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blue · cool

#a2acb5

a light, muted blue · cool · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: Linen Harbour

RGB
162, 172, 181
HSL
208°, 11%, 67%
CMYK
11, 5, 0, 29
Luminance
0.4052

#a2acb5 is a light muted blue, 208° on the wheel and 66/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.10:1). As text it scores 2.31:1 on white — use #697784 instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(208 11% 67%)rgb(162 172 181)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a2acb5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a2acb5
Hue
208°
blue
Saturation
11%
muted
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4052
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
66/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
9.10:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 5.6
Chroma
6.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.739
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 18.7
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue208° of 360°
Saturation11%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a2acb5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool66% 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
Red19%
Green73%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#a2acb5
HEX (8-digit)#a2acb5ff
RGBrgb(162, 172, 181)
RGBArgba(162, 172, 181, 1)
HSLhsl(208, 11%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(208, 10%, 71%)
HWBhwb(208 64% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(11%, 5%, 0%, 29%)
LABlab(69.8 -1.7 -5.8)
LCHlch(69.8 6.0 253.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.739 0.017 245.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.99, 40.52, 49.53)
Decimal10661045
Display P3color(display-p3 0.635 0.675 0.710)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a2acb5;
background-color: #a2acb5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a2acb5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a2acb5] bg-[#a2acb5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a2acb5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.635, green: 0.675, blue: 0.710)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.635, green: 0.675, blue: 0.710, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A2ACB5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA2ACB5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA2ACB5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(181, 172, 162)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(162, 172, 181)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(162, 172, 181)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 162, 172, 181)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6353f, 0.6745f, 0.7098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{162,172,181}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a2acb5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a2acb5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#384047, #DDE1E4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a2acb5 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: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF0F1;
  --brand-200: #DBDEE1;
  --brand-300: #C1C7CD;
  --brand-400: #a2acb5;
  --brand-500: #828F9C;
  --brand-600: #6C7B88;
  --brand-700: #5A6772;
  --brand-800: #48525B;
  --brand-900: #373E44;
  --brand-950: #22262A;
  --brand: #a2acb5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D2D6DB;
  --brand-hover: #8E9AA5;
  --brand-pressed: #7A8995;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191C1F;
    --brand-ink: #DDE1E4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#EEF0F1',
        200: '#DBDEE1',
        300: '#C1C7CD',
        400: '#a2acb5',
        500: '#828F9C',
        600: '#6C7B88',
        700: '#5A6772',
        800: '#48525B',
        900: '#373E44',
        950: '#22262A',
        DEFAULT: '#a2acb5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #EEF0F1,
  '200': #DBDEE1,
  '300': #C1C7CD,
  '400': #a2acb5,
  '500': #828F9C,
  '600': #6C7B88,
  '700': #5A6772,
  '800': #48525B,
  '900': #373E44,
  '950': #22262A,
);
$brand-base: #a2acb5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF0F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DBDEE1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C1C7CD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#a2acb5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#828F9C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6C7B88", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5A6772", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#48525B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#373E44", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#22262A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a2acb5 · 9.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.31:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a2acb5 as text scores 2.31:1 on white and 9.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #384047 at 4.57:1.

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
#697784 · 4.59:1
AA on white−21% L
#697784
The quick fox
#4D5861 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−33% L
#4D5861
The quick fox
#a2acb5 · 9.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a2acb5
The quick fox
#a2acb5 · 9.10:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a2acb5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8995A1 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
#a2acb5 on white: 2.31:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a2acb5 on black: 9.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a2acb5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a2acb5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.31:1AaAa
Slate 502.20:1AaAa
Slate 1002.11:1AaAa
Slate 2001.87:1AaAa
Slate 3001.55:1AaAa
Slate 4001.11:1AaAa
Slate 5002.06:1AaAa
Slate 6003.29:1AaAa
Slate 7004.49:1AaAa
Slate 8006.34:1AaAa
Slate 9007.74:1AaAa
Black9.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A9ACB5
deuteranopia · #A6AAB5
tritanopia · #9DAEAF

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. #a2acb5 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.

#F7F7F8
#EEF0F1
#DBDEE1
#C1C7CD
#a2acb5
#828F9C
#6C7B88
#5A6772
#48525B
#373E44
#22262A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #22262AText step on white = 700
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 0.004 245.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.007 245.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.010 245.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.013 245.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.016 245.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.017 245.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.017 245.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.016 245.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.014 245.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.012 245.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.009 245.2);
}

Colors that work with #a2acb5

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#F6F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D2D6DB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#667380
Captions on the surface
Accent#755E57
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#384047
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F2F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191C1F
Dark-mode background
Hover#8E9AA5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7A8995
Two steps down
Disabled#E1E4E7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A6B7C5
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 #a2acb5

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading 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 #384047
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8995A1

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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight33/100
  • 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#B5ABA2
Analogous left#A2B5B5
Analogous right#A2A3B5
Split-complement 1#B5A2A3
Split-complement 2#B5B5A2
Triadic 1#B5A2AC
Triadic 2#ACB5A2
Tetradic#B5A2B5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°208°

#a2acb5 sits at 208°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red63.5%
Green67.5%
Blue71.0%
R · 0–255
162
0xa2
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
181
0xb5

CMYK percentages

Cyan10.5%
Magenta5.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)29.0%

Total ink coverage is 45%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a2acb5 text on a black background

contrast 9.10:1

Card sample

#a2acb5 text on a white background

contrast 2.31:1

Card sample

#a2acb5 on grey

2.11:1

#a2acb5 on its own surface

2.15:1

#a2acb5 on its dark surface

7.42:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a2acb5;
Background color
Panel with #a2acb5 background
background-color: #a2acb5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a2acb5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(162, 172, 181, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(162, 172, 181, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a2acb5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a2acb5, #A5A2B5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a2acb5, #AAA2B5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a2acb5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a2acb5;
caret-color: #a2acb5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a2acb5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1F2F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a2acb5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a2acb5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a2acb5 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(162, 172, 181, 0.5)
rgb(162 172 181 / 50%)
#a2acb580
hsl(208 11% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a2acb5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a2acb51a#F6F7F8
20%#a2acb533#ECEEF0
40%#a2acb566#DADEE1
60%#a2acb599#C7CDD3
80%#a2acb5cc#B5BDC4

Gradients from #a2acb5

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, #C4CBD0, #a2acb5 45%, #384047);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a2acb5, #9691A8);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a2acb5, #B5ABA2);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D5DADE 0%, #a2acb5 45%, #384047 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BFCCCA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B4B3C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #384047 0%, transparent 65%), #a2acb5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a2acb5

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.

#a2acb5 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 9.10:1.

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.

#a2acb5, answered

What color is #a2acb5?

#a2acb5 is a light muted blue, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 208° on the hue wheel with 11% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a2acb5?

rgb(162, 172, 181) — 162 red, 172 green and 181 blue out of 255, or 63.5% / 67.5% / 71% by channel.

What is #a2acb5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(208, 11%, 67%) and hsv(208, 10%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a2acb5 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4052 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a2acb5?

Black. It scores 9.10:1 against #a2acb5, versus 2.31:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a2acb5 accessible on a white background?

#a2acb5 on white scores 2.31:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #697784 to reach 4.5:1, or #4D5861 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a2acb5?

#B5ABA2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B5A2A3 and #B5B5A2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a2acb5?

For interface work: #F6F7F8 as the surface, #D2D6DB for borders, #667380 for secondary text, #755E57 as an accent and #384047 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A2B5B5 and #A2A3B5 stays calm, while #B5ABA2 is the loudest partner.

What is #a2acb5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(11%, 5%, 0%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a2acb5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 66 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A2A5B5; nudged cooler, #929EAC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a2acb5?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 18.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a2acb5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a2acb5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a2acb5] or text-[#a2acb5], 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 #a2acb5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(162, 172, 181, 0.5), or #a2acb580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D1D6DA; over black, #51565B.

Is #a2acb5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 14.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a2acb5 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #a2acb5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C4CBD0, #a2acb5 45%, #384047). For more colour, a short hue run to #9691A8 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a2acb5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a2acb5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.