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blue · cool

#accafd

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Denim

RGB
172, 202, 253
HSL
218°, 95%, 83%
CMYK
32, 20, 0, 1
Luminance
0.5810

#accafd is a light electric blue, 218° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.62:1). As text it scores 1.66:1 on white — use #1B6EFA instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(218 95% 83%)rgb(172 202 253)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#accafd
Hue
218°
blue
Saturation
95%
electric
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5810
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.62:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.1
Chroma
28.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.835
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue218° of 360°
Saturation95%
Lightness83%
Saturation × lightness field

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

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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
Red15%
Green73%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#accafd
HEX (8-digit)#accafdff
RGBrgb(172, 202, 253)
RGBArgba(172, 202, 253, 1)
HSLhsl(218, 95%, 83%)
HSV / HSBhsv(218, 32%, 99%)
HWBhwb(218 67% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(32%, 20%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(80.8 1.6 -28.3)
LCHlch(80.8 28.3 273.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.835 0.079 260.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(55.86, 58.10, 101.18)
Decimal11324157
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.792 0.992)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #accafd;
background-color: #accafd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #accafd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#accafd] bg-[#accafd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #accafd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.792, blue: 0.992)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.792, blue: 0.992, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ACCAFD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFACCAFD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFACCAFD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 202, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 202, 253)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 202, 253)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 202, 253)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.7922f, 0.9922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,202,253}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #accafd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #accafd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#03307D, #D3DDEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #accafd 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: #F1F6FD;
  --brand-100: #E4EDFC;
  --brand-200: #accafd;
  --brand-300: #91B9FC;
  --brand-400: #5B96FB;
  --brand-500: #2473FA;
  --brand-600: #065CEF;
  --brand-700: #054DC7;
  --brand-800: #043D9F;
  --brand-900: #082F73;
  --brand-950: #051E48;
  --brand: #accafd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D0ED;
  --brand-hover: #89B4FC;
  --brand-pressed: #669DFB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DDEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F1F6FD',
        100: '#E4EDFC',
        200: '#accafd',
        300: '#91B9FC',
        400: '#5B96FB',
        500: '#2473FA',
        600: '#065CEF',
        700: '#054DC7',
        800: '#043D9F',
        900: '#082F73',
        950: '#051E48',
        DEFAULT: '#accafd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F1F6FD,
  '100': #E4EDFC,
  '200': #accafd,
  '300': #91B9FC,
  '400': #5B96FB,
  '500': #2473FA,
  '600': #065CEF,
  '700': #054DC7,
  '800': #043D9F,
  '900': #082F73,
  '950': #051E48,
);
$brand-base: #accafd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F1F6FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4EDFC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#accafd", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#91B9FC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5B96FB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2473FA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#065CEF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#054DC7", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#043D9F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#082F73", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#051E48", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #accafd · 12.62:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.66:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.62:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #accafd as text scores 1.66:1 on white and 12.62:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #03307D at 7.33:1.

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
#1B6EFA · 4.51:1
AA on white−29% L
#1B6EFA
The quick fox
#054DC9 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−43% L
#054DC9
The quick fox
#accafd · 12.62:1
AA on blackalready passes
#accafd
The quick fox
#accafd · 12.62:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#accafd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #5291FB 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
#accafd on white: 1.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#accafd on black: 12.62:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.66:1AaAa
Slate 501.59:1AaAa
Slate 1001.52:1AaAa
Slate 2001.35:1AaAa
Slate 3001.12:1AaAa
Slate 4001.54:1AaAa
Slate 5002.86:1AaAa
Slate 6004.55:1AaAa
Slate 7006.22:1AaAa
Slate 8008.79:1AaAa
Slate 90010.73:1AaAa
Black12.62:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9CDFF
deuteranopia · #B0C5FC
tritanopia · #94D5DB

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. #accafd is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1F6FD
#E4EDFC
#accafd
#91B9FC
#5B96FB
#2473FA
#065CEF
#054DC7
#043D9F
#082F73
#051E48
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F1F6FDDarkest = 950 · #051E48Text 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 0.020 260.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.032 260.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.047 260.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.062 260.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.073 260.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.079 260.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.079 260.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.074 260.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.066 260.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.055 260.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.043 260.9);
}

Colors that work with #accafd

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#C0D0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B689B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC4D00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#03307D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6EFFE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#89B4FC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#669DFB
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BED6FF
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 #accafd

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 #03307D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #5291FB

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight17/100
  • 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#FDDFAC
Analogous left#ACF2FD
Analogous right#B6ACFD
Split-complement 1#FDB6AC
Split-complement 2#F2FDAC
Triadic 1#FDACCA
Triadic 2#CAFDAC
Tetradic#FDACF2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°218°

#accafd sits at 218°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green79.2%
Blue99.2%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
202
0xca
B · 0–255
253
0xfd

CMYK percentages

Cyan32.0%
Magenta20.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#accafd text on a black background

contrast 12.62:1

Card sample

#accafd text on a white background

contrast 1.66:1

Card sample

#accafd on grey

1.52:1

#accafd on its own surface

1.55:1

#accafd on its dark surface

10.49:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 202, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 202, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #accafd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #accafd, #C4ACFD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #accafd, #D8ACFD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #accafd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #accafd;
caret-color: #accafd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #accafd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6EFFE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #accafd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#accafd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #accafd 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, 202, 253, 0.5)
rgb(172 202 253 / 50%)
#accafd80
hsl(218 95% 83% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #accafd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#accafd1a#F7FAFF
20%#accafd33#EEF4FF
40%#accafd66#DEEAFE
60%#accafd99#CDDFFE
80%#accafdcc#BDD5FD

Gradients from #accafd

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, #E8F0FE, #accafd 45%, #03307D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #accafd, #B88EFC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #accafd, #FDDFAC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0F5FF 0%, #accafd 45%, #03307D 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%, #DEFDFE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D5CAFE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #03307D 0%, transparent 65%), #accafd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #accafd

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.

#accafd 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 12.62:1.

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.

#accafd, answered

What color is #accafd?

#accafd is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 218° on the hue wheel with 95% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #accafd?

rgb(172, 202, 253) — 172 red, 202 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 79.2% / 99.2% by channel.

What is #accafd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(218, 95%, 83%) and hsv(218, 32%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #accafd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5810 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.62:1.

Should I use black or white text on #accafd?

Black. It scores 12.62:1 against #accafd, versus 1.66:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #accafd accessible on a white background?

#accafd on white scores 1.66:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1B6EFA to reach 4.5:1, or #054DC9 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #accafd?

#FDDFAC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FDB6AC and #F2FDAC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #accafd?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D0ED for borders, #4B689B for secondary text, #CC4D00 as an accent and #03307D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ACF2FD and #B6ACFD stays calm, while #FDDFAC is the loudest partner.

What is #accafd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(32%, 20%, 0%, 1%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #accafd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ACACFD; nudged cooler, #92C1FE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #accafd?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #accafd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #accafd in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(172, 202, 253, 0.5), or #accafd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6E5FE; over black, #56657F.

Is #accafd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 5.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #accafd 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 #accafd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E8F0FE, #accafd 45%, #03307D). For more colour, a short hue run to #B88EFC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #accafd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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