Skip to content
cyan · cool

#a3d6df

a light, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue

Token name suggestion: Meadow Reef

RGB
163, 214, 223
HSL
189°, 48%, 76%
CMYK
27, 4, 0, 13
Luminance
0.6121

#a3d6df is a light vivid cyan, 189° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.24:1). As text it scores 1.59:1 on white — use #307D8B instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(189 48% 76%)rgb(163 214 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a3d6df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a3d6df
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
48%
vivid
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6121
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.24:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 2.7
Chroma
17.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.844
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 14.1
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation48%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a3d6df.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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
Red13%
Green79%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#a3d6df
HEX (8-digit)#a3d6dfff
RGBrgb(163, 214, 223)
RGBArgba(163, 214, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(189, 48%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(189, 27%, 87%)
HWBhwb(189 64% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(27%, 4%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(82.5 -14.4 -9.8)
LCHlch(82.5 17.4 214.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.844 0.054 209.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(52.47, 61.20, 78.85)
Decimal10737375
Display P3color(display-p3 0.639 0.839 0.875)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a3d6df;
background-color: #a3d6df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a3d6df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a3d6df] bg-[#a3d6df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a3d6df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.639, green: 0.839, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.639, green: 0.839, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A3D6DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA3D6DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA3D6DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 214, 163)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(163, 214, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(163, 214, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 163, 214, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6392f, 0.8392f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{163,214,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a3d6df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a3d6df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#21555F, #D3EAEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a3d6df 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: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF4F5;
  --brand-200: #D0E8EC;
  --brand-300: #a3d6df;
  --brand-400: #82C7D4;
  --brand-500: #58B5C5;
  --brand-600: #3FA4B6;
  --brand-700: #358997;
  --brand-800: #2A6D79;
  --brand-900: #225058;
  --brand-950: #153237;
  --brand: #a3d6df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C2E4EA;
  --brand-hover: #89CAD6;
  --brand-pressed: #6EBECD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142224;
    --brand-ink: #D3EAEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F9FA',
        100: '#EAF4F5',
        200: '#D0E8EC',
        300: '#a3d6df',
        400: '#82C7D4',
        500: '#58B5C5',
        600: '#3FA4B6',
        700: '#358997',
        800: '#2A6D79',
        900: '#225058',
        950: '#153237',
        DEFAULT: '#a3d6df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F9FA,
  '100': #EAF4F5,
  '200': #D0E8EC,
  '300': #a3d6df,
  '400': #82C7D4,
  '500': #58B5C5,
  '600': #3FA4B6,
  '700': #358997,
  '800': #2A6D79,
  '900': #225058,
  '950': #153237,
);
$brand-base: #a3d6df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F9FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF4F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D0E8EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#a3d6df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#82C7D4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#58B5C5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3FA4B6", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#358997", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2A6D79", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#225058", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#153237", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a3d6df · 13.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
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: #a3d6df as text scores 1.59:1 on white and 13.24:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #21555F at 5.24:1.

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
#307D8B · 4.74:1
AA on white−39% L
#307D8B
The quick fox
#245F69 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−48% L
#245F69
The quick fox
#a3d6df · 13.24:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a3d6df
The quick fox
#a3d6df · 13.24:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a3d6df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3D9FB1 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
#a3d6df on white: 1.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a3d6df on black: 13.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a3d6df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a3d6df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.59:1AaAa
Slate 501.52:1AaAa
Slate 1001.45:1AaAa
Slate 2001.29:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.62:1AaAa
Slate 5003.00:1AaAa
Slate 6004.78:1AaAa
Slate 7006.53:1AaAa
Slate 8009.22:1AaAa
Slate 90011.26:1AaAa
Black13.24:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CDD2E0
deuteranopia · #C3CADF
tritanopia · #8FDBD9

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. #a3d6df 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.

#F4F9FA
#EAF4F5
#D0E8EC
#a3d6df
#82C7D4
#58B5C5
#3FA4B6
#358997
#2A6D79
#225058
#153237
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F4F9FADarkest = 950 · #153237Text step on white = 800
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 0.014 209.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 209.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.032 209.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.042 209.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.050 209.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.054 209.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.054 209.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.051 209.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.045 209.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.038 209.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.030 209.5);
}

Colors that work with #a3d6df

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C2E4EA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9C303A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#21555F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF7F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
Dark-mode background
Hover#89CAD6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6EBECD
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#ADE0E9
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 #a3d6df

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #21555F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #3D9FB1

Meaning and mood

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

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#DFACA3
Analogous left#A3DFCA
Analogous right#A3B8DF
Split-complement 1#DFA3B8
Split-complement 2#DFCAA3
Triadic 1#DFA3D6
Triadic 2#D6DFA3
Tetradic#CAA3DF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°189°

#a3d6df sits at 189°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red63.9%
Green83.9%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
163
0xa3
G · 0–255
214
0xd6
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan26.9%
Magenta4.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 43%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a3d6df text on a black background

contrast 13.24:1

Card sample

#a3d6df text on a white background

contrast 1.59:1

Card sample

#a3d6df on grey

1.45:1

#a3d6df on its own surface

1.49:1

#a3d6df on its dark surface

10.31:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a3d6df;
Background color
Panel with #a3d6df background
background-color: #a3d6df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a3d6df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(163, 214, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(163, 214, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a3d6df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a3d6df, #A3AEDF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a3d6df, #A7A3DF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a3d6df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a3d6df;
caret-color: #a3d6df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a3d6df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF7F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a3d6df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a3d6df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a3d6df 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(163, 214, 223, 0.5)
rgb(163 214 223 / 50%)
#a3d6df80
hsl(189 48% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a3d6df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a3d6df1a#F6FBFC
20%#a3d6df33#EDF7F9
40%#a3d6df66#DAEFF2
60%#a3d6df99#C8E6EC
80%#a3d6dfcc#B5DEE5

Gradients from #a3d6df

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, #D0EAEF, #a3d6df 45%, #21555F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a3d6df, #8C94D7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a3d6df, #DFACA3);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E7F4F7 0%, #a3d6df 45%, #21555F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C9ECDD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BAC6E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #21555F 0%, transparent 65%), #a3d6df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a3d6df

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.

#a3d6df in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
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 13.24:1.

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.

#a3d6df, answered

What color is #a3d6df?

#a3d6df is a light vivid cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 2.7). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 48% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a3d6df?

rgb(163, 214, 223) — 163 red, 214 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 63.9% / 83.9% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #a3d6df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(189, 48%, 76%) and hsv(189, 27%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a3d6df a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6121 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 13.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a3d6df?

Black. It scores 13.24:1 against #a3d6df, versus 1.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a3d6df accessible on a white background?

#a3d6df on white scores 1.59:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #307D8B to reach 4.5:1, or #245F69 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a3d6df?

#DFACA3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFA3B8 and #DFCAA3, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a3d6df?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C2E4EA for borders, #4B8F9B for secondary text, #9C303A as an accent and #21555F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A3DFCA and #A3B8DF stays calm, while #DFACA3 is the loudest partner.

What is #a3d6df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(27%, 4%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a3d6df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A3DFD2; nudged cooler, #A2C5E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a3d6df?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 14.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a3d6df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a3d6df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a3d6df] or text-[#a3d6df], 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 #a3d6df with 50% opacity?

rgba(163, 214, 223, 0.5), or #a3d6df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D1EBEF; over black, #526B70.

Is #a3d6df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a3d6df mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #a3d6df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D0EAEF, #a3d6df 45%, #21555F). For more colour, a short hue run to #8C94D7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a3d6df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a3d6df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.