Skip to content
blue · cool

#abc3e6

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Sapphire

RGB
171, 195, 230
HSL
216°, 54%, 79%
CMYK
26, 15, 0, 10
Luminance
0.5340

#abc3e6 is a light vivid blue, 216° on the wheel and 97/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.68:1). As text it scores 1.80:1 on white — use #3D74C5 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(216 54% 79%)rgb(171 195 230)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #abc3e6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#abc3e6
Hue
216°
blue
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
90%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5340
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.68:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 2.7
Chroma
20.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.811
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 17.5
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue216° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #abc3e6.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% 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
Red16%
Green73%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#abc3e6
HEX (8-digit)#abc3e6ff
RGBrgb(171, 195, 230)
RGBArgba(171, 195, 230, 1)
HSLhsl(216, 54%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(216, 26%, 90%)
HWBhwb(216 67% 10%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 15%, 0%, 10%)
LABlab(78.1 -0.4 -20.1)
LCHlch(78.1 20.1 268.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.811 0.056 257.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.59, 53.40, 82.49)
Decimal11256806
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.765 0.902)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #abc3e6;
background-color: #abc3e6;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #abc3e6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#abc3e6] bg-[#abc3e6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #abc3e6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.765, blue: 0.902)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.671, green: 0.765, blue: 0.902, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ABC3E6</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFABC3E6)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFABC3E6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(230, 195, 171)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(171, 195, 230)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(171, 195, 230)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 171, 195, 230)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6706f, 0.7647f, 0.9020f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{171,195,230}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #abc3e6 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #abc3e6 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1D3962, #D3DEEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #abc3e6 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: #F4F7FB;
  --brand-100: #E9EEF6;
  --brand-200: #CEDBEE;
  --brand-300: #abc3e6;
  --brand-400: #7DA2D8;
  --brand-500: #5283CC;
  --brand-600: #386EBD;
  --brand-700: #2F5C9D;
  --brand-800: #25497E;
  --brand-900: #1F385C;
  --brand-950: #132339;
  --brand: #abc3e6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D2EC;
  --brand-hover: #8FAFDE;
  --brand-pressed: #749CD6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DEEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F7FB',
        100: '#E9EEF6',
        200: '#CEDBEE',
        300: '#abc3e6',
        400: '#7DA2D8',
        500: '#5283CC',
        600: '#386EBD',
        700: '#2F5C9D',
        800: '#25497E',
        900: '#1F385C',
        950: '#132339',
        DEFAULT: '#abc3e6',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F7FB,
  '100': #E9EEF6,
  '200': #CEDBEE,
  '300': #abc3e6,
  '400': #7DA2D8,
  '500': #5283CC,
  '600': #386EBD,
  '700': #2F5C9D,
  '800': #25497E,
  '900': #1F385C,
  '950': #132339,
);
$brand-base: #abc3e6;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9EEF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEDBEE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#abc3e6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7DA2D8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5283CC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#386EBD", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2F5C9D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#25497E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1F385C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#132339", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #abc3e6 · 11.68:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.80:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.68:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #abc3e6 as text scores 1.80:1 on white and 11.68:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1D3962 at 6.44:1.

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
#3D74C5 · 4.66:1
AA on white−28% L
#3D74C5
The quick fox
#2D5898 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−40% L
#2D5898
The quick fox
#abc3e6 · 11.68:1
AA on blackalready passes
#abc3e6
The quick fox
#abc3e6 · 11.68:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#abc3e6

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6C96D3 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
#abc3e6 on white: 1.80:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#abc3e6 on black: 11.68:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #abc3e6 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #abc3e6.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.80:1AaAa
Slate 501.72:1AaAa
Slate 1001.64:1AaAa
Slate 2001.46:1AaAa
Slate 3001.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.43:1AaAa
Slate 5002.65:1AaAa
Slate 6004.21:1AaAa
Slate 7005.76:1AaAa
Slate 8008.14:1AaAa
Slate 9009.93:1AaAa
Black11.68:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7C4E8
deuteranopia · #B1BFE5
tritanopia · #9BCACE

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. #abc3e6 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.

#F4F7FB
#E9EEF6
#CEDBEE
#abc3e6
#7DA2D8
#5283CC
#386EBD
#2F5C9D
#25497E
#1F385C
#132339
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F4F7FBDarkest = 950 · #132339Text step on white = 600
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 0.014 257.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 257.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 257.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 257.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 257.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.056 257.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.056 257.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.053 257.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.047 257.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 257.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 257.7);
}

Colors that work with #abc3e6

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D2EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A1522B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1D3962
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF1F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#8FAFDE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#749CD6
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B6CDEF
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 #abc3e6

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
  • 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 #1D3962
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6C96D3

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.

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

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight21/100
  • 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#E6CEAB
Analogous left#ABE0E6
Analogous right#B0ABE6
Split-complement 1#E6B0AB
Split-complement 2#E0E6AB
Triadic 1#E6ABC3
Triadic 2#C3E6AB
Tetradic#E6ABE0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°216°

#abc3e6 sits at 216°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green76.5%
Blue90.2%
R · 0–255
171
0xab
G · 0–255
195
0xc3
B · 0–255
230
0xe6

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.7%
Magenta15.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)9.8%

Total ink coverage is 51%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#abc3e6 text on a black background

contrast 11.68:1

Card sample

#abc3e6 text on a white background

contrast 1.80:1

Card sample

#abc3e6 on grey

1.64:1

#abc3e6 on its own surface

1.67:1

#abc3e6 on its dark surface

9.71:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #abc3e6;
Background color
Panel with #abc3e6 background
background-color: #abc3e6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #abc3e6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 195, 230, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 195, 230, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #abc3e6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #abc3e6, #BAABE6);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #abc3e6, #C9ABE6);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #abc3e6;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #abc3e6;
caret-color: #abc3e6;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #abc3e6;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF1F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #abc3e6;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#abc3e6 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #abc3e6 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(171, 195, 230, 0.5)
rgb(171 195 230 / 50%)
#abc3e680
hsl(216 54% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #abc3e6 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#abc3e61a#F7F9FD
20%#abc3e633#EEF3FA
40%#abc3e666#DDE7F5
60%#abc3e699#CDDBF0
80%#abc3e6cc#BCCFEB

Gradients from #abc3e6

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, #DAE5F4, #abc3e6 45%, #1D3962);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #abc3e6, #AD93DF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #abc3e6, #E6CEAB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F5FB 0%, #abc3e6 45%, #1D3962 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D2F1F2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CAC2ED 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1D3962 0%, transparent 65%), #abc3e6;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #abc3e6

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.

#abc3e6 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 11.68:1.

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.

#abc3e6, answered

What color is #abc3e6?

#abc3e6 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 2.7). It sits at 216° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #abc3e6?

rgb(171, 195, 230) — 171 red, 195 green and 230 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 76.5% / 90.2% by channel.

What is #abc3e6 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(216, 54%, 79%) and hsv(216, 26%, 90%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #abc3e6 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5340 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.68:1.

Should I use black or white text on #abc3e6?

Black. It scores 11.68:1 against #abc3e6, versus 1.80:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #abc3e6 accessible on a white background?

#abc3e6 on white scores 1.80:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3D74C5 to reach 4.5:1, or #2D5898 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #abc3e6?

#E6CEAB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E6B0AB and #E0E6AB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #abc3e6?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D2EC for borders, #4B6B9B for secondary text, #A1522B as an accent and #1D3962 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ABE0E6 and #B0ABE6 stays calm, while #E6CEAB is the loudest partner.

What is #abc3e6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 15%, 0%, 10%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #abc3e6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ABADE6; nudged cooler, #96B8E1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #abc3e6?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 17.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #abc3e6 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #abc3e6 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#abc3e6] or text-[#abc3e6], 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 #abc3e6 with 50% opacity?

rgba(171, 195, 230, 0.5), or #abc3e680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D5E1F3; over black, #566273.

Is #abc3e6 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 6.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #abc3e6 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #abc3e6?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAE5F4, #abc3e6 45%, #1D3962). For more colour, a short hue run to #AD93DF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #abc3e6 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #abc3e6 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.