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cyan · cool

#adc3bc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Teal

RGB
173, 195, 188
HSL
161°, 16%, 72%
CMYK
11, 0, 4, 24
Luminance
0.5155

#adc3bc is a light soft cyan, 161° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.31:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #5B7C72 instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(161 16% 72%)rgb(173 195 188)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adc3bc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adc3bc
Hue
161°
cyan
Saturation
16%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
76%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5155
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.31:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
8.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.798
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue161° of 360°
Saturation16%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adc3bc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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%
Green76%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#adc3bc
HEX (8-digit)#adc3bcff
RGBrgb(173, 195, 188)
RGBArgba(173, 195, 188, 1)
HSLhsl(161, 16%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(161, 11%, 76%)
HWBhwb(161 68% 24%)
CMYKcmyk(11%, 0%, 4%, 24%)
LABlab(77.0 -8.8 1.0)
LCHlch(77.0 8.9 173.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.798 0.026 174.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.82, 51.54, 55.10)
Decimal11387836
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.765 0.737)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adc3bc;
background-color: #adc3bc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adc3bc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adc3bc] bg-[#adc3bc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adc3bc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.765, blue: 0.737)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.765, blue: 0.737, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADC3BC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADC3BC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADC3BC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(188, 195, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 195, 188)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 195, 188)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 195, 188)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.7647f, 0.7373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,195,188}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adc3bc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adc3bc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#364A43, #DCE5E2);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adc3bc 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF2F0;
  --brand-200: #D9E2DF;
  --brand-300: #BED0CA;
  --brand-400: #adc3bc;
  --brand-500: #7DA095;
  --brand-600: #678D81;
  --brand-700: #56766C;
  --brand-800: #455E56;
  --brand-900: #344640;
  --brand-950: #212C28;
  --brand: #adc3bc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-border: #D0DDD8;
  --brand-hover: #99B4AB;
  --brand-pressed: #84A59A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #18201E;
    --brand-ink: #DCE5E2;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EEF2F0',
        200: '#D9E2DF',
        300: '#BED0CA',
        400: '#adc3bc',
        500: '#7DA095',
        600: '#678D81',
        700: '#56766C',
        800: '#455E56',
        900: '#344640',
        950: '#212C28',
        DEFAULT: '#adc3bc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EEF2F0,
  '200': #D9E2DF,
  '300': #BED0CA,
  '400': #adc3bc,
  '500': #7DA095,
  '600': #678D81,
  '700': #56766C,
  '800': #455E56,
  '900': #344640,
  '950': #212C28,
);
$brand-base: #adc3bc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF2F0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9E2DF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BED0CA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#adc3bc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7DA095", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#678D81", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#56766C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#455E56", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#344640", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#212C28", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adc3bc · 11.31:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.31:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adc3bc as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.31:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #364A43 at 5.10:1.

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
#5B7C72 · 4.59:1
AA on white−30% L
#5B7C72
The quick fox
#435C54 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−41% L
#435C54
The quick fox
#adc3bc · 11.31:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adc3bc
The quick fox
#adc3bc · 11.31:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adc3bc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #789C91 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
#adc3bc on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adc3bc on black: 11.31:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adc3bc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adc3bc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.77:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.56:1AaAa
Slate 6004.08:1AaAa
Slate 7005.58:1AaAa
Slate 8007.88:1AaAa
Slate 9009.61:1AaAa
Black11.31:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C1C0BC
deuteranopia · #BDBDBC
tritanopia · #A8C4C1

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. #adc3bc is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F8F8
#EEF2F0
#D9E2DF
#BED0CA
#adc3bc
#7DA095
#678D81
#56766C
#455E56
#344640
#212C28
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #212C28Text 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 0.006 174.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 174.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 174.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.020 174.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.024 174.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.026 174.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.026 174.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.024 174.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.022 174.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 174.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 174.5);
}

Colors that work with #adc3bc

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#F6F9F8
Tinted page background
Border#D0DDD8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#618579
Captions on the surface
Accent#7A5269
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#364A43
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F4F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#18201E
Dark-mode background
Hover#99B4AB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#84A59A
Two steps down
Disabled#EEF3F1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B3D2C8
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 #adc3bc

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 #364A43
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #789C91

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
  • Weight28/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#C3ADB4
Analogous left#ADC3B1
Analogous right#ADBFC3
Split-complement 1#C3ADBF
Split-complement 2#C3B1AD
Triadic 1#BCADC3
Triadic 2#C3BCAD
Tetradic#B1ADC3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°161°

#adc3bc sits at 161°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green76.5%
Blue73.7%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
195
0xc3
B · 0–255
188
0xbc

CMYK percentages

Cyan11.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow3.6%
Key (black)23.5%

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

Color previews

#adc3bc text on a black background

contrast 11.31:1

Card sample

#adc3bc text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#adc3bc on grey

1.70:1

#adc3bc on its own surface

1.75:1

#adc3bc on its dark surface

8.95:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adc3bc;
Background color
Panel with #adc3bc background
background-color: #adc3bc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adc3bc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 195, 188, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 195, 188, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adc3bc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adc3bc, #ADBBC3);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adc3bc, #ADB6C3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adc3bc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adc3bc;
caret-color: #adc3bc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adc3bc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F4F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adc3bc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adc3bc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adc3bc 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, 195, 188, 0.5)
rgb(173 195 188 / 50%)
#adc3bc80
hsl(161 16% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adc3bc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adc3bc1a#F7F9F8
20%#adc3bc33#EFF3F2
40%#adc3bc66#DEE7E4
60%#adc3bc99#CEDBD7
80%#adc3bccc#BDCFC9

Gradients from #adc3bc

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, #D0DDD9, #adc3bc 45%, #364A43);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adc3bc, #9BABB6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adc3bc, #C3ADB4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E2EAE7 0%, #adc3bc 45%, #364A43 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F9F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CBD9CC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BFCBD0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #364A43 0%, transparent 65%), #adc3bc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adc3bc

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.

#adc3bc 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 11.31:1.

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.

#adc3bc, answered

What color is #adc3bc?

#adc3bc is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 161° on the hue wheel with 16% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #adc3bc?

rgb(173, 195, 188) — 173 red, 195 green and 188 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 76.5% / 73.7% by channel.

What is #adc3bc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(161, 16%, 72%) and hsv(161, 11%, 76%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adc3bc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5155 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.31:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adc3bc?

Black. It scores 11.31:1 against #adc3bc, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adc3bc accessible on a white background?

#adc3bc on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5B7C72 to reach 4.5:1, or #435C54 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adc3bc?

#C3ADB4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C3ADBF and #C3B1AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adc3bc?

For interface work: #F6F9F8 as the surface, #D0DDD8 for borders, #618579 for secondary text, #7A5269 as an accent and #364A43 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADC3B1 and #ADBFC3 stays calm, while #C3ADB4 is the loudest partner.

What is #adc3bc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(11%, 0%, 4%, 24%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #adc3bc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ADC3B4; nudged cooler, #ACC3C5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adc3bc?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adc3bc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adc3bc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adc3bc] or text-[#adc3bc], 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 #adc3bc with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 195, 188, 0.5), or #adc3bc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6E1DE; over black, #57625E.

Is #adc3bc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 7.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adc3bc 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 #adc3bc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D0DDD9, #adc3bc 45%, #364A43). For more colour, a short hue run to #9BABB6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adc3bc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adc3bc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.