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blue · cool

#a1addb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
161, 173, 219
HSL
228°, 45%, 75%
CMYK
27, 21, 0, 14
Luminance
0.4258

#a1addb is a light soft blue, 228° on the wheel and 90/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.52:1). As text it scores 2.21:1 on white — use #5B70C0 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(228 45% 75%)rgb(161 173 219)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a1addb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a1addb
Hue
228°
blue
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4258
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.52:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.7
Chroma
25.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.754
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 18.3
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue228° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a1addb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red18%
Green70%
Blue12%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#a1addb
HEX (8-digit)#a1addbff
RGBrgb(161, 173, 219)
RGBArgba(161, 173, 219, 1)
HSLhsl(228, 45%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(228, 26%, 86%)
HWBhwb(228 63% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(27%, 21%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(71.3 6.0 -24.6)
LCHlch(71.3 25.3 283.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.754 0.068 273.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.42, 42.58, 72.99)
Decimal10595803
Display P3color(display-p3 0.631 0.678 0.859)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a1addb;
background-color: #a1addb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a1addb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a1addb] bg-[#a1addb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a1addb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.631, green: 0.678, blue: 0.859)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.631, green: 0.678, blue: 0.859, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A1ADDB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA1ADDB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA1ADDB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(219, 173, 161)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(161, 173, 219)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(161, 173, 219)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 161, 173, 219)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6314f, 0.6784f, 0.8588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{161,173,219}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a1addb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a1addb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#232F5C, #D3D8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a1addb h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-100: #EAEDF5;
  --brand-200: #D1D6EB;
  --brand-300: #a1addb;
  --brand-400: #8595D0;
  --brand-500: #5D71C1;
  --brand-600: #445AB1;
  --brand-700: #394B93;
  --brand-800: #2D3C76;
  --brand-900: #242E56;
  --brand-950: #171D36;
  --brand: #a1addb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C4CCE8;
  --brand-hover: #8796D1;
  --brand-pressed: #6D80C7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141724;
    --brand-ink: #D3D8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F6FA',
        100: '#EAEDF5',
        200: '#D1D6EB',
        300: '#a1addb',
        400: '#8595D0',
        500: '#5D71C1',
        600: '#445AB1',
        700: '#394B93',
        800: '#2D3C76',
        900: '#242E56',
        950: '#171D36',
        DEFAULT: '#a1addb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F6FA,
  '100': #EAEDF5,
  '200': #D1D6EB,
  '300': #a1addb,
  '400': #8595D0,
  '500': #5D71C1,
  '600': #445AB1,
  '700': #394B93,
  '800': #2D3C76,
  '900': #242E56,
  '950': #171D36,
);
$brand-base: #a1addb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F6FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAEDF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1D6EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#a1addb", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8595D0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5D71C1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#445AB1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#394B93", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2D3C76", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#242E56", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#171D36", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

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 #a1addb · 9.52:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.52:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a1addb as text scores 2.21:1 on white and 9.52:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #232F5C at 5.83:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#5B70C0 · 4.64:1
AA on white−19% L
#5B70C0
The quick fox
#3D52A0 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−31% L
#3D52A0
The quick fox
#a1addb · 9.52:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a1addb
The quick fox
#a1addb · 9.52:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a1addb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8090CE is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#a1addb on white: 2.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a1addb on black: 9.52:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a1addb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a1addb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.21:1AaAa
Slate 502.11:1AaAa
Slate 1002.01:1AaAa
Slate 2001.79:1AaAa
Slate 3001.49:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5002.16:1AaAa
Slate 6003.43:1AaAa
Slate 7004.69:1AaAa
Slate 8006.63:1AaAa
Slate 9008.09:1AaAa
Black9.52:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9FB1DD
deuteranopia · #9BACDA
tritanopia · #92B6BC

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #a1addb 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.

#F5F6FA
#EAEDF5
#D1D6EB
#a1addb
#8595D0
#5D71C1
#445AB1
#394B93
#2D3C76
#242E56
#171D36
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F6FADarkest = 950 · #171D36Text step on white = 500
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.017 273.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.027 273.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.041 273.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.053 273.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.062 273.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.068 273.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.068 273.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.064 273.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.057 273.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.047 273.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.037 273.3);
}

Colors that work with #a1addb

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C4CCE8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B5B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#986B34
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#232F5C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDEFF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141724
Dark-mode background
Hover#8796D1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6D80C7
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#AAB7E6
Offset from the fill so it reads
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

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #a1addb

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #232F5C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8090CE

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight26/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

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#DBCFA1
Analogous left#A1CADB
Analogous right#B2A1DB
Split-complement 1#DBB2A1
Split-complement 2#CADBA1
Triadic 1#DBA1AD
Triadic 2#ADDBA1
Tetradic#DBA1CA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°228°

#a1addb sits at 228°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red63.1%
Green67.8%
Blue85.9%
R · 0–255
161
0xa1
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
219
0xdb

CMYK percentages

Cyan26.5%
Magenta21.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 62%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a1addb text on a black background

contrast 9.52:1

Card sample

#a1addb text on a white background

contrast 2.21:1

Card sample

#a1addb on grey

2.01:1

#a1addb on its own surface

2.04:1

#a1addb on its dark surface

8.08:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a1addb;
Background color
Panel with #a1addb background
background-color: #a1addb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a1addb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(161, 173, 219, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(161, 173, 219, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a1addb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a1addb, #BCA1DB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a1addb, #CAA1DB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a1addb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a1addb;
caret-color: #a1addb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a1addb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDEFF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a1addb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a1addb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a1addb over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(161, 173, 219, 0.5)
rgb(161 173 219 / 50%)
#a1addb80
hsl(228 45% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a1addb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a1addb1a#F6F7FB
20%#a1addb33#ECEFF8
40%#a1addb66#D9DEF1
60%#a1addb99#C7CEE9
80%#a1addbcc#B4BDE2

Gradients from #a1addb

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDD4EC, #a1addb 45%, #232F5C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a1addb, #B28BD2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a1addb, #DBCFA1);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E3E7F4 0%, #a1addb 45%, #232F5C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C6E2E9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8B7E3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #232F5C 0%, transparent 65%), #a1addb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a1addb

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

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.

#a1addb 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 9.52:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#a1addb, answered

What color is #a1addb?

#a1addb is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.7). It sits at 228° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a1addb?

rgb(161, 173, 219) — 161 red, 173 green and 219 blue out of 255, or 63.1% / 67.8% / 85.9% by channel.

What is #a1addb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(228, 45%, 75%) and hsv(228, 26%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a1addb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4258 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.52:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a1addb?

Black. It scores 9.52:1 against #a1addb, versus 2.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a1addb accessible on a white background?

#a1addb on white scores 2.21:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5B70C0 to reach 4.5:1, or #3D52A0 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a1addb?

#DBCFA1 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DBB2A1 and #CADBA1, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a1addb?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C4CCE8 for borders, #4B5B9B for secondary text, #986B34 as an accent and #232F5C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A1CADB and #B2A1DB stays calm, while #DBCFA1 is the loudest partner.

What is #a1addb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(27%, 21%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a1addb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AAA1DB; nudged cooler, #A0B9DC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a1addb?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 18.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a1addb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a1addb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a1addb] or text-[#a1addb], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #a1addb with 50% opacity?

rgba(161, 173, 219, 0.5), or #a1addb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D0D6ED; over black, #51576E.

Is #a1addb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 6.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a1addb mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #a1addb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDD4EC, #a1addb 45%, #232F5C). For more colour, a short hue run to #B28BD2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a1addb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a1addb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.