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#9fd9f2

a light, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

RGB
159, 217, 242
HSL
198°, 76%, 79%
CMYK
34, 10, 0, 5
Luminance
0.6341

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9fd9f2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9fd9f2
Hue
198°
cyan
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6341
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.68:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 3.6
Where it sits
Hue198° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness79%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% 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#9fd9f2
RGBrgb(159, 217, 242)
HSLhsl(198, 76%, 79%)
CMYKcmyk(34%, 10%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(83.7 -12.6 -18.2)
LCHlch(83.7 22.1 235.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.854 0.069 226.5)
Decimal10476018
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.851 0.949)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9fd9f2;
background-color: #9fd9f2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fd9f2] bg-[#9fd9f2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fd9f2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.851, blue: 0.949)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9fd9f2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FD9F2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(242, 217, 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 #9fd9f2 · 13.68:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.68:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fd9f2 as text scores 1.53:1 on white and 13.68:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9fd9f2 on white: 1.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fd9f2 on black: 13.68:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #CCD6F3
deuteranopia · #BFCCF2
tritanopia · #82E1E1

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9fd9f2 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.

#F3F9FC
#E7F3F9
#C8E7F4
#9fd9f2
#6BC4EB
#39B1E4
#1D9FD8
#1885B4
#146A90
#124E68
#0B3141
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0B3141
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E7F3F9;
  --brand-200: #C8E7F4;
  --brand-300: #9fd9f2;
  --brand-400: #6BC4EB;
  --brand-500: #39B1E4;
  --brand-600: #1D9FD8;
  --brand-700: #1885B4;
  --brand-800: #146A90;
  --brand-900: #124E68;
  --brand-950: #0B3141;
  --brand: #9fd9f2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9fd9f2

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#C0DFED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B839B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B71C15
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F5370
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F6FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
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 #9fd9f2

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

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#F2B89F
Analogous left#9FF2E1
Analogous right#9FAFF2
Split-complement 1#F29FAF
Split-complement 2#F2E19F
Triadic 1#F29FD9
Triadic 2#D9F29F
Tetradic#E19FF2

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green85.1%
Blue94.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.3%
Magenta10.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.1%

Color previews

#9fd9f2 text on a black background

contrast 13.68:1

Card sample

#9fd9f2 text on a white background

contrast 1.53:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9fd9f2;
Background color
Panel with #9fd9f2 background
background-color: #9fd9f2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9fd9f2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 217, 242, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 217, 242, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fd9f2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fd9f2, #9FA2F2);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fd9f2

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.

#9fd9f2 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#9fd9f2, answered

What color is #9fd9f2?

#9fd9f2 is a light electric cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 198° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fd9f2?

rgb(159, 217, 242) — 159 red, 217 green and 242 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 85.1% / 94.9% by channel.

Is #9fd9f2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6341 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.68:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9fd9f2?

Black. It scores 13.68:1 against #9fd9f2, versus 1.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9fd9f2?

#F2B89F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F29FAF and #F2E19F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fd9f2?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0DFED for borders, #4B839B for secondary text, #B71C15 as an accent and #0F5370 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FF2E1 and #9FAFF2 stays calm, while #F2B89F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fd9f2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(34%, 10%, 0%, 5%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #9fd9f2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9FF2ED; nudged cooler, #9ECCF3.

Work with #9fd9f2 in the Color Lab