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#9ec2cd

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Light Blue

RGB
158, 194, 205
HSL
194°, 32%, 71%
CMYK
23, 5, 0, 20
Luminance
0.5026

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9ec2cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9ec2cd
Hue
194°
cyan
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5026
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.05:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 5.5
Where it sits
Hue194° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness71%
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#9ec2cd
RGBrgb(158, 194, 205)
HSLhsl(194, 32%, 71%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 5%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(76.2 -9.6 -9.5)
LCHlch(76.2 13.5 224.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.791 0.042 218.3)
Decimal10404557
Display P3color(display-p3 0.620 0.761 0.804)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9ec2cd;
background-color: #9ec2cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9ec2cd] bg-[#9ec2cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9ec2cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.620, green: 0.761, blue: 0.804)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9ec2cd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9EC2CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 194, 158)

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 #9ec2cd · 11.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9ec2cd as text scores 1.90:1 on white and 11.05:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9ec2cd on white: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9ec2cd on black: 11.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #BBBFCE
deuteranopia · #B3B9CD
tritanopia · #90C6C5

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9ec2cd 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.

#F5F8F9
#ECF2F4
#D5E3E7
#B5D0D9
#9ec2cd
#6BA2B3
#538FA2
#457787
#37606C
#2B474F
#1B2C32
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2C32
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F8F9;
  --brand-100: #ECF2F4;
  --brand-200: #D5E3E7;
  --brand-300: #B5D0D9;
  --brand-400: #9ec2cd;
  --brand-500: #6BA2B3;
  --brand-600: #538FA2;
  --brand-700: #457787;
  --brand-800: #37606C;
  --brand-900: #2B474F;
  --brand-950: #1B2C32;
  --brand: #9ec2cd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9ec2cd

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#F5F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9DDE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4E8697
Captions on the surface
Accent#8B4143
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B4B54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF4F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
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 #9ec2cd

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
  • 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#CDA99E
Analogous left#9ECDC1
Analogous right#9EABCD
Split-complement 1#CD9EAB
Split-complement 2#CDC19E
Triadic 1#CD9EC2
Triadic 2#C2CD9E
Tetradic#C19ECD

RGB percentages

Red62.0%
Green76.1%
Blue80.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.9%
Magenta5.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Color previews

#9ec2cd text on a black background

contrast 11.05:1

Card sample

#9ec2cd text on a white background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9ec2cd;
Background color
Panel with #9ec2cd background
background-color: #9ec2cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9ec2cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(158, 194, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(158, 194, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9ec2cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9ec2cd, #9EA3CD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9ec2cd

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.

#9ec2cd 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.

#9ec2cd, answered

What color is #9ec2cd?

#9ec2cd is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 194° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9ec2cd?

rgb(158, 194, 205) — 158 red, 194 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 62% / 76.1% / 80.4% by channel.

Is #9ec2cd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5026 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 11.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9ec2cd?

Black. It scores 11.05:1 against #9ec2cd, versus 1.90:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9ec2cd?

#CDA99E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD9EAB and #CDC19E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9ec2cd?

For interface work: #F5F9FA as the surface, #C9DDE3 for borders, #4E8697 for secondary text, #8B4143 as an accent and #2B4B54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9ECDC1 and #9EABCD stays calm, while #CDA99E is the loudest partner.

What is #9ec2cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 5%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9ec2cd 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 #9ECDC7; nudged cooler, #9DB7CF.

Work with #9ec2cd in the Color Lab