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#9fe0fd

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

RGB
159, 224, 253
HSL
199°, 96%, 81%
CMYK
37, 12, 0, 1
Luminance
0.6777

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9fe0fd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9fe0fd
Hue
199°
cyan
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6777
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.55:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 4.6
Where it sits
Hue199° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness81%
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#9fe0fd
RGBrgb(159, 224, 253)
HSLhsl(199, 96%, 81%)
CMYKcmyk(37%, 12%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(85.9 -13.4 -20.6)
LCHlch(85.9 24.6 236.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.873 0.077 227.5)
Decimal10477821
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.878 0.992)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9fe0fd;
background-color: #9fe0fd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fe0fd] bg-[#9fe0fd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fe0fd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.878, blue: 0.992)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9fe0fd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FE0FD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 224, 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 #9fe0fd · 14.55:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.44:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.55:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fe0fd as text scores 1.44:1 on white and 14.55:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9fe0fd on white: 1.44:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fe0fd on black: 14.55:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D1DDFF
deuteranopia · #C3D2FD
tritanopia · #7CE9E9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9fe0fd 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.

#F1FAFD
#E4F4FC
#C1E9FA
#9fe0fd
#5ACAFC
#23B8FA
#05A7F0
#048BC8
#0370A0
#075273
#053348
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F1FAFDDarkest = 950 · #053348
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FAFD;
  --brand-100: #E4F4FC;
  --brand-200: #C1E9FA;
  --brand-300: #9fe0fd;
  --brand-400: #5ACAFC;
  --brand-500: #23B8FA;
  --brand-600: #05A7F0;
  --brand-700: #048BC8;
  --brand-800: #0370A0;
  --brand-900: #075273;
  --brand-950: #053348;
  --brand: #9fe0fd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9fe0fd

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#4B829B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC0D00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#03577D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F7FE
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 #9fe0fd

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#FDBC9F
Analogous left#9FFDEB
Analogous right#9FB1FD
Split-complement 1#FD9FB1
Split-complement 2#FDEB9F
Triadic 1#FD9FE0
Triadic 2#E0FD9F
Tetradic#EB9FFD

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green87.8%
Blue99.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan37.2%
Magenta11.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Color previews

#9fe0fd text on a black background

contrast 14.55:1

Card sample

#9fe0fd text on a white background

contrast 1.44:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9fe0fd;
Background color
Panel with #9fe0fd background
background-color: #9fe0fd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9fe0fd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 224, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 224, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fe0fd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fe0fd, #9FA1FD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fe0fd

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.

#9fe0fd 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.

#9fe0fd, answered

What color is #9fe0fd?

#9fe0fd is a light electric cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 4.6). It sits at 199° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fe0fd?

rgb(159, 224, 253) — 159 red, 224 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 87.8% / 99.2% by channel.

Is #9fe0fd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6777 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 14.55:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9fe0fd?

Black. It scores 14.55:1 against #9fe0fd, versus 1.44:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9fe0fd?

#FDBC9F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FD9FB1 and #FDEB9F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fe0fd?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0DFED for borders, #4B829B for secondary text, #CC0D00 as an accent and #03577D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FFDEB and #9FB1FD stays calm, while #FDBC9F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fe0fd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(37%, 12%, 0%, 1%). 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 #9fe0fd 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 #9FFDF8; nudged cooler, #9ED2FE.

Work with #9fe0fd in the Color Lab