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#aeadce

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

RGB
174, 173, 206
HSL
242°, 25%, 74%
CMYK
16, 16, 0, 19
Luminance
0.4334

At a glance

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

Hex
#aeadce
Hue
242°
blue
Saturation
25%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4334
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
73/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.67:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 10.7
Where it sits
Hue242° of 360°
Saturation25%
Lightness74%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool73% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#aeadce
RGBrgb(174, 173, 206)
HSLhsl(242, 25%, 74%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 16%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(71.8 7.0 -16.6)
LCHlch(71.8 18.0 293.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.759 0.047 286.6)
Decimal11447758
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.678 0.808)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #aeadce;
background-color: #aeadce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aeadce] bg-[#aeadce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aeadce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.678, blue: 0.808)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#aeadce")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAEADCE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 173, 174)

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 #aeadce · 9.67:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.67:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aeadce as text scores 2.17:1 on white and 9.67:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#aeadce on white: 2.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aeadce on black: 9.67:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A5B1D0
deuteranopia · #A5AFCD
tritanopia · #A8B2B8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #aeadce 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.

#F6F6F9
#EDEDF3
#D7D6E5
#aeadce
#9796C0
#7473AB
#5D5C99
#4E4C80
#3E3D66
#302F4B
#1E1D2F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1E1D2F
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEDF3;
  --brand-200: #D7D6E5;
  --brand-300: #aeadce;
  --brand-400: #9796C0;
  --brand-500: #7473AB;
  --brand-600: #5D5C99;
  --brand-700: #4E4C80;
  --brand-800: #3E3D66;
  --brand-900: #302F4B;
  --brand-950: #1E1D2F;
  --brand: #aeadce;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #aeadce

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#F6F5F9
Tinted page background
Border#CDCCE0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#585690
Captions on the surface
Accent#847648
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#313050
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEFF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151523
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #aeadce

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
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#CDCEAD
Analogous left#ADBCCE
Analogous right#BEADCE
Split-complement 1#CEBEAD
Split-complement 2#BCCEAD
Triadic 1#CEAEAD
Triadic 2#ADCEAE
Tetradic#CEADBC

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green67.8%
Blue80.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.5%
Magenta16.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Color previews

#aeadce text on a black background

contrast 9.67:1

Card sample

#aeadce text on a white background

contrast 2.17:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 173, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 173, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aeadce;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aeadce, #C4ADCE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aeadce

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#aeadce 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.

#aeadce, answered

What color is #aeadce?

#aeadce is a light soft blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 10.7). It sits at 242° on the hue wheel with 25% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aeadce?

rgb(174, 173, 206) — 174 red, 173 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 67.8% / 80.8% by channel.

Is #aeadce a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4334 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.67:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aeadce?

Black. It scores 9.67:1 against #aeadce, versus 2.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #aeadce?

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

What colors go well with #aeadce?

For interface work: #F6F5F9 as the surface, #CDCCE0 for borders, #585690 for secondary text, #847648 as an accent and #313050 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADBCCE and #BEADCE stays calm, while #CDCEAD is the loudest partner.

What is #aeadce in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 16%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #aeadce warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 73 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BAADCE; nudged cooler, #ACB8CF.

Work with #aeadce in the Color Lab