF9B
Triadic 1#F49BEC
Triadic 2#ECF49B
Tetradic#CF9BF4

RGB percentages

Red60.8%
Green92.5%
Blue95.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan36.5%
Magenta3.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.3%

Color previews

#9becf4 text on a black background

contrast 15.70:1

Card sample

#9becf4 text on a white background

contrast 1.34:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9becf4;
Background color
Panel with #9becf4 background
background-color: #9becf4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9becf4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(155, 236, 244, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(155, 236, 244, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9becf4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9becf4, #9BB1F4);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9becf4

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.

#9becf4 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#9becf4, answered

What color is #9becf4?

#9becf4 is a light electric cyan, closest to Pale Turquoise (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 185° on the hue wheel with 80% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9becf4?

rgb(155, 236, 244) — 155 red, 236 green and 244 blue out of 255, or 60.8% / 92.5% / 95.7% by channel.

Is #9becf4 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7349 and perceived brightness is 85%, so black text on it reaches 15.70:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9becf4?

Black. It scores 15.70:1 against #9becf4, versus 1.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9becf4?

#F4A39B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F49BBF and #F4CF9B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9becf4?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E9ED for borders, #4B949B for secondary text, #BB112C as an accent and #0D6A73 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9BF4CF and #9BBFF4 stays calm, while #F4A39B is the loudest partner.

What is #9becf4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(37%, 3%, 0%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #9becf4 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9BF4DB; nudged cooler, #9AD1F5.

Work with #9becf4 in the Color Lab