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#9fd3ff

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

RGB
159, 211, 255
HSL
208°, 100%, 81%
CMYK
38, 17, 0, 0
Luminance
0.6118

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9fd3ff is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9fd3ff
Hue
208°
blue
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6118
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
99/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.24:1
Closest name
Light Sky Blue
ΔE2000 3.9
Where it sits
Hue208° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness81%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool99% 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#9fd3ff
RGBrgb(159, 211, 255)
HSLhsl(208, 100%, 81%)
CMYKcmyk(38%, 17%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(82.5 -6.2 -26.8)
LCHlch(82.5 27.6 257.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.846 0.082 244.5)
Decimal10474495
Display P3color(display-p3 0.624 0.827 1.000)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #9fd3ff;
background-color: #9fd3ff;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9fd3ff] bg-[#9fd3ff]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9fd3ff;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.624, green: 0.827, blue: 1.000)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#9fd3ff")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9FD3FF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(255, 211, 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 #9fd3ff · 13.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9fd3ff as text scores 1.59:1 on white and 13.24:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9fd3ff on white: 1.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9fd3ff on black: 13.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C1D3FF
deuteranopia · #B5C9FE
tritanopia · #7DDDE1

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9fd3ff 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.

#F1F8FE
#E3F1FC
#C0E0FC
#9fd3ff
#57B2FF
#1F98FF
#0085F5
#006ECC
#0058A3
#054276
#032949
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F1F8FEDarkest = 950 · #032949
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1F8FE;
  --brand-100: #E3F1FC;
  --brand-200: #C0E0FC;
  --brand-300: #9fd3ff;
  --brand-400: #57B2FF;
  --brand-500: #1F98FF;
  --brand-600: #0085F5;
  --brand-700: #006ECC;
  --brand-800: #0058A3;
  --brand-900: #054276;
  --brand-950: #032949;
  --brand: #9fd3ff;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #9fd3ff

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#F4F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B769B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC2B00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#004580
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E5F3FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
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 #9fd3ff

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#FFCB9F
Analogous left#9FFFFB
Analogous right#9FA3FF
Split-complement 1#FF9FA3
Split-complement 2#FFFB9F
Triadic 1#FF9FD3
Triadic 2#D3FF9F
Tetradic#FB9FFF

RGB percentages

Red62.4%
Green82.7%
Blue100.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan37.6%
Magenta17.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.0%

Color previews

#9fd3ff text on a black background

contrast 13.24:1

Card sample

#9fd3ff text on a white background

contrast 1.59:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9fd3ff;
Background color
Panel with #9fd3ff background
background-color: #9fd3ff;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9fd3ff;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(159, 211, 255, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(159, 211, 255, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9fd3ff;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9fd3ff, #AB9FFF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9fd3ff

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.

#9fd3ff 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.

#9fd3ff, answered

What color is #9fd3ff?

#9fd3ff is a light electric blue, closest to Light Sky Blue (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 208° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9fd3ff?

rgb(159, 211, 255) — 159 red, 211 green and 255 blue out of 255, or 62.4% / 82.7% / 100% by channel.

Is #9fd3ff a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6118 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9fd3ff?

Black. It scores 13.24:1 against #9fd3ff, versus 1.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #9fd3ff?

#FFCB9F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FF9FA3 and #FFFB9F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9fd3ff?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0D8ED for borders, #4B769B for secondary text, #CC2B00 as an accent and #004580 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9FFFFB and #9FA3FF stays calm, while #FFCB9F is the loudest partner.

What is #9fd3ff in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(38%, 17%, 0%, 0%). 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 #9fd3ff warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 99 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9FB0FF; nudged cooler, #86C2FF.

Work with #9fd3ff in the Color Lab