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cyan · cool

#adc2c8

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Light Blue

Token name suggestion: Morning Reef

RGB
173, 194, 200
HSL
193°, 20%, 73%
CMYK
14, 3, 0, 22
Luminance
0.5164

#adc2c8 is a light soft cyan, 193° on the wheel and 74/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.33:1). As text it scores 1.85:1 on white — use #587A84 instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(193 20% 73%)rgb(173 194 200)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adc2c8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adc2c8
Hue
193°
cyan
Saturation
20%
soft
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
78%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5164
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
74/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.33:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 7.4
Chroma
8.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.800
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 16.8
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue193° of 360°
Saturation20%
Lightness73%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adc2c8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool74% 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%
Green75%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#adc2c8
HEX (8-digit)#adc2c8ff
RGBrgb(173, 194, 200)
RGBArgba(173, 194, 200, 1)
HSLhsl(193, 20%, 73%)
HSV / HSBhsv(193, 13%, 78%)
HWBhwb(193 68% 22%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 3%, 0%, 22%)
LABlab(77.1 -5.9 -5.4)
LCHlch(77.1 8.0 222.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.800 0.025 216.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(46.95, 51.64, 62.13)
Decimal11387592
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.761 0.784)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adc2c8;
background-color: #adc2c8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adc2c8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adc2c8] bg-[#adc2c8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adc2c8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.761, blue: 0.784)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.761, blue: 0.784, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADC2C8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADC2C8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADC2C8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(200, 194, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 194, 200)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 194, 200)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 194, 200)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.7608f, 0.7843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,194,200}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adc2c8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adc2c8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#33474C, #DAE4E6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adc2c8 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: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-100: #EDF1F2;
  --brand-200: #D8E1E4;
  --brand-300: #adc2c8;
  --brand-400: #9AB4BB;
  --brand-500: #799BA5;
  --brand-600: #628893;
  --brand-700: #52717A;
  --brand-800: #425B62;
  --brand-900: #324348;
  --brand-950: #1F2A2D;
  --brand: #adc2c8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-border: #CEDBDE;
  --brand-hover: #98B2BA;
  --brand-pressed: #82A2AB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171F22;
    --brand-ink: #DAE4E6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F9',
        100: '#EDF1F2',
        200: '#D8E1E4',
        300: '#adc2c8',
        400: '#9AB4BB',
        500: '#799BA5',
        600: '#628893',
        700: '#52717A',
        800: '#425B62',
        900: '#324348',
        950: '#1F2A2D',
        DEFAULT: '#adc2c8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F9,
  '100': #EDF1F2,
  '200': #D8E1E4,
  '300': #adc2c8,
  '400': #9AB4BB,
  '500': #799BA5,
  '600': #628893,
  '700': #52717A,
  '800': #425B62,
  '900': #324348,
  '950': #1F2A2D,
);
$brand-base: #adc2c8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF1F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8E1E4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#adc2c8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9AB4BB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#799BA5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#628893", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#52717A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#425B62", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#324348", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F2A2D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adc2c8 · 11.33:1
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 · 11.33:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adc2c8 as text scores 1.85:1 on white and 11.33:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #33474C at 5.28:1.

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
#587A84 · 4.63:1
AA on white−30% L
#587A84
The quick fox
#425B62 · 7.23:1
AAA on white−41% L
#425B62
The quick fox
#adc2c8 · 11.33:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adc2c8
The quick fox
#adc2c8 · 11.33:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adc2c8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7699A3 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
#adc2c8 on white: 1.85:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adc2c8 on black: 11.33:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adc2c8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adc2c8.

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 8007.89:1AaAa
Slate 9009.63:1AaAa
Black11.33:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BEC0C8
deuteranopia · #B9BDC8
tritanopia · #A6C4C4

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. #adc2c8 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.

#F6F8F9
#EDF1F2
#D8E1E4
#adc2c8
#9AB4BB
#799BA5
#628893
#52717A
#425B62
#324348
#1F2A2D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1F2A2DText step on white = 700
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 0.006 216.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 216.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.015 216.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.019 216.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.023 216.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.025 216.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.025 216.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.023 216.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.021 216.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.017 216.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.013 216.8);
}

Colors that work with #adc2c8

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#F6F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#CEDBDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5C7F89
Captions on the surface
Accent#7F4D4F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#33474C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F4F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171F22
Dark-mode background
Hover#98B2BA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#82A2AB
Two steps down
Disabled#F0F4F5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B3CED6
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 #adc2c8

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #33474C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7699A3

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#C8B3AD
Analogous left#ADC8C0
Analogous right#ADB4C8
Split-complement 1#C8ADB4
Split-complement 2#C8C0AD
Triadic 1#C8ADC2
Triadic 2#C2C8AD
Tetradic#C0ADC8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°193°

#adc2c8 sits at 193°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green76.1%
Blue78.4%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
194
0xc2
B · 0–255
200
0xc8

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.5%
Magenta3.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)21.6%

Total ink coverage is 38%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#adc2c8 text on a black background

contrast 11.33:1

Card sample

#adc2c8 text on a white background

contrast 1.85:1

Card sample

#adc2c8 on grey

1.69:1

#adc2c8 on its own surface

1.74:1

#adc2c8 on its dark surface

9.02:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adc2c8;
Background color
Panel with #adc2c8 background
background-color: #adc2c8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adc2c8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 194, 200, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 194, 200, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adc2c8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adc2c8, #ADB0C8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adc2c8, #B1ADC8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adc2c8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adc2c8;
caret-color: #adc2c8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adc2c8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F4F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adc2c8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adc2c8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adc2c8 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, 194, 200, 0.5)
rgb(173 194 200 / 50%)
#adc2c880
hsl(193 20% 73% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adc2c8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adc2c81a#F7F9FA
20%#adc2c833#EFF3F4
40%#adc2c866#DEE7E9
60%#adc2c899#CEDADE
80%#adc2c8cc#BDCED3

Gradients from #adc2c8

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, #D2DDE0, #adc2c8 45%, #33474C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adc2c8, #9B9CBC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adc2c8, #C8B3AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E4EBED 0%, #adc2c8 45%, #33474C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CBDCD6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BFC3D4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #33474C 0%, transparent 65%), #adc2c8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adc2c8

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.

#adc2c8 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
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 11.33:1.

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.

#adc2c8, answered

What color is #adc2c8?

#adc2c8 is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 7.4). It sits at 193° on the hue wheel with 20% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #adc2c8?

rgb(173, 194, 200) — 173 red, 194 green and 200 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 76.1% / 78.4% by channel.

What is #adc2c8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(193, 20%, 73%) and hsv(193, 13%, 78%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adc2c8 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5164 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.33:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adc2c8?

Black. It scores 11.33:1 against #adc2c8, versus 1.85:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adc2c8 accessible on a white background?

#adc2c8 on white scores 1.85:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #587A84 to reach 4.5:1, or #425B62 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adc2c8?

#C8B3AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C8ADB4 and #C8C0AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adc2c8?

For interface work: #F6F8F9 as the surface, #CEDBDE for borders, #5C7F89 for secondary text, #7F4D4F as an accent and #33474C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADC8C0 and #ADB4C8 stays calm, while #C8B3AD is the loudest partner.

What is #adc2c8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 3%, 0%, 22%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #adc2c8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 74 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ADC8C4; nudged cooler, #ACBBC9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adc2c8?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 16.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adc2c8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adc2c8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adc2c8] or text-[#adc2c8], 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 #adc2c8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 194, 200, 0.5), or #adc2c880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6E1E4; over black, #576164.

Is #adc2c8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 9.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adc2c8 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #adc2c8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D2DDE0, #adc2c8 45%, #33474C). For more colour, a short hue run to #9B9CBC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adc2c8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adc2c8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.