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blue · cool

#9fadcb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
159, 173, 203
HSL
221°, 30%, 71%
CMYK
22, 15, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4157

#9fadcb is a light soft blue, 221° on the wheel and 87/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.31:1). As text it scores 2.25:1 on white — use #5D75A7 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(221 30% 71%)rgb(159 173 203)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#9fadcb
Hue
221°
blue
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4157
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
87/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.31:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
16.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.747
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 18.3
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue221° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

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

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%
Green72%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#9fadcb
HEX (8-digit)#9fadcbff
RGBrgb(159, 173, 203)
RGBArgba(159, 173, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(221, 30%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(221, 22%, 80%)
HWBhwb(221 62% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 15%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(70.6 1.6 -16.9)
LCHlch(70.6 16.9 275.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.747 0.046 265.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(40.02, 41.57, 62.40)
Decimal10464715
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.678 0.796)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9fadcb;
background-color: #9fadcb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9fadcb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fadcb] bg-[#9fadcb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fadcb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.678, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.624, green: 0.678, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9FADCB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9FADCB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FADCB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 173, 159)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(159, 173, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(159, 173, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 159, 173, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6235f, 0.6784f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{159,173,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9fadcb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9fadcb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2D3953, #D7DDE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9fadcb 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: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF3;
  --brand-200: #D5DBE7;
  --brand-300: #B6C1D8;
  --brand-400: #9fadcb;
  --brand-500: #6D83B0;
  --brand-600: #566D9F;
  --brand-700: #485B84;
  --brand-800: #39496A;
  --brand-900: #2C374E;
  --brand-950: #1C2231;
  --brand: #9fadcb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-border: #CAD2E2;
  --brand-hover: #8899BE;
  --brand-pressed: #7186B2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D7DDE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#ECEEF3',
        200: '#D5DBE7',
        300: '#B6C1D8',
        400: '#9fadcb',
        500: '#6D83B0',
        600: '#566D9F',
        700: '#485B84',
        800: '#39496A',
        900: '#2C374E',
        950: '#1C2231',
        DEFAULT: '#9fadcb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #ECEEF3,
  '200': #D5DBE7,
  '300': #B6C1D8,
  '400': #9fadcb,
  '500': #6D83B0,
  '600': #566D9F,
  '700': #485B84,
  '800': #39496A,
  '900': #2C374E,
  '950': #1C2231,
);
$brand-base: #9fadcb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5DBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B6C1D8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9fadcb", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6D83B0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#566D9F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#485B84", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#39496A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2C374E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C2231", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9fadcb · 9.31:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.25:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.31:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fadcb as text scores 2.25:1 on white and 9.31:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2D3953 at 5.11:1.

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
#5D75A7 · 4.60:1
AA on white−20% L
#5D75A7
The quick fox
#44567E · 7.30:1
AAA on white−33% L
#44567E
The quick fox
#9fadcb · 9.31:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9fadcb
The quick fox
#9fadcb · 9.31:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9fadcb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8194BB 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
#9fadcb on white: 2.25:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fadcb on black: 9.31:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.25:1AaAa
Slate 502.15:1AaAa
Slate 1002.06:1AaAa
Slate 2001.83:1AaAa
Slate 3001.52:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5002.11:1AaAa
Slate 6003.36:1AaAa
Slate 7004.59:1AaAa
Slate 8006.49:1AaAa
Slate 9007.92:1AaAa
Black9.31:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A4AFCC
deuteranopia · #A0ABCA
tritanopia · #94B3B7

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. #9fadcb 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.

#F6F7F9
#ECEEF3
#D5DBE7
#B6C1D8
#9fadcb
#6D83B0
#566D9F
#485B84
#39496A
#2C374E
#1C2231
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1C2231Text 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 0.012 265.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 265.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 265.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.036 265.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.042 265.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.046 265.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.046 265.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.043 265.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 265.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.032 265.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.025 265.5);
}

Colors that work with #9fadcb

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#F5F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#CAD2E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#516695
Captions on the surface
Accent#886244
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2D3953
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#8899BE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7186B2
Two steps down
Disabled#E9ECF1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A6B6D9
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 #9fadcb

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 #2D3953
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8194BB

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#CBBD9F
Analogous left#9FC3CB
Analogous right#A79FCB
Split-complement 1#CBA79F
Split-complement 2#C3CB9F
Triadic 1#CB9FAD
Triadic 2#ADCB9F
Tetradic#CB9FC3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°221°

#9fadcb sits at 221°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green67.8%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
159
0x9f
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan21.7%
Magenta14.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 57%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9fadcb text on a black background

contrast 9.31:1

Card sample

#9fadcb text on a white background

contrast 2.25:1

Card sample

#9fadcb on grey

2.06:1

#9fadcb on its own surface

2.10:1

#9fadcb on its dark surface

7.80:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 173, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 173, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fadcb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fadcb, #AE9FCB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9fadcb, #B99FCB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9fadcb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9fadcb;
caret-color: #9fadcb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9fadcb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9fadcb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9fadcb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9fadcb 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(159, 173, 203, 0.5)
rgb(159 173 203 / 50%)
#9fadcb80
hsl(221 30% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9fadcb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9fadcb1a#F5F7FA
20%#9fadcb33#ECEFF5
40%#9fadcb66#D9DEEA
60%#9fadcb99#C5CEE0
80%#9fadcbcc#B2BDD5

Gradients from #9fadcb

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, #C7CFE1, #9fadcb 45%, #2D3953);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9fadcb, #A28BC0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9fadcb, #CBBD9F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DBE0EB 0%, #9fadcb 45%, #2D3953 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C0DADD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BCB3D6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2D3953 0%, transparent 65%), #9fadcb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fadcb

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.

#9fadcb 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 9.31:1.

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.

#9fadcb, answered

What color is #9fadcb?

#9fadcb is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 221° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fadcb?

rgb(159, 173, 203) — 159 red, 173 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 67.8% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #9fadcb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(221, 30%, 71%) and hsv(221, 22%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9fadcb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4157 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.31:1.

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

Black. It scores 9.31:1 against #9fadcb, versus 2.25:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9fadcb accessible on a white background?

#9fadcb on white scores 2.25:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5D75A7 to reach 4.5:1, or #44567E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9fadcb?

#CBBD9F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CBA79F and #C3CB9F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fadcb?

For interface work: #F5F7FA as the surface, #CAD2E2 for borders, #516695 for secondary text, #886244 as an accent and #2D3953 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FC3CB and #A79FCB stays calm, while #CBBD9F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fadcb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 15%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9fadcb 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 #A19FCB; nudged cooler, #9EB2CC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9fadcb?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 18.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9fadcb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9fadcb in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(159, 173, 203, 0.5), or #9fadcb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CFD6E5; over black, #505766.

Is #9fadcb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 8.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9fadcb 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 #9fadcb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C7CFE1, #9fadcb 45%, #2D3953). For more colour, a short hue run to #A28BC0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9fadcb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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