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#aeaef6

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

RGB
174, 174, 246
HSL
240°, 80%, 82%
CMYK
29, 29, 0, 4
Luminance
0.4592

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #aeaef6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#aeaef6
Hue
240°
blue
Saturation
80%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4592
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.18:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 9.5
Where it sits
Hue240° of 360°
Saturation80%
Lightness82%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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#aeaef6
RGBrgb(174, 174, 246)
HSLhsl(240, 80%, 82%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 29%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(73.5 15.8 -35.8)
LCHlch(73.5 39.1 293.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.777 0.102 283.8)
Decimal11448054
Display P3color(display-p3 0.682 0.682 0.965)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #aeaef6;
background-color: #aeaef6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aeaef6] bg-[#aeaef6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aeaef6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.682, green: 0.682, blue: 0.965)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#aeaef6")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAEAEF6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(246, 174, 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 #aeaef6 · 10.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.06:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aeaef6 as text scores 2.06:1 on white and 10.18:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#aeaef6 on white: 2.06:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aeaef6 on black: 10.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #9AB7F9
deuteranopia · #97B2F4
tritanopia · #9CBBC8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #aeaef6 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.

#F3F3FC
#E6E6F9
#C7C7F5
#aeaef6
#6868EE
#3535E9
#1818DC
#1414B8
#101093
#10106A
#0A0A42
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F3FCDarkest = 950 · #0A0A42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F3FC;
  --brand-100: #E6E6F9;
  --brand-200: #C7C7F5;
  --brand-300: #aeaef6;
  --brand-400: #6868EE;
  --brand-500: #3535E9;
  --brand-600: #1818DC;
  --brand-700: #1414B8;
  --brand-800: #101093;
  --brand-900: #10106A;
  --brand-950: #0A0A42;
  --brand: #aeaef6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #aeaef6

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#F4F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BC9110
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D0D73
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8E8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141424
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 #aeaef6

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

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#F6F6AE
Analogous left#AED2F6
Analogous right#D2AEF6
Split-complement 1#F6D2AE
Split-complement 2#D2F6AE
Triadic 1#F6AEAE
Triadic 2#AEF6AE
Tetradic#F6AED2

RGB percentages

Red68.2%
Green68.2%
Blue96.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan29.3%
Magenta29.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.5%

Color previews

#aeaef6 text on a black background

contrast 10.18:1

Card sample

#aeaef6 text on a white background

contrast 2.06:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #aeaef6;
Background color
Panel with #aeaef6 background
background-color: #aeaef6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #aeaef6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(174, 174, 246, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(174, 174, 246, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aeaef6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aeaef6, #DEAEF6);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aeaef6

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.

#aeaef6 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.

#aeaef6, answered

What color is #aeaef6?

#aeaef6 is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 9.5). It sits at 240° on the hue wheel with 80% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aeaef6?

rgb(174, 174, 246) — 174 red, 174 green and 246 blue out of 255, or 68.2% / 68.2% / 96.5% by channel.

Is #aeaef6 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4592 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aeaef6?

Black. It scores 10.18:1 against #aeaef6, versus 2.06:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #aeaef6?

#F6F6AE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F6D2AE and #D2F6AE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #aeaef6?

For interface work: #F4F4FA as the surface, #C0C0ED for borders, #4B4B9B for secondary text, #BC9110 as an accent and #0D0D73 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AED2F6 and #D2AEF6 stays calm, while #F6F6AE is the loudest partner.

What is #aeaef6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 29%, 0%, 4%). 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 #aeaef6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C9AEF6; nudged cooler, #ADC7F7.

Work with #aeaef6 in the Color Lab