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blue · cool

#9da9cb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
157, 169, 203
HSL
224°, 31%, 71%
CMYK
23, 17, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3986

#9da9cb is a light soft blue, 224° on the wheel and 87/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.97:1). As text it scores 2.34:1 on white — use #6174AB instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(224 31% 71%)rgb(157 169 203)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9da9cb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9da9cb
Hue
224°
blue
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3986
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
87/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.97:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.4
Chroma
19.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.737
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 18.4
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue224° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9da9cb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool87% 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
Red18%
Green71%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#9da9cb
HEX (8-digit)#9da9cbff
RGBrgb(157, 169, 203)
RGBArgba(157, 169, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(224, 31%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(224, 23%, 80%)
HWBhwb(224 62% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 17%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(69.4 3.2 -18.7)
LCHlch(69.4 19.0 279.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.737 0.051 269.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.87, 39.85, 62.13)
Decimal10332619
Display P3color(display-p3 0.616 0.663 0.796)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9da9cb;
background-color: #9da9cb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9da9cb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9da9cb] bg-[#9da9cb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9da9cb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.616, green: 0.663, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.616, green: 0.663, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9DA9CB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9DA9CB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9DA9CB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 169, 157)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(157, 169, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(157, 169, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 157, 169, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6157f, 0.6627f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{157,169,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9da9cb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9da9cb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2C3653, #D7DCEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9da9cb 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF3;
  --brand-200: #D5DAE7;
  --brand-300: #B6BFD8;
  --brand-400: #9da9cb;
  --brand-500: #6C7EB1;
  --brand-600: #5568A0;
  --brand-700: #475785;
  --brand-800: #39466B;
  --brand-900: #2C354E;
  --brand-950: #1B2131;
  --brand: #9da9cb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-border: #CAD0E3;
  --brand-hover: #8695BF;
  --brand-pressed: #6E80B2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D7DCEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#ECEEF3',
        200: '#D5DAE7',
        300: '#B6BFD8',
        400: '#9da9cb',
        500: '#6C7EB1',
        600: '#5568A0',
        700: '#475785',
        800: '#39466B',
        900: '#2C354E',
        950: '#1B2131',
        DEFAULT: '#9da9cb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #ECEEF3,
  '200': #D5DAE7,
  '300': #B6BFD8,
  '400': #9da9cb,
  '500': #6C7EB1,
  '600': #5568A0,
  '700': #475785,
  '800': #39466B,
  '900': #2C354E,
  '950': #1B2131,
);
$brand-base: #9da9cb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5DAE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B6BFD8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9da9cb", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6C7EB1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5568A0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#475785", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#39466B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2C354E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2131", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9da9cb · 8.97:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.97:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9da9cb as text scores 2.34:1 on white and 8.97:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2C3653 at 5.10:1.

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
#6174AB · 4.57:1
AA on white−18% L
#6174AB
The quick fox
#465684 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−31% L
#465684
The quick fox
#9da9cb · 8.97:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9da9cb
The quick fox
#9da9cb · 8.97:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9da9cb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8292BD 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
#9da9cb on white: 2.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9da9cb on black: 8.97:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9da9cb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9da9cb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.34:1AaAa
Slate 502.24:1AaAa
Slate 1002.14:1AaAa
Slate 2001.90:1AaAa
Slate 3001.58:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.03:1AaAa
Slate 6003.24:1AaAa
Slate 7004.42:1AaAa
Slate 8006.25:1AaAa
Slate 9007.63:1AaAa
Black8.97:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9FABCD
deuteranopia · #9BA8CA
tritanopia · #92AFB4

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. #9da9cb 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.

#F6F6F9
#ECEEF3
#D5DAE7
#B6BFD8
#9da9cb
#6C7EB1
#5568A0
#475785
#39466B
#2C354E
#1B2131
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2131Text step on white = 600
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 0.013 269.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.020 269.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.031 269.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.040 269.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.047 269.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.051 269.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.051 269.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.048 269.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.043 269.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.036 269.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.028 269.8);
}

Colors that work with #9da9cb

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#F5F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#CAD0E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#506296
Captions on the surface
Accent#896543
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C3653
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF0F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#8695BF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6E80B2
Two steps down
Disabled#E8EAF0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A4B2D9
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 #9da9cb

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 #2C3653
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8292BD

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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#CBBF9D
Analogous left#9DC0CB
Analogous right#A89DCB
Split-complement 1#CBA89D
Split-complement 2#C0CB9D
Triadic 1#CB9DA9
Triadic 2#A9CB9D
Tetradic#CB9DC0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°224°

#9da9cb sits at 224°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red61.6%
Green66.3%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
157
0x9d
G · 0–255
169
0xa9
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.7%
Magenta16.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 60%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9da9cb text on a black background

contrast 8.97:1

Card sample

#9da9cb text on a white background

contrast 2.34:1

Card sample

#9da9cb on grey

2.14:1

#9da9cb on its own surface

2.17:1

#9da9cb on its dark surface

7.57:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9da9cb;
Background color
Panel with #9da9cb background
background-color: #9da9cb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9da9cb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(157, 169, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(157, 169, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9da9cb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9da9cb, #B09DCB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9da9cb, #BB9DCB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9da9cb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9da9cb;
caret-color: #9da9cb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9da9cb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF0F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9da9cb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9da9cb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9da9cb 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(157, 169, 203, 0.5)
rgb(157 169 203 / 50%)
#9da9cb80
hsl(224 31% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9da9cb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9da9cb1a#F5F6FA
20%#9da9cb33#EBEEF5
40%#9da9cb66#D8DDEA
60%#9da9cb99#C4CBE0
80%#9da9cbcc#B1BAD5

Gradients from #9da9cb

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, #C5CCE0, #9da9cb 45%, #2C3653);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9da9cb, #A489C0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9da9cb, #CBBF9D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D9DEEB 0%, #9da9cb 45%, #2C3653 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BED8DD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BDB1D6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C3653 0%, transparent 65%), #9da9cb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9da9cb

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.

#9da9cb 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 8.97:1.

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.

#9da9cb, answered

What color is #9da9cb?

#9da9cb is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 224° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9da9cb?

rgb(157, 169, 203) — 157 red, 169 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 61.6% / 66.3% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #9da9cb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(224, 31%, 71%) and hsv(224, 23%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9da9cb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3986 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 8.97:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9da9cb?

Black. It scores 8.97:1 against #9da9cb, versus 2.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9da9cb accessible on a white background?

#9da9cb on white scores 2.34:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6174AB to reach 4.5:1, or #465684 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9da9cb?

#CBBF9D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CBA89D and #C0CB9D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9da9cb?

For interface work: #F5F6FA as the surface, #CAD0E3 for borders, #506296 for secondary text, #896543 as an accent and #2C3653 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9DC0CB and #A89DCB stays calm, while #CBBF9D is the loudest partner.

What is #9da9cb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 17%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9da9cb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 87 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A29DCB; nudged cooler, #9CB1CD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9da9cb?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 18.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9da9cb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9da9cb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9da9cb] or text-[#9da9cb], 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 #9da9cb with 50% opacity?

rgba(157, 169, 203, 0.5), or #9da9cb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CED4E5; over black, #4F5566.

Is #9da9cb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 6.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9da9cb 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 #9da9cb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C5CCE0, #9da9cb 45%, #2C3653). For more colour, a short hue run to #A489C0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9da9cb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9da9cb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.