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cyan · cool

#b0cdc5

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Glacier

RGB
176, 205, 197
HSL
163°, 23%, 75%
CMYK
14, 0, 4, 20
Luminance
0.5692

#b0cdc5 is a light soft cyan, 163° on the wheel and 70/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.38:1). As text it scores 1.70:1 on white — use #507F72 instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(163 23% 75%)rgb(176 205 197)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b0cdc5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b0cdc5
Hue
163°
cyan
Saturation
23%
soft
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5692
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
70/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.38:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 8
Chroma
11.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.825
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 17.5
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue163° of 360°
Saturation23%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b0cdc5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool70% 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
Red16%
Green77%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#b0cdc5
HEX (8-digit)#b0cdc5ff
RGBrgb(176, 205, 197)
RGBArgba(176, 205, 197, 1)
HSLhsl(163, 23%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(163, 14%, 80%)
HWBhwb(163 69% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 0%, 4%, 20%)
LABlab(80.1 -11.3 0.7)
LCHlch(80.1 11.3 176.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.825 0.033 177.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.81, 56.92, 61.18)
Decimal11587013
Display P3color(display-p3 0.690 0.804 0.773)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b0cdc5;
background-color: #b0cdc5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b0cdc5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b0cdc5] bg-[#b0cdc5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b0cdc5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.690, green: 0.804, blue: 0.773)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.690, green: 0.804, blue: 0.773, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B0CDC5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB0CDC5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB0CDC5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(197, 205, 176)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(176, 205, 197)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(176, 205, 197)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 176, 205, 197)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6902f, 0.8039f, 0.7725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{176,205,197}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b0cdc5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b0cdc5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#314E46, #DAE7E3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b0cdc5 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: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-100: #EDF2F1;
  --brand-200: #D7E4E1;
  --brand-300: #b0cdc5;
  --brand-400: #98BEB3;
  --brand-500: #76A89A;
  --brand-600: #5F9687;
  --brand-700: #4F7D70;
  --brand-800: #3F645A;
  --brand-900: #314A43;
  --brand-950: #1E2E2A;
  --brand: #b0cdc5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-border: #CDDFDA;
  --brand-hover: #9ABFB5;
  --brand-pressed: #84B1A5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #16221F;
    --brand-ink: #DAE7E3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F9F8',
        100: '#EDF2F1',
        200: '#D7E4E1',
        300: '#b0cdc5',
        400: '#98BEB3',
        500: '#76A89A',
        600: '#5F9687',
        700: '#4F7D70',
        800: '#3F645A',
        900: '#314A43',
        950: '#1E2E2A',
        DEFAULT: '#b0cdc5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F9F8,
  '100': #EDF2F1,
  '200': #D7E4E1,
  '300': #b0cdc5,
  '400': #98BEB3,
  '500': #76A89A,
  '600': #5F9687,
  '700': #4F7D70,
  '800': #3F645A,
  '900': #314A43,
  '950': #1E2E2A,
);
$brand-base: #b0cdc5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F9F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF2F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7E4E1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b0cdc5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#98BEB3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#76A89A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5F9687", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4F7D70", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3F645A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#314A43", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E2E2A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b0cdc5 · 12.38:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.70:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.38:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b0cdc5 as text scores 1.70:1 on white and 12.38:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #314E46 at 5.36:1.

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
#507F72 · 4.55:1
AA on white−34% L
#507F72
The quick fox
#3B5D53 · 7.30:1
AAA on white−45% L
#3B5D53
The quick fox
#b0cdc5 · 12.38:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b0cdc5
The quick fox
#b0cdc5 · 12.38:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b0cdc5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #659E8E 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
#b0cdc5 on white: 1.70:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b0cdc5 on black: 12.38:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b0cdc5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b0cdc5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.70:1AaAa
Slate 501.62:1AaAa
Slate 1001.55:1AaAa
Slate 2001.38:1AaAa
Slate 3001.14:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5002.81:1AaAa
Slate 6004.47:1AaAa
Slate 7006.11:1AaAa
Slate 8008.63:1AaAa
Slate 90010.53:1AaAa
Black12.38:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CBC9C5
deuteranopia · #C5C5C6
tritanopia · #A9CECA

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. #b0cdc5 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.

#F6F9F8
#EDF2F1
#D7E4E1
#b0cdc5
#98BEB3
#76A89A
#5F9687
#4F7D70
#3F645A
#314A43
#1E2E2A
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F9F8Darkest = 950 · #1E2E2AText 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 0.008 177.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 177.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.020 177.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.026 177.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 177.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.033 177.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.033 177.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.031 177.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.028 177.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.023 177.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 177.0);
}

Colors that work with #b0cdc5

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#CDDFDA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#598D7E
Captions on the surface
Accent#824A67
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#314E46
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF5F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#16221F
Dark-mode background
Hover#9ABFB5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#84B1A5
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F7F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B7DAD1
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 #b0cdc5

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 #314E46
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #659E8E

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
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#CDB0B8
Analogous left#B0CDB6
Analogous right#B0C7CD
Split-complement 1#CDB0C7
Split-complement 2#CDB6B0
Triadic 1#C5B0CD
Triadic 2#CDC5B0
Tetradic#B6B0CD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°163°

#b0cdc5 sits at 163°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.0%
Green80.4%
Blue77.3%
R · 0–255
176
0xb0
G · 0–255
205
0xcd
B · 0–255
197
0xc5

CMYK percentages

Cyan14.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow3.9%
Key (black)19.6%

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

Color previews

#b0cdc5 text on a black background

contrast 12.38:1

Card sample

#b0cdc5 text on a white background

contrast 1.70:1

Card sample

#b0cdc5 on grey

1.55:1

#b0cdc5 on its own surface

1.60:1

#b0cdc5 on its dark surface

9.66:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b0cdc5;
Background color
Panel with #b0cdc5 background
background-color: #b0cdc5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b0cdc5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(176, 205, 197, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(176, 205, 197, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b0cdc5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b0cdc5, #B0C2CD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b0cdc5, #B0BACD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b0cdc5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b0cdc5;
caret-color: #b0cdc5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b0cdc5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF5F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b0cdc5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b0cdc5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b0cdc5 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(176, 205, 197, 0.5)
rgb(176 205 197 / 50%)
#b0cdc580
hsl(163 23% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b0cdc5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b0cdc51a#F7FAF9
20%#b0cdc533#EFF5F3
40%#b0cdc566#DFEBE8
60%#b0cdc599#D0E1DC
80%#b0cdc5cc#C0D7D1

Gradients from #b0cdc5

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, #D5E5E0, #b0cdc5 45%, #314E46);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b0cdc5, #9DB0C1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b0cdc5, #CDB0B8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E8F1EE 0%, #b0cdc5 45%, #314E46 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%, #CFE1D2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C3D2D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #314E46 0%, transparent 65%), #b0cdc5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b0cdc5

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.

#b0cdc5 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 12.38:1.

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.

#b0cdc5, answered

What color is #b0cdc5?

#b0cdc5 is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 163° on the hue wheel with 23% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b0cdc5?

rgb(176, 205, 197) — 176 red, 205 green and 197 blue out of 255, or 69% / 80.4% / 77.3% by channel.

What is #b0cdc5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(163, 23%, 75%) and hsv(163, 14%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b0cdc5 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5692 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.38:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b0cdc5?

Black. It scores 12.38:1 against #b0cdc5, versus 1.70:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b0cdc5 accessible on a white background?

#b0cdc5 on white scores 1.70:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #507F72 to reach 4.5:1, or #3B5D53 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b0cdc5?

#CDB0B8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDB0C7 and #CDB6B0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b0cdc5?

For interface work: #F6F9F8 as the surface, #CDDFDA for borders, #598D7E for secondary text, #824A67 as an accent and #314E46 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B0CDB6 and #B0C7CD stays calm, while #CDB0B8 is the loudest partner.

What is #b0cdc5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 0%, 4%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b0cdc5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 70 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B0CDBA; nudged cooler, #AFCBCE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b0cdc5?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 17.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b0cdc5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b0cdc5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b0cdc5] or text-[#b0cdc5], 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 #b0cdc5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(176, 205, 197, 0.5), or #b0cdc580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D8E6E2; over black, #586763.

Is #b0cdc5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b0cdc5 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 #b0cdc5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5E5E0, #b0cdc5 45%, #314E46). For more colour, a short hue run to #9DB0C1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b0cdc5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b0cdc5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.