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cyan · cool

#a8d7df

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Teal

RGB
168, 215, 223
HSL
189°, 46%, 77%
CMYK
25, 4, 0, 13
Luminance
0.6225

#a8d7df is a light vivid cyan, 189° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.45:1). As text it scores 1.56:1 on white — use #34808D instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(189 46% 77%)rgb(168 215 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a8d7df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a8d7df
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
46%
vivid
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6225
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.45:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 2.2
Chroma
16.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.849
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 14.9
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation46%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a8d7df.

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%
Green78%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#a8d7df
HEX (8-digit)#a8d7dfff
RGBrgb(168, 215, 223)
RGBArgba(168, 215, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(189, 46%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(189, 25%, 87%)
HWBhwb(189 66% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 4%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(83.0 -13.4 -8.9)
LCHlch(83.0 16.1 213.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.849 0.050 209.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.76, 62.25, 78.98)
Decimal11065311
Display P3color(display-p3 0.659 0.843 0.875)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a8d7df;
background-color: #a8d7df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a8d7df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a8d7df] bg-[#a8d7df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a8d7df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.659, green: 0.843, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.659, green: 0.843, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A8D7DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA8D7DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA8D7DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 215, 168)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(168, 215, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(168, 215, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 168, 215, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6588f, 0.8431f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{168,215,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a8d7df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a8d7df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#22555D, #D3EAEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a8d7df 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: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF4F5;
  --brand-200: #D0E7EB;
  --brand-300: #a8d7df;
  --brand-400: #84C6D2;
  --brand-500: #5BB4C3;
  --brand-600: #42A3B3;
  --brand-700: #378795;
  --brand-800: #2C6C77;
  --brand-900: #235057;
  --brand-950: #163237;
  --brand: #a8d7df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C3E4E9;
  --brand-hover: #8ECBD5;
  --brand-pressed: #74BFCC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142224;
    --brand-ink: #D3EAEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9FA',
        100: '#EAF4F5',
        200: '#D0E7EB',
        300: '#a8d7df',
        400: '#84C6D2',
        500: '#5BB4C3',
        600: '#42A3B3',
        700: '#378795',
        800: '#2C6C77',
        900: '#235057',
        950: '#163237',
        DEFAULT: '#a8d7df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9FA,
  '100': #EAF4F5,
  '200': #D0E7EB,
  '300': #a8d7df,
  '400': #84C6D2,
  '500': #5BB4C3,
  '600': #42A3B3,
  '700': #378795,
  '800': #2C6C77,
  '900': #235057,
  '950': #163237,
);
$brand-base: #a8d7df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F9FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF4F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D0E7EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#a8d7df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#84C6D2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5BB4C3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#42A3B3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#378795", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2C6C77", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#235057", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#163237", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a8d7df · 13.45:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.56:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a8d7df as text scores 1.56:1 on white and 13.45:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #22555D at 5.33:1.

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
#34808D · 4.55:1
AA on white−39% L
#34808D
The quick fox
#265E67 · 7.29:1
AAA on white−49% L
#265E67
The quick fox
#a8d7df · 13.45:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a8d7df
The quick fox
#a8d7df · 13.45:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a8d7df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #409EAE 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
#a8d7df on white: 1.56:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a8d7df on black: 13.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a8d7df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a8d7df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.56:1AaAa
Slate 501.49:1AaAa
Slate 1001.43:1AaAa
Slate 2001.27:1AaAa
Slate 3001.05:1AaAa
Slate 4001.64:1AaAa
Slate 5003.05:1AaAa
Slate 6004.85:1AaAa
Slate 7006.63:1AaAa
Slate 8009.37:1AaAa
Slate 90011.43:1AaAa
Black13.45:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CFD3E0
deuteranopia · #C5CCDF
tritanopia · #97DBD9

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. #a8d7df 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.

#F5F9FA
#EAF4F5
#D0E7EB
#a8d7df
#84C6D2
#5BB4C3
#42A3B3
#378795
#2C6C77
#235057
#163237
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #163237Text 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 0.013 209.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.020 209.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.030 209.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.039 209.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.046 209.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.050 209.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.050 209.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.047 209.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.042 209.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.035 209.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.028 209.1);
}

Colors that work with #a8d7df

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C3E4E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#99333E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#22555D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF6F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
Dark-mode background
Hover#8ECBD5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#74BFCC
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B2E1E9
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 #a8d7df

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 #22555D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #409EAE

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
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#DFB0A8
Analogous left#A8DFCC
Analogous right#A8BCDF
Split-complement 1#DFA8BC
Split-complement 2#DFCCA8
Triadic 1#DFA8D7
Triadic 2#D7DFA8
Tetradic#CCA8DF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°189°

#a8d7df sits at 189°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red65.9%
Green84.3%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
168
0xa8
G · 0–255
215
0xd7
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.7%
Magenta3.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 41%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a8d7df text on a black background

contrast 13.45:1

Card sample

#a8d7df text on a white background

contrast 1.56:1

Card sample

#a8d7df on grey

1.43:1

#a8d7df on its own surface

1.48:1

#a8d7df on its dark surface

10.48:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a8d7df;
Background color
Panel with #a8d7df background
background-color: #a8d7df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a8d7df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(168, 215, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(168, 215, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a8d7df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a8d7df, #A8B2DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a8d7df, #ACA8DF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a8d7df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a8d7df;
caret-color: #a8d7df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a8d7df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF6F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a8d7df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a8d7df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a8d7df 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(168, 215, 223, 0.5)
rgb(168 215 223 / 50%)
#a8d7df80
hsl(189 46% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a8d7df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a8d7df1a#F6FBFC
20%#a8d7df33#EEF7F9
40%#a8d7df66#DCEFF2
60%#a8d7df99#CBE7EC
80%#a8d7dfcc#B9DFE5

Gradients from #a8d7df

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, #D5ECEF, #a8d7df 45%, #22555D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a8d7df, #9299D7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a8d7df, #DFB0A8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBF6F8 0%, #a8d7df 45%, #22555D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CDEDDF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BFCAE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #22555D 0%, transparent 65%), #a8d7df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a8d7df

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.

#a8d7df 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 13.45:1.

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.

#a8d7df, answered

What color is #a8d7df?

#a8d7df is a light vivid cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 2.2). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 46% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a8d7df?

rgb(168, 215, 223) — 168 red, 215 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 65.9% / 84.3% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #a8d7df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(189, 46%, 77%) and hsv(189, 25%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a8d7df a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6225 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a8d7df?

Black. It scores 13.45:1 against #a8d7df, versus 1.56:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a8d7df accessible on a white background?

#a8d7df on white scores 1.56:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #34808D to reach 4.5:1, or #265E67 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a8d7df?

#DFB0A8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFA8BC and #DFCCA8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a8d7df?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C3E4E9 for borders, #4B8F9B for secondary text, #99333E as an accent and #22555D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A8DFCC and #A8BCDF stays calm, while #DFB0A8 is the loudest partner.

What is #a8d7df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 4%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a8d7df 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 #A8DFD3; nudged cooler, #A7C7E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a8d7df?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 14.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a8d7df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a8d7df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a8d7df] or text-[#a8d7df], 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 #a8d7df with 50% opacity?

rgba(168, 215, 223, 0.5), or #a8d7df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D4EBEF; over black, #546C70.

Is #a8d7df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a8d7df 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 #a8d7df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5ECEF, #a8d7df 45%, #22555D). For more colour, a short hue run to #9299D7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a8d7df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a8d7df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.