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#9fcad2

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

RGB
159, 202, 210
HSL
189°, 36%, 72%
CMYK
24, 4, 0, 18
Luminance
0.5427

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9fcad2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9fcad2
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
82%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5427
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.85:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 4.4
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness72%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#9fcad2
RGBrgb(159, 202, 210)
HSLhsl(189, 36%, 72%)
CMYKcmyk(24%, 4%, 0%, 18%)
LABlab(78.6 -12.3 -8.6)
LCHlch(78.6 15.0 215.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.811 0.047 210.2)
Decimal10472146
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.792 0.824)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9fcad2;
background-color: #9fcad2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fcad2] bg-[#9fcad2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fcad2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.792, blue: 0.824)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9fcad2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FCAD2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(210, 202, 159)

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 #9fcad2 · 11.85:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.77:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.85:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fcad2 as text scores 1.77:1 on white and 11.85:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9fcad2 on white: 1.77:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fcad2 on black: 11.85:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C2C7D3
deuteranopia · #BAC0D2
tritanopia · #8FCECC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9fcad2 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF3F4
#D3E5E8
#B3D5DB
#9fcad2
#66ABB7
#4E99A7
#417F8B
#34666F
#294B52
#1A2F33
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #1A2F33
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF3F4;
  --brand-200: #D3E5E8;
  --brand-300: #B3D5DB;
  --brand-400: #9fcad2;
  --brand-500: #66ABB7;
  --brand-600: #4E99A7;
  --brand-700: #417F8B;
  --brand-800: #34666F;
  --brand-900: #294B52;
  --brand-950: #1A2F33;
  --brand: #9fcad2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9fcad2

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#C7E0E5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8E9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8F3D45
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#295057
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF5F7
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 #9fcad2

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#D2A79F
Analogous left#9FD2C1
Analogous right#9FB1D2
Split-complement 1#D29FB1
Split-complement 2#D2C19F
Triadic 1#D29FCA
Triadic 2#CAD29F
Tetradic#C19FD2

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green79.2%
Blue82.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.3%
Magenta3.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)17.6%

Color previews

#9fcad2 text on a black background

contrast 11.85:1

Card sample

#9fcad2 text on a white background

contrast 1.77:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9fcad2;
Background color
Panel with #9fcad2 background
background-color: #9fcad2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9fcad2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 202, 210, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 202, 210, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fcad2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fcad2, #9FA8D2);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fcad2

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.

#9fcad2 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.

#9fcad2, answered

What color is #9fcad2?

#9fcad2 is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fcad2?

rgb(159, 202, 210) — 159 red, 202 green and 210 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 79.2% / 82.4% by channel.

Is #9fcad2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5427 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.85:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9fcad2?

Black. It scores 11.85:1 against #9fcad2, versus 1.77:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9fcad2?

#D2A79F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D29FB1 and #D2C19F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fcad2?

For interface work: #F5F9FA as the surface, #C7E0E5 for borders, #4B8E9B for secondary text, #8F3D45 as an accent and #295057 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FD2C1 and #9FB1D2 stays calm, while #D2A79F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fcad2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(24%, 4%, 0%, 18%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9fcad2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9FD2C7; nudged cooler, #9EBBD4.

Work with #9fcad2 in the Color Lab