Skip to content

#abadce

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

RGB
171, 173, 206
HSL
237°, 26%, 74%
CMYK
17, 16, 0, 19
Luminance
0.4300

At a glance

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

Hex
#abadce
Hue
237°
blue
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4300
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
76/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.60:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 9.8
Where it sits
Hue237° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness74%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool76% cool

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

Every format

HEX#abadce
RGBrgb(171, 173, 206)
HSLhsl(237, 26%, 74%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 16%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(71.6 6.1 -16.9)
LCHlch(71.6 18.0 289.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.757 0.047 282.5)
Decimal11251150
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.678 0.808)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #abadce;
background-color: #abadce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#abadce] bg-[#abadce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #abadce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.678, blue: 0.808)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#abadce")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFABADCE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 173, 171)

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 #abadce · 9.60:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.19:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.60:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #abadce as text scores 2.19:1 on white and 9.60:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#abadce on white: 2.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#abadce on black: 9.60:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A5B0D0
deuteranopia · #A3AECD
tritanopia · #A4B3B8

Color scale — 50 to 950

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

#F6F6F9
#EDEDF3
#D6D7E6
#abadce
#9597C1
#7175AC
#5A5E9B
#4B4E81
#3C3F67
#2E304C
#1D1E30
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1D1E30
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEDF3;
  --brand-200: #D6D7E6;
  --brand-300: #abadce;
  --brand-400: #9597C1;
  --brand-500: #7175AC;
  --brand-600: #5A5E9B;
  --brand-700: #4B4E81;
  --brand-800: #3C3F67;
  --brand-900: #2E304C;
  --brand-950: #1D1E30;
  --brand: #abadce;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #abadce

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#F5F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#CBCDE1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#555891
Captions on the surface
Accent#857247
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F3151
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEFF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151623
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #abadce

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

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#CECCAB
Analogous left#ABBECE
Analogous right#BAABCE
Split-complement 1#CEBAAB
Split-complement 2#BECEAB
Triadic 1#CEABAD
Triadic 2#ADCEAB
Tetradic#CEABBE

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green67.8%
Blue80.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.0%
Magenta16.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Color previews

#abadce text on a black background

contrast 9.60:1

Card sample

#abadce text on a white background

contrast 2.19:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 173, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 173, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #abadce;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #abadce, #C0ABCE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #abadce

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.

#abadce 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.

#abadce, answered

What color is #abadce?

#abadce is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 9.8). It sits at 237° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #abadce?

rgb(171, 173, 206) — 171 red, 173 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 67.8% / 80.8% by channel.

Is #abadce a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4300 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.60:1.

Should I use black or white text on #abadce?

Black. It scores 9.60:1 against #abadce, versus 2.19:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #abadce?

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

What colors go well with #abadce?

For interface work: #F5F6F9 as the surface, #CBCDE1 for borders, #555891 for secondary text, #857247 as an accent and #2F3151 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ABBECE and #BAABCE stays calm, while #CECCAB is the loudest partner.

What is #abadce in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 16%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #abadce warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 76 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B6ABCE; nudged cooler, #AAB9CF.

Work with #abadce in the Color Lab