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blue · cool

#acbfe5

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Sapphire

RGB
172, 191, 229
HSL
220°, 52%, 79%
CMYK
25, 17, 0, 10
Luminance
0.5169

#acbfe5 is a light vivid blue, 220° on the wheel and 94/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.34:1). As text it scores 1.85:1 on white — use #4B74C7 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(220 52% 79%)rgb(172 191 229)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #acbfe5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#acbfe5
Hue
220°
blue
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
90%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5169
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
94/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.34:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 4.1
Chroma
21.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.803
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 18.8
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue220° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #acbfe5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool94% 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
Red17%
Green72%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#acbfe5
HEX (8-digit)#acbfe5ff
RGBrgb(172, 191, 229)
RGBArgba(172, 191, 229, 1)
HSLhsl(220, 52%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(220, 25%, 90%)
HWBhwb(220 67% 10%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 17%, 0%, 10%)
LABlab(77.1 1.8 -21.1)
LCHlch(77.1 21.1 274.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.803 0.058 264.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.78, 51.69, 81.47)
Decimal11321317
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.749 0.898)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #acbfe5;
background-color: #acbfe5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #acbfe5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#acbfe5] bg-[#acbfe5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #acbfe5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.749, blue: 0.898)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.749, blue: 0.898, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ACBFE5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFACBFE5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFACBFE5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(229, 191, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 191, 229)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 191, 229)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 191, 229)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.7490f, 0.8980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,191,229}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #acbfe5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #acbfe5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1E3561, #D3DCEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #acbfe5 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: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-100: #E9EEF6;
  --brand-200: #CFD9ED;
  --brand-300: #acbfe5;
  --brand-400: #7F9CD7;
  --brand-500: #547BC9;
  --brand-600: #3A65BA;
  --brand-700: #31549B;
  --brand-800: #27437C;
  --brand-900: #20335B;
  --brand-950: #142039;
  --brand: #acbfe5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C1CFEC;
  --brand-hover: #91AADC;
  --brand-pressed: #7695D4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D3DCEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F6FA',
        100: '#E9EEF6',
        200: '#CFD9ED',
        300: '#acbfe5',
        400: '#7F9CD7',
        500: '#547BC9',
        600: '#3A65BA',
        700: '#31549B',
        800: '#27437C',
        900: '#20335B',
        950: '#142039',
        DEFAULT: '#acbfe5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F6FA,
  '100': #E9EEF6,
  '200': #CFD9ED,
  '300': #acbfe5,
  '400': #7F9CD7,
  '500': #547BC9,
  '600': #3A65BA,
  '700': #31549B,
  '800': #27437C,
  '900': #20335B,
  '950': #142039,
);
$brand-base: #acbfe5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F6FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9EEF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CFD9ED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#acbfe5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7F9CD7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#547BC9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3A65BA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#31549B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#27437C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#20335B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#142039", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #acbfe5 · 11.34:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.85:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #acbfe5 as text scores 1.85:1 on white and 11.34:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1E3561 at 6.53:1.

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
#4B74C7 · 4.54:1
AA on white−25% L
#4B74C7
The quick fox
#31559E · 7.18:1
AAA on white−38% L
#31559E
The quick fox
#acbfe5 · 11.34:1
AA on blackalready passes
#acbfe5
The quick fox
#acbfe5 · 11.34:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#acbfe5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7292D3 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
#acbfe5 on white: 1.85:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#acbfe5 on black: 11.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #acbfe5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #acbfe5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.85:1AaAa
Slate 501.77:1AaAa
Slate 1001.69:1AaAa
Slate 2001.50:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.57:1AaAa
Slate 6004.09:1AaAa
Slate 7005.59:1AaAa
Slate 8007.90:1AaAa
Slate 9009.64:1AaAa
Black11.34:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3C1E7
deuteranopia · #AEBCE4
tritanopia · #9DC7CB

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. #acbfe5 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.

#F4F6FA
#E9EEF6
#CFD9ED
#acbfe5
#7F9CD7
#547BC9
#3A65BA
#31549B
#27437C
#20335B
#142039
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F4F6FADarkest = 950 · #142039Text 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 0.014 264.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 264.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.035 264.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.045 264.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.053 264.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.058 264.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.058 264.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.054 264.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.049 264.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.041 264.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.032 264.2);
}

Colors that work with #acbfe5

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C1CFEC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B659B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9F5C2D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1E3561
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF0F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#91AADC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7695D4
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B7C9EE
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 #acbfe5

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 #1E3561
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7292D3

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#E5D2AC
Analogous left#ACDBE5
Analogous right#B5ACE5
Split-complement 1#E5B5AC
Split-complement 2#DBE5AC
Triadic 1#E5ACBF
Triadic 2#BFE5AC
Tetradic#E5ACDB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°220°

#acbfe5 sits at 220°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green74.9%
Blue89.8%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
229
0xe5

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.9%
Magenta16.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)10.2%

Total ink coverage is 52%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#acbfe5 text on a black background

contrast 11.34:1

Card sample

#acbfe5 text on a white background

contrast 1.85:1

Card sample

#acbfe5 on grey

1.69:1

#acbfe5 on its own surface

1.71:1

#acbfe5 on its dark surface

9.49:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #acbfe5;
Background color
Panel with #acbfe5 background
background-color: #acbfe5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #acbfe5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 191, 229, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 191, 229, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #acbfe5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #acbfe5, #BFACE5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acbfe5, #CDACE5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #acbfe5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #acbfe5;
caret-color: #acbfe5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #acbfe5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF0F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #acbfe5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#acbfe5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #acbfe5 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(172, 191, 229, 0.5)
rgb(172 191 229 / 50%)
#acbfe580
hsl(220 52% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #acbfe5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#acbfe51a#F7F9FC
20%#acbfe533#EEF2FA
40%#acbfe566#DEE5F5
60%#acbfe599#CDD9EF
80%#acbfe5cc#BDCCEA

Gradients from #acbfe5

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, #DAE3F4, #acbfe5 45%, #1E3561);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #acbfe5, #B395DE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acbfe5, #E5D2AC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F5FB 0%, #acbfe5 45%, #1E3561 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D3EFF1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CDC3EC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1E3561 0%, transparent 65%), #acbfe5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #acbfe5

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.

#acbfe5 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 11.34:1.

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.

#acbfe5, answered

What color is #acbfe5?

#acbfe5 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 220° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #acbfe5?

rgb(172, 191, 229) — 172 red, 191 green and 229 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 74.9% / 89.8% by channel.

What is #acbfe5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(220, 52%, 79%) and hsv(220, 25%, 90%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #acbfe5 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5169 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #acbfe5?

Black. It scores 11.34:1 against #acbfe5, versus 1.85:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #acbfe5 accessible on a white background?

#acbfe5 on white scores 1.85:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #4B74C7 to reach 4.5:1, or #31559E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #acbfe5?

#E5D2AC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E5B5AC and #DBE5AC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #acbfe5?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C1CFEC for borders, #4B659B for secondary text, #9F5C2D as an accent and #1E3561 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ACDBE5 and #B5ACE5 stays calm, while #E5D2AC is the loudest partner.

What is #acbfe5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 17%, 0%, 10%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #acbfe5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 94 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AEACE5; nudged cooler, #ABC5E6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #acbfe5?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 18.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #acbfe5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #acbfe5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#acbfe5] or text-[#acbfe5], 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 #acbfe5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 191, 229, 0.5), or #acbfe580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6DFF2; over black, #566073.

Is #acbfe5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 19 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #acbfe5 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 #acbfe5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAE3F4, #acbfe5 45%, #1E3561). For more colour, a short hue run to #B395DE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #acbfe5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #acbfe5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.