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#afb5f6

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

RGB
175, 181, 246
HSL
235°, 80%, 83%
CMYK
29, 26, 0, 4
Luminance
0.4882

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #afb5f6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#afb5f6
Hue
235°
blue
Saturation
80%
electric
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4882
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.76:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.6
Where it sits
Hue235° of 360°
Saturation80%
Lightness83%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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#afb5f6
RGBrgb(175, 181, 246)
HSLhsl(235, 80%, 83%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 26%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(75.3 12.2 -32.9)
LCHlch(75.3 35.1 290.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.792 0.092 280.0)
Decimal11515382
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.710 0.965)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #afb5f6;
background-color: #afb5f6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#afb5f6] bg-[#afb5f6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #afb5f6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.710, blue: 0.965)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#afb5f6")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAFB5F6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(246, 181, 175)

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 #afb5f6 · 10.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.95:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #afb5f6 as text scores 1.95:1 on white and 10.76:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#afb5f6 on white: 1.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#afb5f6 on black: 10.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A2BCF9
deuteranopia · #9FB7F4
tritanopia · #9DC1CC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #afb5f6 is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3F3FC
#E6E8F9
#afb5f6
#9AA2F4
#6873EE
#3544E8
#1929DC
#1522B7
#101C93
#10186A
#0A0F42
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F3FCDarkest = 950 · #0A0F42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F3FC;
  --brand-100: #E6E8F9;
  --brand-200: #afb5f6;
  --brand-300: #9AA2F4;
  --brand-400: #6873EE;
  --brand-500: #3544E8;
  --brand-600: #1929DC;
  --brand-700: #1522B7;
  --brand-800: #101C93;
  --brand-900: #10186A;
  --brand-950: #0A0F42;
  --brand: #afb5f6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #afb5f6

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C4ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B519B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BC8310
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D1673
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8EAFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141524
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 #afb5f6

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#F6F0AF
Analogous left#AFD8F6
Analogous right#CCAFF6
Split-complement 1#F6CCAF
Split-complement 2#D8F6AF
Triadic 1#F6AFB5
Triadic 2#B5F6AF
Tetradic#F6AFD8

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green71.0%
Blue96.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan28.9%
Magenta26.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.5%

Color previews

#afb5f6 text on a black background

contrast 10.76:1

Card sample

#afb5f6 text on a white background

contrast 1.95:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #afb5f6;
Background color
Panel with #afb5f6 background
background-color: #afb5f6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #afb5f6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 181, 246, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 181, 246, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #afb5f6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #afb5f6, #D8AFF6);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #afb5f6

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.

#afb5f6 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.

#afb5f6, answered

What color is #afb5f6?

#afb5f6 is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 235° on the hue wheel with 80% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #afb5f6?

rgb(175, 181, 246) — 175 red, 181 green and 246 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 71% / 96.5% by channel.

Is #afb5f6 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4882 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #afb5f6?

Black. It scores 10.76:1 against #afb5f6, versus 1.95:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #afb5f6?

#F6F0AF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F6CCAF and #D8F6AF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #afb5f6?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C0C4ED for borders, #4B519B for secondary text, #BC8310 as an accent and #0D1673 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AFD8F6 and #CCAFF6 stays calm, while #F6F0AF is the loudest partner.

What is #afb5f6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 26%, 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 #afb5f6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C3AFF6; nudged cooler, #AEC9F7.

Work with #afb5f6 in the Color Lab