Skip to content

#9bc2f2

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

RGB
155, 194, 242
HSL
213°, 77%, 78%
CMYK
36, 20, 0, 5
Luminance
0.5196

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9bc2f2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9bc2f2
Hue
213°
blue
Saturation
77%
electric
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5196
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.39:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.3
Where it sits
Hue213° of 360°
Saturation77%
Lightness78%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool98% 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#9bc2f2
RGBrgb(155, 194, 242)
HSLhsl(213, 77%, 78%)
CMYKcmyk(36%, 20%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(77.3 -1.5 -27.9)
LCHlch(77.3 27.9 266.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.803 0.080 253.9)
Decimal10207986
Display P3color(display-p3 0.608 0.761 0.949)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9bc2f2;
background-color: #9bc2f2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9bc2f2] bg-[#9bc2f2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9bc2f2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.608, green: 0.761, blue: 0.949)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9bc2f2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9BC2F2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(242, 194, 155)

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 #9bc2f2 · 11.39:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.84:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.39:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9bc2f2 as text scores 1.84:1 on white and 11.39:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9bc2f2 on white: 1.84:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9bc2f2 on black: 11.39:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B0C4F4
deuteranopia · #A6BBF1
tritanopia · #7FCDD2

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9bc2f2 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.

#F3F7FC
#E7EFF9
#C7DCF4
#9bc2f2
#6AA4EC
#3886E5
#1C71D9
#175EB5
#134B90
#123969
#0B2341
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F7FCDarkest = 950 · #0B2341
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F7FC;
  --brand-100: #E7EFF9;
  --brand-200: #C7DCF4;
  --brand-300: #9bc2f2;
  --brand-400: #6AA4EC;
  --brand-500: #3886E5;
  --brand-600: #1C71D9;
  --brand-700: #175EB5;
  --brand-800: #134B90;
  --brand-900: #123969;
  --brand-950: #0B2341;
  --brand: #9bc2f2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9bc2f2

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D4ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B84514
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F3B71
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F1FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141B24
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 #9bc2f2

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
  • 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#F2CB9B
Analogous left#9BEDF2
Analogous right#9F9BF2
Split-complement 1#F29F9B
Split-complement 2#EDF29B
Triadic 1#F29BC2
Triadic 2#C2F29B
Tetradic#F29BED

RGB percentages

Red60.8%
Green76.1%
Blue94.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan36.0%
Magenta19.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.1%

Color previews

#9bc2f2 text on a black background

contrast 11.39:1

Card sample

#9bc2f2 text on a white background

contrast 1.84:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9bc2f2;
Background color
Panel with #9bc2f2 background
background-color: #9bc2f2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9bc2f2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(155, 194, 242, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(155, 194, 242, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9bc2f2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9bc2f2, #AE9BF2);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9bc2f2

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.

#9bc2f2 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

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

#9bc2f2, answered

What color is #9bc2f2?

#9bc2f2 is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.3). It sits at 213° on the hue wheel with 77% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9bc2f2?

rgb(155, 194, 242) — 155 red, 194 green and 242 blue out of 255, or 60.8% / 76.1% / 94.9% by channel.

Is #9bc2f2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5196 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.39:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9bc2f2?

Black. It scores 11.39:1 against #9bc2f2, versus 1.84:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9bc2f2?

#F2CB9B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F29F9B and #EDF29B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9bc2f2?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D4ED for borders, #4B6F9B for secondary text, #B84514 as an accent and #0F3B71 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9BEDF2 and #9F9BF2 stays calm, while #F2CB9B is the loudest partner.

What is #9bc2f2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(36%, 20%, 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 #9bc2f2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 98 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9BA2F2; nudged cooler, #83B6F0.

Work with #9bc2f2 in the Color Lab