#a0cdce
a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #a0cdce is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.
Every format
| HEX | #a0cdce |
| RGB | rgb(160, 205, 206) |
| HSL | hsl(181, 32%, 72%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(22%, 1%, 0%, 19%) |
| LAB | lab(79.4 -14.4 -5.3) |
| LCH | lch(79.4 15.4 200.3) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.817 0.047 198.0) |
| Decimal | 10538446 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.627 0.804 0.808) |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #a0cdce;
background-color: #a0cdce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a0cdce] bg-[#a0cdce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a0cdce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.627, green: 0.804, blue: 0.808)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#a0cdce")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA0CDCE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 205, 160)Best text color
Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.
Accessibility — WCAG contrast
Color scale — 50 to 950
A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #a0cdce is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.
:root {
--brand-50: #F5F9F9;
--brand-100: #ECF3F4;
--brand-200: #D5E7E7;
--brand-300: #B5D8D9;
--brand-400: #a0cdce;
--brand-500: #6BB1B3;
--brand-600: #53A0A1;
--brand-700: #458587;
--brand-800: #386B6C;
--brand-900: #2B4E4F;
--brand-950: #1B3131;
--brand: #a0cdce;
--brand-ink: #000000;
}Colors that work with #a0cdce
Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.
Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.
Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.
How to use #a0cdce
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓Text and icons on dark surfaces
- ✓Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
- ✓Card and section backgrounds
- ✓Brand accents, badges and data highlights
- ⚠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 | #CEA1A0 | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #A0CEB8 | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #A0B6CE | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #CEA0B6 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #CEB8A0 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #CEA0CD | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #CDCEA0 | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #B8A0CE | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Color previews
#a0cdce text on a black background
contrast 12.12:1
#a0cdce text on a white background
contrast 1.73:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #a0cdce;
background-color: #a0cdce;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a0cdce;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(160, 205, 206, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(160, 205, 206, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #a0cdce; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a0cdce, #A0AECE);
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #a0cdce
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Powder Blue (#b0e0e6) — ΔE2000 5 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#a0cdce in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.
#a0cdce, answered
What color is #a0cdce?
#a0cdce is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 181° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as cool.
What is the RGB value of #a0cdce?
rgb(160, 205, 206) — 160 red, 205 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 62.7% / 80.4% / 80.8% by channel.
Is #a0cdce a light or a dark color?
It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5559 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 12.12:1.
Should I use black or white text on #a0cdce?
Black. It scores 12.12:1 against #a0cdce, versus 1.73:1 for white — AAA at any size.
What is the complementary color of #a0cdce?
#CEA1A0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CEA0B6 and #CEB8A0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #a0cdce?
For interface work: #F5FAFA as the surface, #C9E3E3 for borders, #4E9697 for secondary text, #8B4152 as an accent and #2B5354 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A0CEB8 and #A0B6CE stays calm, while #CEA1A0 is the loudest partner.
What is #a0cdce in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(22%, 1%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.
Is #a0cdce warm or cool?
Cool — it scores 85 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A0CEBE; nudged cooler, #9FBDCF.