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blue · cool

#b0cefc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Denim

RGB
176, 206, 252
HSL
216°, 93%, 84%
CMYK
30, 18, 0, 1
Luminance
0.6040

#b0cefc is a light electric blue, 216° on the wheel and 97/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.08:1). As text it scores 1.61:1 on white — use #136CF6 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(216 93% 84%)rgb(176 206 252)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b0cefc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b0cefc
Hue
216°
blue
Saturation
93%
electric
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6040
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.08:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
25.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.845
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 18.3
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue216° of 360°
Saturation93%
Lightness84%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b0cefc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% 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
Red15%
Green73%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#b0cefc
HEX (8-digit)#b0cefcff
RGBrgb(176, 206, 252)
RGBArgba(176, 206, 252, 1)
HSLhsl(216, 93%, 84%)
HSV / HSBhsv(216, 30%, 99%)
HWBhwb(216 69% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(30%, 18%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(82.0 0.3 -25.8)
LCHlch(82.0 25.8 270.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.845 0.072 258.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(57.54, 60.40, 100.70)
Decimal11587324
Display P3color(display-p3 0.690 0.808 0.988)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b0cefc;
background-color: #b0cefc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b0cefc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b0cefc] bg-[#b0cefc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b0cefc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.690, green: 0.808, blue: 0.988)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.690, green: 0.808, blue: 0.988, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B0CEFC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB0CEFC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB0CEFC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(252, 206, 176)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(176, 206, 252)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(176, 206, 252)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 176, 206, 252)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6902f, 0.8078f, 0.9882f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{176,206,252}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b0cefc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b0cefc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#05337B, #D3DEEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b0cefc 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: #F2F6FD;
  --brand-100: #E4EDFB;
  --brand-200: #b0cefc;
  --brand-300: #93BCFB;
  --brand-400: #5D9AF9;
  --brand-500: #2779F7;
  --brand-600: #0963EC;
  --brand-700: #0752C5;
  --brand-800: #06429D;
  --brand-900: #093271;
  --brand-950: #061F47;
  --brand: #b0cefc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D1ED;
  --brand-hover: #8DB9FB;
  --brand-pressed: #6BA3F9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DEEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2F6FD',
        100: '#E4EDFB',
        200: '#b0cefc',
        300: '#93BCFB',
        400: '#5D9AF9',
        500: '#2779F7',
        600: '#0963EC',
        700: '#0752C5',
        800: '#06429D',
        900: '#093271',
        950: '#061F47',
        DEFAULT: '#b0cefc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2F6FD,
  '100': #E4EDFB,
  '200': #b0cefc,
  '300': #93BCFB,
  '400': #5D9AF9,
  '500': #2779F7,
  '600': #0963EC,
  '700': #0752C5,
  '800': #06429D,
  '900': #093271,
  '950': #061F47,
);
$brand-base: #b0cefc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2F6FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4EDFB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#b0cefc", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#93BCFB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5D9AF9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2779F7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0963EC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0752C5", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#06429D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#093271", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#061F47", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b0cefc · 13.08:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.61:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b0cefc as text scores 1.61:1 on white and 13.08:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #05337B at 7.41:1.

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
#136CF6 · 4.66:1
AA on white−32% L
#136CF6
The quick fox
#0750BF · 7.22:1
AAA on white−45% L
#0750BF
The quick fox
#b0cefc · 13.08:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b0cefc
The quick fox
#b0cefc · 13.08:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b0cefc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #5394F8 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
#b0cefc on white: 1.61:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b0cefc on black: 13.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b0cefc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b0cefc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.61:1AaAa
Slate 501.53:1AaAa
Slate 1001.47:1AaAa
Slate 2001.30:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.60:1AaAa
Slate 5002.96:1AaAa
Slate 6004.72:1AaAa
Slate 7006.45:1AaAa
Slate 8009.11:1AaAa
Slate 90011.12:1AaAa
Black13.08:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BED0FE
deuteranopia · #B6C9FB
tritanopia · #9AD8DD

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. #b0cefc 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.

#F2F6FD
#E4EDFB
#b0cefc
#93BCFB
#5D9AF9
#2779F7
#0963EC
#0752C5
#06429D
#093271
#061F47
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F2F6FDDarkest = 950 · #061F47Text step on white = 600
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 0.018 258.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 258.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 258.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.056 258.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 258.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 258.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 258.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 258.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 258.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 258.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 258.8);
}

Colors that work with #b0cefc

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D1ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CA4802
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#05337B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F0FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#8DB9FB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6BA3F9
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C1DAFF
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 #b0cefc

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 #05337B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #5394F8

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight16/100
  • 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#FCDEB0
Analogous left#B0F4FC
Analogous right#B8B0FC
Split-complement 1#FCB8B0
Split-complement 2#F4FCB0
Triadic 1#FCB0CE
Triadic 2#CEFCB0
Tetradic#FCB0F4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°216°

#b0cefc sits at 216°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.0%
Green80.8%
Blue98.8%
R · 0–255
176
0xb0
G · 0–255
206
0xce
B · 0–255
252
0xfc

CMYK percentages

Cyan30.2%
Magenta18.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Total ink coverage is 50%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b0cefc text on a black background

contrast 13.08:1

Card sample

#b0cefc text on a white background

contrast 1.61:1

Card sample

#b0cefc on grey

1.47:1

#b0cefc on its own surface

1.49:1

#b0cefc on its dark surface

10.87:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b0cefc;
Background color
Panel with #b0cefc background
background-color: #b0cefc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b0cefc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(176, 206, 252, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(176, 206, 252, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b0cefc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b0cefc, #C5B0FC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b0cefc, #D8B0FC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b0cefc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b0cefc;
caret-color: #b0cefc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b0cefc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6F0FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b0cefc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b0cefc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b0cefc 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, 206, 252, 0.5)
rgb(176 206 252 / 50%)
#b0cefc80
hsl(216 93% 84% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b0cefc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b0cefc1a#F7FAFF
20%#b0cefc33#EFF5FE
40%#b0cefc66#DFEBFE
60%#b0cefc99#D0E2FD
80%#b0cefccc#C0D8FD

Gradients from #b0cefc

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, #EBF3FE, #b0cefc 45%, #05337B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b0cefc, #B792FB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b0cefc, #FCDEB0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0F6FE 0%, #b0cefc 45%, #05337B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E1FDFE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D6CDFD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #05337B 0%, transparent 65%), #b0cefc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b0cefc

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.

#b0cefc 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.

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 13.08:1.

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.

#b0cefc, answered

What color is #b0cefc?

#b0cefc is a light electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 216° on the hue wheel with 93% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b0cefc?

rgb(176, 206, 252) — 176 red, 206 green and 252 blue out of 255, or 69% / 80.8% / 98.8% by channel.

What is #b0cefc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(216, 93%, 84%) and hsv(216, 30%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b0cefc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6040 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b0cefc?

Black. It scores 13.08:1 against #b0cefc, versus 1.61:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b0cefc accessible on a white background?

#b0cefc on white scores 1.61:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #136CF6 to reach 4.5:1, or #0750BF for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b0cefc?

#FCDEB0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FCB8B0 and #F4FCB0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b0cefc?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D1ED for borders, #4B6A9B for secondary text, #CA4802 as an accent and #05337B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B0F4FC and #B8B0FC stays calm, while #FCDEB0 is the loudest partner.

What is #b0cefc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(30%, 18%, 0%, 1%). 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 #b0cefc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B0B2FC; nudged cooler, #96C4FC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b0cefc?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 18.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b0cefc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b0cefc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b0cefc] or text-[#b0cefc], 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 #b0cefc with 50% opacity?

rgba(176, 206, 252, 0.5), or #b0cefc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D8E7FE; over black, #58677E.

Is #b0cefc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 5.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b0cefc 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 #b0cefc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBF3FE, #b0cefc 45%, #05337B). For more colour, a short hue run to #B792FB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b0cefc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b0cefc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.