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cyan · cool

#9edef1

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Reef

RGB
158, 222, 241
HSL
194°, 75%, 78%
CMYK
34, 8, 0, 6
Luminance
0.6586

#9edef1 is a light vivid cyan, 194° on the wheel and 93/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.17:1). As text it scores 1.48:1 on white — use #177E9D instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(194 75% 78%)rgb(158 222 241)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9edef1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9edef1
Hue
194°
cyan
Saturation
75%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6586
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.17:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
22.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.864
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 13.8
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue194° of 360°
Saturation75%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9edef1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% 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
Red11%
Green79%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#9edef1
HEX (8-digit)#9edef1ff
RGBrgb(158, 222, 241)
RGBArgba(158, 222, 241, 1)
HSLhsl(194, 75%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(194, 34%, 95%)
HWBhwb(194 62% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(34%, 8%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(84.9 -15.6 -15.7)
LCHlch(84.9 22.2 225.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.864 0.070 218.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.09, 65.86, 92.96)
Decimal10411761
Display P3color(display-p3 0.620 0.871 0.945)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9edef1;
background-color: #9edef1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9edef1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9edef1] bg-[#9edef1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9edef1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.620, green: 0.871, blue: 0.945)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.620, green: 0.871, blue: 0.945, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9EDEF1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9EDEF1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9EDEF1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(241, 222, 158)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(158, 222, 241)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(158, 222, 241)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 158, 222, 241)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6196f, 0.8706f, 0.9451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{158,222,241}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9edef1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9edef1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#105A6F, #D3E8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9edef1 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: #F3FAFC;
  --brand-100: #E7F5F9;
  --brand-200: #C8EAF4;
  --brand-300: #9edef1;
  --brand-400: #6CCDEA;
  --brand-500: #3BBCE3;
  --brand-600: #1FACD6;
  --brand-700: #1A8FB2;
  --brand-800: #15738F;
  --brand-900: #135467;
  --brand-950: #0C3541;
  --brand: #9edef1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E2ED;
  --brand-hover: #7FD3EC;
  --brand-pressed: #5FC9E8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142124;
    --brand-ink: #D3E8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FAFC',
        100: '#E7F5F9',
        200: '#C8EAF4',
        300: '#9edef1',
        400: '#6CCDEA',
        500: '#3BBCE3',
        600: '#1FACD6',
        700: '#1A8FB2',
        800: '#15738F',
        900: '#135467',
        950: '#0C3541',
        DEFAULT: '#9edef1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FAFC,
  '100': #E7F5F9,
  '200': #C8EAF4,
  '300': #9edef1,
  '400': #6CCDEA,
  '500': #3BBCE3,
  '600': #1FACD6,
  '700': #1A8FB2,
  '800': #15738F,
  '900': #135467,
  '950': #0C3541,
);
$brand-base: #9edef1;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FAFC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F5F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C8EAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9edef1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6CCDEA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3BBCE3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1FACD6", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1A8FB2", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#15738F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#135467", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0C3541", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9edef1 · 14.17:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.17:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9edef1 as text scores 1.48:1 on white and 14.17:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #105A6F at 5.22:1.

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
#177E9D · 4.66:1
AA on white−43% L
#177E9D
The quick fox
#115E75 · 7.29:1
AAA on white−52% L
#115E75
The quick fox
#9edef1 · 14.17:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9edef1
The quick fox
#9edef1 · 14.17:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9edef1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #1C9FC5 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
#9edef1 on white: 1.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9edef1 on black: 14.17:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9edef1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9edef1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.48:1AaAa
Slate 501.42:1AaAa
Slate 1001.35:1AaAa
Slate 2001.20:1AaAa
Slate 3001.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.73:1AaAa
Slate 5003.21:1AaAa
Slate 6005.11:1AaAa
Slate 7006.99:1AaAa
Slate 8009.87:1AaAa
Slate 90012.05:1AaAa
Black14.17:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D1DAF2
deuteranopia · #C4D0F1
tritanopia · #80E5E4

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. #9edef1 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.

#F3FAFC
#E7F5F9
#C8EAF4
#9edef1
#6CCDEA
#3BBCE3
#1FACD6
#1A8FB2
#15738F
#135467
#0C3541
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3FAFCDarkest = 950 · #0C3541Text step on white = 800
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 0.017 218.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 218.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.042 218.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.054 218.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.064 218.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.070 218.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.070 218.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.065 218.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.058 218.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.049 218.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 218.2);
}

Colors that work with #9edef1

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#C0E2ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B899B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B6161A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#105A6F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F7FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
Hover#7FD3EC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5FC9E8
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#ABE7F8
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 #9edef1

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #105A6F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #1C9FC5

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#F1B19E
Analogous left#9EF1DA
Analogous right#9EB4F1
Split-complement 1#F19EB4
Split-complement 2#F1DA9E
Triadic 1#F19EDE
Triadic 2#DEF19E
Tetradic#DA9EF1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°194°

#9edef1 sits at 194°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red62.0%
Green87.1%
Blue94.5%
R · 0–255
158
0x9e
G · 0–255
222
0xde
B · 0–255
241
0xf1

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.4%
Magenta7.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.5%

Total ink coverage is 48%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9edef1 text on a black background

contrast 14.17:1

Card sample

#9edef1 text on a white background

contrast 1.48:1

Card sample

#9edef1 on grey

1.35:1

#9edef1 on its own surface

1.40:1

#9edef1 on its dark surface

11.14:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9edef1;
Background color
Panel with #9edef1 background
background-color: #9edef1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9edef1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(158, 222, 241, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(158, 222, 241, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9edef1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9edef1, #9EA7F1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9edef1, #AA9EF1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9edef1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9edef1;
caret-color: #9edef1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9edef1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F7FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9edef1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9edef1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9edef1 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(158, 222, 241, 0.5)
rgb(158 222 241 / 50%)
#9edef180
hsl(194 75% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9edef1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9edef11a#F5FCFE
20%#9edef133#ECF8FC
40%#9edef166#D8F2F9
60%#9edef199#C5EBF7
80%#9edef1cc#B1E5F4

Gradients from #9edef1

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, #D3F0F9, #9edef1 45%, #105A6F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9edef1, #8385ED);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9edef1, #F1B19E);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EEF9FD 0%, #9edef1 45%, #105A6F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CAF7E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B9C4F5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #105A6F 0%, transparent 65%), #9edef1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9edef1

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.

#9edef1 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.

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 14.17:1.

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.

#9edef1, answered

What color is #9edef1?

#9edef1 is a light vivid cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 194° on the hue wheel with 75% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9edef1?

rgb(158, 222, 241) — 158 red, 222 green and 241 blue out of 255, or 62% / 87.1% / 94.5% by channel.

What is #9edef1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(194, 75%, 78%) and hsv(194, 34%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9edef1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6586 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 14.17:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9edef1?

Black. It scores 14.17:1 against #9edef1, versus 1.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9edef1 accessible on a white background?

#9edef1 on white scores 1.48:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #177E9D to reach 4.5:1, or #115E75 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9edef1?

#F1B19E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F19EB4 and #F1DA9E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9edef1?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E2ED for borders, #4B899B for secondary text, #B6161A as an accent and #105A6F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9EF1DA and #9EB4F1 stays calm, while #F1B19E is the loudest partner.

What is #9edef1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(34%, 8%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9edef1 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9EF1E5; nudged cooler, #9DCDF2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9edef1?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 13.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9edef1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9edef1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9edef1] or text-[#9edef1], 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 #9edef1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(158, 222, 241, 0.5), or #9edef180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CFEFF8; over black, #4F6F79.

Is #9edef1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 11.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9edef1 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #9edef1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3F0F9, #9edef1 45%, #105A6F). For more colour, a short hue run to #8385ED keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9edef1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9edef1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.