Skip to content

#9fcfd3

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

RGB
159, 207, 211
HSL
185°, 37%, 73%
CMYK
25, 2, 0, 17
Luminance
0.5670

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9fcfd3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9fcfd3
Hue
185°
cyan
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
83%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5670
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.34:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 4.2
Where it sits
Hue185° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness73%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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#9fcfd3
RGBrgb(159, 207, 211)
HSLhsl(185, 37%, 73%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 2%, 0%, 17%)
LABlab(80.0 -14.7 -7.1)
LCHlch(80.0 16.3 205.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.822 0.050 202.6)
Decimal10473427
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.812 0.827)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9fcfd3;
background-color: #9fcfd3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fcfd3] bg-[#9fcfd3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fcfd3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.812, blue: 0.827)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9fcfd3")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FCFD3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(211, 207, 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 #9fcfd3 · 12.34:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.70:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fcfd3 as text scores 1.70:1 on white and 12.34:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9fcfd3 on white: 1.70:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fcfd3 on black: 12.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C8CBD3
deuteranopia · #BEC3D3
tritanopia · #8ED3D0

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9fcfd3 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF3F4
#D3E7E9
#9fcfd3
#8CC5CA
#65B2B8
#4DA1A8
#40868C
#336B70
#284F52
#193133
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #193133
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF3F4;
  --brand-200: #D3E7E9;
  --brand-300: #9fcfd3;
  --brand-400: #8CC5CA;
  --brand-500: #65B2B8;
  --brand-600: #4DA1A8;
  --brand-700: #40868C;
  --brand-800: #336B70;
  --brand-900: #284F52;
  --brand-950: #193133;
  --brand: #9fcfd3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9fcfd3

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#F5FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C7E3E5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B959B
Captions on the surface
Accent#903C4A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#285457
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF6F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
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 #9fcfd3

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#D3A39F
Analogous left#9FD3BD
Analogous right#9FB5D3
Split-complement 1#D39FB5
Split-complement 2#D3BD9F
Triadic 1#D39FCF
Triadic 2#CFD39F
Tetradic#BD9FD3

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green81.2%
Blue82.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.6%
Magenta1.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)17.3%

Color previews

#9fcfd3 text on a black background

contrast 12.34:1

Card sample

#9fcfd3 text on a white background

contrast 1.70:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9fcfd3;
Background color
Panel with #9fcfd3 background
background-color: #9fcfd3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9fcfd3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 207, 211, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 207, 211, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fcfd3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fcfd3, #9FACD3);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fcfd3

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.

#9fcfd3 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.

#9fcfd3, answered

What color is #9fcfd3?

#9fcfd3 is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 4.2). It sits at 185° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fcfd3?

rgb(159, 207, 211) — 159 red, 207 green and 211 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 81.2% / 82.7% by channel.

Is #9fcfd3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5670 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 12.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9fcfd3?

Black. It scores 12.34:1 against #9fcfd3, versus 1.70:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9fcfd3?

#D3A39F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D39FB5 and #D3BD9F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fcfd3?

For interface work: #F5FAFA as the surface, #C7E3E5 for borders, #4B959B for secondary text, #903C4A as an accent and #285457 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FD3BD and #9FB5D3 stays calm, while #D3A39F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fcfd3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 2%, 0%, 17%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9fcfd3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9FD3C4; nudged cooler, #9DBDD4.

Work with #9fcfd3 in the Color Lab