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blue · cool

#ada5fc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cobalt

RGB
173, 165, 252
HSL
246°, 94%, 82%
CMYK
31, 35, 0, 1
Luminance
0.4282

#ada5fc is a light electric blue, 246° on the wheel and 80/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.56:1). As text it scores 2.20:1 on white — use #6A5BF9 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(246 94% 82%)rgb(173 165 252)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ada5fc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ada5fc
Hue
246°
blue
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4282
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
80/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.56:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 10.6
Chroma
47.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.762
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 18.7
Web-safe
#9999FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue246° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ada5fc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool80% 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
Red21%
Green63%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#ada5fc
HEX (8-digit)#ada5fcff
RGBrgb(173, 165, 252)
RGBArgba(173, 165, 252, 1)
HSLhsl(246, 94%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(246, 35%, 99%)
HWBhwb(246 65% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(31%, 35%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(71.4 22.0 -42.2)
LCHlch(71.4 47.6 297.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.762 0.123 287.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.25, 42.82, 97.80)
Decimal11380220
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.647 0.988)
Web-safe#9999FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ada5fc;
background-color: #ada5fc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ada5fc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ada5fc] bg-[#ada5fc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ada5fc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.647, blue: 0.988)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.647, blue: 0.988, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADA5FC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADA5FC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADA5FC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(252, 165, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 165, 252)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 165, 252)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 165, 252)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.6471f, 0.9882f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,165,252}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ada5fc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ada5fc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0F047B, #D5D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ada5fc 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: #F3F2FD;
  --brand-100: #E6E4FB;
  --brand-200: #C7C2FA;
  --brand-300: #ada5fc;
  --brand-400: #6B5CFA;
  --brand-500: #3926F8;
  --brand-600: #1D08ED;
  --brand-700: #1807C5;
  --brand-800: #13059E;
  --brand-900: #120972;
  --brand-950: #0B0547;
  --brand: #ada5fc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C4C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #8E83FB;
  --brand-pressed: #6E60FA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #151424;
    --brand-ink: #D5D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F2FD',
        100: '#E6E4FB',
        200: '#C7C2FA',
        300: '#ada5fc',
        400: '#6B5CFA',
        500: '#3926F8',
        600: '#1D08ED',
        700: '#1807C5',
        800: '#13059E',
        900: '#120972',
        950: '#0B0547',
        DEFAULT: '#ada5fc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F2FD,
  '100': #E6E4FB,
  '200': #C7C2FA,
  '300': #ada5fc,
  '400': #6B5CFA,
  '500': #3926F8,
  '600': #1D08ED,
  '700': #1807C5,
  '800': #13059E,
  '900': #120972,
  '950': #0B0547,
);
$brand-base: #ada5fc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F2FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6E4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C7C2FA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ada5fc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6B5CFA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3926F8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1D08ED", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1807C5", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#13059E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#120972", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0B0547", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ada5fc · 9.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.20:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ada5fc as text scores 2.20:1 on white and 9.56:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0F047B at 7.23:1.

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
#6A5BF9 · 4.69:1
AA on white−15% L
#6A5BF9
The quick fox
#412FF8 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−24% L
#412FF8
The quick fox
#ada5fc · 9.56:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ada5fc
The quick fox
#ada5fc · 9.56:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ada5fc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8E83FB 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
#ada5fc on white: 2.20:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ada5fc on black: 9.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ada5fc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ada5fc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.20:1AaAa
Slate 502.10:1AaAa
Slate 1002.00:1AaAa
Slate 2001.78:1AaAa
Slate 3001.48:1AaAa
Slate 4001.17:1AaAa
Slate 5002.17:1AaAa
Slate 6003.45:1AaAa
Slate 7004.72:1AaAa
Slate 8006.66:1AaAa
Slate 9008.13:1AaAa
Black9.56:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8CB1FF
deuteranopia · #8AADFA
tritanopia · #9AB5C5

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. #ada5fc 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.

#F3F2FD
#E6E4FB
#C7C2FA
#ada5fc
#6B5CFA
#3926F8
#1D08ED
#1807C5
#13059E
#120972
#0B0547
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F2FDDarkest = 950 · #0B0547Text step on white = 400
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 0.031 287.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 287.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.074 287.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.096 287.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.114 287.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.123 287.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.123 287.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.116 287.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.104 287.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.086 287.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 287.3);
}

Colors that work with #ada5fc

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#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C4C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#524B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CAAB02
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F047B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151424
Dark-mode background
Hover#8E83FB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6E60FA
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BDB7FF
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 #ada5fc

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 #0F047B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8E83FB

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
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#F4FCA5
Analogous left#A5C9FC
Analogous right#D9A5FC
Split-complement 1#FCD9A5
Split-complement 2#C9FCA5
Triadic 1#FCADA5
Triadic 2#A5FCAD
Tetradic#FCA5C9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°246°

#ada5fc sits at 246°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green64.7%
Blue98.8%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
165
0xa5
B · 0–255
252
0xfc

CMYK percentages

Cyan31.3%
Magenta34.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Total ink coverage is 67%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ada5fc text on a black background

contrast 9.56:1

Card sample

#ada5fc text on a white background

contrast 2.20:1

Card sample

#ada5fc on grey

2.00:1

#ada5fc on its own surface

2.01:1

#ada5fc on its dark surface

8.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ada5fc;
Background color
Panel with #ada5fc background
background-color: #ada5fc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ada5fc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 165, 252, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 165, 252, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ada5fc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ada5fc, #E7A5FC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ada5fc, #FCA5FB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ada5fc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ada5fc;
caret-color: #ada5fc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ada5fc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9E6FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ada5fc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ada5fc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ada5fc 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(173, 165, 252, 0.5)
rgb(173 165 252 / 50%)
#ada5fc80
hsl(246 94% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ada5fc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ada5fc1a#F7F6FF
20%#ada5fc33#EFEDFE
40%#ada5fc66#DEDBFE
60%#ada5fc99#CEC9FD
80%#ada5fccc#BDB7FD

Gradients from #ada5fc

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, #E3E0FE, #ada5fc 45%, #0F047B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ada5fc, #E988FB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ada5fc, #F4FCA5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F0FF 0%, #ada5fc 45%, #0F047B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D7EAFE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EAC3FD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0F047B 0%, transparent 65%), #ada5fc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ada5fc

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.

#ada5fc 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 9.56:1.

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.

#ada5fc, answered

What color is #ada5fc?

#ada5fc is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 10.6). It sits at 246° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ada5fc?

rgb(173, 165, 252) — 173 red, 165 green and 252 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 64.7% / 98.8% by channel.

What is #ada5fc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(246, 94%, 82%) and hsv(246, 35%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ada5fc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4282 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ada5fc?

Black. It scores 9.56:1 against #ada5fc, versus 2.20:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ada5fc accessible on a white background?

#ada5fc on white scores 2.20:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6A5BF9 to reach 4.5:1, or #412FF8 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ada5fc?

#F4FCA5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FCD9A5 and #C9FCA5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ada5fc?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C4C0ED for borders, #524B9B for secondary text, #CAAB02 as an accent and #0F047B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A5C9FC and #D9A5FC stays calm, while #F4FCA5 is the loudest partner.

What is #ada5fc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(31%, 35%, 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 #ada5fc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 80 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDA5FC; nudged cooler, #A4BDFD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ada5fc?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 18.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ada5fc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ada5fc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ada5fc] or text-[#ada5fc], 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 #ada5fc with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 165, 252, 0.5), or #ada5fc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6D2FE; over black, #57537E.

Is #ada5fc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999FF, ΔE2000 4.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ada5fc 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 #ada5fc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3E0FE, #ada5fc 45%, #0F047B). For more colour, a short hue run to #E988FB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ada5fc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ada5fc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.