Skip to content

#9ceeff

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

RGB
156, 238, 255
HSL
190°, 100%, 81%
CMYK
39, 7, 0, 0
Luminance
0.7544

At a glance

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

Hex
#9ceeff
Hue
190°
cyan
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7544
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.09:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 6.1
Where it sits
Hue190° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness81%
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.

Every format

HEX#9ceeff
RGBrgb(156, 238, 255)
HSLhsl(190, 100%, 81%)
CMYKcmyk(39%, 7%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(89.6 -20.8 -16.1)
LCHlch(89.6 26.3 217.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.902 0.083 212.1)
Decimal10284799
Display P3color(display-p3 0.612 0.933 1.000)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9ceeff;
background-color: #9ceeff;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9ceeff] bg-[#9ceeff]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9ceeff;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.612, green: 0.933, blue: 1.000)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9ceeff")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9CEEFF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(255, 238, 156)

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 #9ceeff · 16.09:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.31:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9ceeff as text scores 1.31:1 on white and 16.09:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9ceeff on white: 1.31:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9ceeff on black: 16.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E0E8FF
deuteranopia · #D0DCFF
tritanopia · #73F6F3

Color scale — 50 to 950

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

#F1FBFE
#E3F8FC
#C0F1FC
#9ceeff
#57E2FF
#1FD8FF
#00CBF5
#00A9CC
#0087A3
#056276
#033D49
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F1FBFEDarkest = 950 · #033D49
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FBFE;
  --brand-100: #E3F8FC;
  --brand-200: #C0F1FC;
  --brand-300: #9ceeff;
  --brand-400: #57E2FF;
  --brand-500: #1FD8FF;
  --brand-600: #00CBF5;
  --brand-700: #00A9CC;
  --brand-800: #0087A3;
  --brand-900: #056276;
  --brand-950: #033D49;
  --brand: #9ceeff;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9ceeff

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#C0E5ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC0010
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#006A80
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E5FBFF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #9ceeff

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#FFAD9C
Analogous left#9CFFDF
Analogous right#9CBDFF
Split-complement 1#FF9CBD
Split-complement 2#FFDF9C
Triadic 1#FF9CEE
Triadic 2#EEFF9C
Tetradic#DF9CFF

RGB percentages

Red61.2%
Green93.3%
Blue100.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan38.8%
Magenta6.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.0%

Color previews

#9ceeff text on a black background

contrast 16.09:1

Card sample

#9ceeff text on a white background

contrast 1.31:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(156, 238, 255, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(156, 238, 255, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9ceeff;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9ceeff, #9CACFF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9ceeff

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.

#9ceeff 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.

#9ceeff, answered

What color is #9ceeff?

#9ceeff is a light electric cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 190° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9ceeff?

rgb(156, 238, 255) — 156 red, 238 green and 255 blue out of 255, or 61.2% / 93.3% / 100% by channel.

Is #9ceeff a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7544 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 16.09:1.

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

Black. It scores 16.09:1 against #9ceeff, versus 1.31:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9ceeff?

#FFAD9C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FF9CBD and #FFDF9C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9ceeff?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E5ED for borders, #4B8D9B for secondary text, #CC0010 as an accent and #006A80 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9CFFDF and #9CBDFF stays calm, while #FFAD9C is the loudest partner.

What is #9ceeff in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(39%, 7%, 0%, 0%). 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 #9ceeff 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 #9CFFEC; nudged cooler, #9CD7FF.

Work with #9ceeff in the Color Lab