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blue · cool

#ae9df0

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cobalt

RGB
174, 157, 240
HSL
252°, 74%, 78%
CMYK
28, 35, 0, 6
Luminance
0.3940

#ae9df0 is a light vivid blue, 252° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.88:1). As text it scores 2.36:1 on white — use #7B5FE7 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(252 74% 78%)rgb(174 157 240)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ae9df0 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ae9df0
Hue
252°
blue
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3940
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.88:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 12.5
Chroma
46.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.742
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 18.3
Web-safe
#9999FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue252° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ae9df0.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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
Red23%
Green61%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#ae9df0
HEX (8-digit)#ae9df0ff
RGBrgb(174, 157, 240)
RGBArgba(174, 157, 240, 1)
HSLhsl(252, 74%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(252, 35%, 94%)
HWBhwb(252 62% 6%)
CMYKcmyk(28%, 35%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(69.0 23.8 -39.4)
LCHlch(69.0 46.1 301.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.742 0.119 292.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.24, 39.40, 87.64)
Decimal11443696
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.616 0.941)
Web-safe#9999FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ae9df0;
background-color: #ae9df0;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ae9df0;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ae9df0] bg-[#ae9df0]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ae9df0;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.616, blue: 0.941)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.682, green: 0.616, blue: 0.941, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AE9DF0</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAE9DF0)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAE9DF0)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(240, 157, 174)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(174, 157, 240)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(174, 157, 240)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 174, 157, 240)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6824f, 0.6157f, 0.9412f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{174,157,240}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ae9df0 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ae9df0 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#24116F, #D8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ae9df0 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: #F5F3FC;
  --brand-100: #EBE7F8;
  --brand-200: #D1C8F3;
  --brand-300: #ae9df0;
  --brand-400: #866DE9;
  --brand-500: #5E3CE1;
  --brand-600: #4520D4;
  --brand-700: #3A1BB1;
  --brand-800: #2E168E;
  --brand-900: #251467;
  --brand-950: #170C40;
  --brand: #ae9df0;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C9C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #947EEB;
  --brand-pressed: #7B5FE7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F3FC',
        100: '#EBE7F8',
        200: '#D1C8F3',
        300: '#ae9df0',
        400: '#866DE9',
        500: '#5E3CE1',
        600: '#4520D4',
        700: '#3A1BB1',
        800: '#2E168E',
        900: '#251467',
        950: '#170C40',
        DEFAULT: '#ae9df0',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F3FC,
  '100': #EBE7F8,
  '200': #D1C8F3,
  '300': #ae9df0,
  '400': #866DE9,
  '500': #5E3CE1,
  '600': #4520D4,
  '700': #3A1BB1,
  '800': #2E168E,
  '900': #251467,
  '950': #170C40,
);
$brand-base: #ae9df0;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBE7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1C8F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ae9df0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#866DE9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5E3CE1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4520D4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3A1BB1", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2E168E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#251467", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#170C40", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ae9df0 · 8.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ae9df0 as text scores 2.36:1 on white and 8.88:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #24116F at 6.41:1.

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
#7B5FE7 · 4.53:1
AA on white−14% L
#7B5FE7
The quick fox
#5633E0 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−24% L
#5633E0
The quick fox
#ae9df0 · 8.88:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ae9df0
The quick fox
#ae9df0 · 8.88:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ae9df0

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9882EC 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
#ae9df0 on white: 2.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ae9df0 on black: 8.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ae9df0 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ae9df0.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.36:1AaAa
Slate 502.26:1AaAa
Slate 1002.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.92:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.08:1AaAa
Slate 5002.01:1AaAa
Slate 6003.20:1AaAa
Slate 7004.38:1AaAa
Slate 8006.19:1AaAa
Slate 9007.55:1AaAa
Black8.88:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #87AAF3
deuteranopia · #88A7EE
tritanopia · #A0ABBC

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. #ae9df0 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.

#F5F3FC
#EBE7F8
#D1C8F3
#ae9df0
#866DE9
#5E3CE1
#4520D4
#3A1BB1
#2E168E
#251467
#170C40
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F3FCDarkest = 950 · #170C40Text step on white = 500
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 0.030 292.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 292.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.071 292.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.093 292.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.109 292.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.119 292.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.119 292.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.112 292.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.100 292.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.083 292.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.065 292.7);
}

Colors that work with #ae9df0

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5B4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B5AD17
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#24116F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDE9FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#947EEB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7B5FE7
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BAAAF7
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 #ae9df0

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 #24116F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9882EC

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#DFF09D
Analogous left#9DB5F0
Analogous right#D79DF0
Split-complement 1#F0D79D
Split-complement 2#B5F09D
Triadic 1#F0AE9D
Triadic 2#9DF0AE
Tetradic#F09DB5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°252°

#ae9df0 sits at 252°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green61.6%
Blue94.1%
R · 0–255
174
0xae
G · 0–255
157
0x9d
B · 0–255
240
0xf0

CMYK percentages

Cyan27.5%
Magenta34.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.9%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ae9df0 text on a black background

contrast 8.88:1

Card sample

#ae9df0 text on a white background

contrast 2.36:1

Card sample

#ae9df0 on grey

2.16:1

#ae9df0 on its own surface

2.17:1

#ae9df0 on its dark surface

7.64:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ae9df0;
Background color
Panel with #ae9df0 background
background-color: #ae9df0;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ae9df0;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 157, 240, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 157, 240, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ae9df0;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ae9df0, #E59DF0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae9df0, #F09DE6);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ae9df0;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ae9df0;
caret-color: #ae9df0;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ae9df0;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDE9FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ae9df0;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ae9df0 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ae9df0 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(174, 157, 240, 0.5)
rgb(174 157 240 / 50%)
#ae9df080
hsl(252 74% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ae9df0 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ae9df01a#F7F5FE
20%#ae9df033#EFEBFC
40%#ae9df066#DFD8F9
60%#ae9df099#CEC4F6
80%#ae9df0cc#BEB1F3

Gradients from #ae9df0

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, #DAD2F8, #ae9df0 45%, #24116F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ae9df0, #E782EC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ae9df0, #DFF09D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0ECFC 0%, #ae9df0 45%, #24116F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C9DAF7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E7B7F4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #24116F 0%, transparent 65%), #ae9df0;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ae9df0

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.

#ae9df0 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 8.88:1.

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.

#ae9df0, answered

What color is #ae9df0?

#ae9df0 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 12.5). It sits at 252° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ae9df0?

rgb(174, 157, 240) — 174 red, 157 green and 240 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 61.6% / 94.1% by channel.

What is #ae9df0 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(252, 74%, 78%) and hsv(252, 35%, 94%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ae9df0 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3940 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 8.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ae9df0?

Black. It scores 8.88:1 against #ae9df0, versus 2.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ae9df0 accessible on a white background?

#ae9df0 on white scores 2.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7B5FE7 to reach 4.5:1, or #5633E0 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ae9df0?

#DFF09D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F0D79D and #B5F09D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ae9df0?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #C9C0ED for borders, #5B4B9B for secondary text, #B5AD17 as an accent and #24116F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9DB5F0 and #D79DF0 stays calm, while #DFF09D is the loudest partner.

What is #ae9df0 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(28%, 35%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ae9df0 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CC9DF0; nudged cooler, #9CA9F1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ae9df0?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 18.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ae9df0 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ae9df0 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ae9df0] or text-[#ae9df0], 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 #ae9df0 with 50% opacity?

rgba(174, 157, 240, 0.5), or #ae9df080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7CEF8; over black, #574F78.

Is #ae9df0 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999FF, ΔE2000 5.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ae9df0 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 #ae9df0?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAD2F8, #ae9df0 45%, #24116F). For more colour, a short hue run to #E782EC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ae9df0 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ae9df0 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.