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blue · cool

#b3accb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
179, 172, 203
HSL
254°, 23%, 74%
CMYK
12, 15, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4340

#b3accb is a light soft blue, 254° on the wheel and 67/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.68:1). As text it scores 2.17:1 on white — use #796DA4 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(254 23% 74%)rgb(179 172 203)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b3accb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b3accb
Hue
254°
blue
Saturation
23%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4340
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
67/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.68:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
17.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.760
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 22.9
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue254° of 360°
Saturation23%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b3accb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool67% 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
Red22%
Green68%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#b3accb
HEX (8-digit)#b3accbff
RGBrgb(179, 172, 203)
RGBArgba(179, 172, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(254, 23%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(254, 15%, 80%)
HWBhwb(254 67% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(12%, 15%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(71.8 8.6 -14.8)
LCHlch(71.8 17.1 300.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.760 0.044 295.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.12, 43.40, 62.54)
Decimal11775179
Display P3color(display-p3 0.702 0.675 0.796)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b3accb;
background-color: #b3accb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b3accb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b3accb] bg-[#b3accb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b3accb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.702, green: 0.675, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.702, green: 0.675, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B3ACCB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB3ACCB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB3ACCB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 172, 179)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(179, 172, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(179, 172, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 179, 172, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7020f, 0.6745f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{179,172,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b3accb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b3accb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#38314E, #DDD9E7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b3accb 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: #F7F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EEEDF2;
  --brand-200: #DAD7E5;
  --brand-300: #b3accb;
  --brand-400: #A097BE;
  --brand-500: #8175A9;
  --brand-600: #6B5E97;
  --brand-700: #594F7D;
  --brand-800: #473F64;
  --brand-900: #36304A;
  --brand-950: #221E2E;
  --brand: #b3accb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D1CDE0;
  --brand-hover: #9F96BD;
  --brand-pressed: #8B80AF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191623;
    --brand-ink: #DDD9E7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F6F9',
        100: '#EEEDF2',
        200: '#DAD7E5',
        300: '#b3accb',
        400: '#A097BE',
        500: '#8175A9',
        600: '#6B5E97',
        700: '#594F7D',
        800: '#473F64',
        900: '#36304A',
        950: '#221E2E',
        DEFAULT: '#b3accb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F6F9,
  '100': #EEEDF2,
  '200': #DAD7E5,
  '300': #b3accb,
  '400': #A097BE,
  '500': #8175A9,
  '600': #6B5E97,
  '700': #594F7D,
  '800': #473F64,
  '900': #36304A,
  '950': #221E2E,
);
$brand-base: #b3accb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DAD7E5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b3accb", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A097BE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8175A9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6B5E97", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#594F7D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#473F64", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#36304A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#221E2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b3accb · 9.68:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.68:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b3accb as text scores 2.17:1 on white and 9.68:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #38314E at 5.64:1.

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
#796DA4 · 4.63:1
AA on white−20% L
#796DA4
The quick fox
#5C5182 · 7.11:1
AAA on white−32% L
#5C5182
The quick fox
#b3accb · 9.68:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b3accb
The quick fox
#b3accb · 9.68:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b3accb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #968DB7 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
#b3accb on white: 2.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b3accb on black: 9.68:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b3accb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b3accb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.17:1AaAa
Slate 502.07:1AaAa
Slate 1001.98:1AaAa
Slate 2001.76:1AaAa
Slate 3001.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.18:1AaAa
Slate 5002.19:1AaAa
Slate 6003.49:1AaAa
Slate 7004.77:1AaAa
Slate 8006.74:1AaAa
Slate 9008.23:1AaAa
Black9.68:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A6B0CC
deuteranopia · #A7B0CA
tritanopia · #AFB0B6

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. #b3accb 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.

#F7F6F9
#EEEDF2
#DAD7E5
#b3accb
#A097BE
#8175A9
#6B5E97
#594F7D
#473F64
#36304A
#221E2E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F7F6F9Darkest = 950 · #221E2EText 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 0.011 295.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 295.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.027 295.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.035 295.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.041 295.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.044 295.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.044 295.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.042 295.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.037 295.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.031 295.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.024 295.7);
}

Colors that work with #b3accb

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#F6F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D1CDE0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#64588D
Captions on the surface
Accent#82804A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#38314E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1EFF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191623
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F96BD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8B80AF
Two steps down
Disabled#F2F1F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BBB3D9
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 #b3accb

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #38314E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #968DB7

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.

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

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#C4CBAC
Analogous left#ACB4CB
Analogous right#C2ACCB
Split-complement 1#CBC2AC
Split-complement 2#B4CBAC
Triadic 1#CBB3AC
Triadic 2#ACCBB3
Tetradic#CBACB4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°254°

#b3accb sits at 254°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red70.2%
Green67.5%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
179
0xb3
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan11.8%
Magenta15.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 48%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b3accb text on a black background

contrast 9.68:1

Card sample

#b3accb text on a white background

contrast 2.17:1

Card sample

#b3accb on grey

1.98:1

#b3accb on its own surface

2.01:1

#b3accb on its dark surface

8.20:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b3accb;
Background color
Panel with #b3accb background
background-color: #b3accb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b3accb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(179, 172, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(179, 172, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b3accb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b3accb, #C8ACCB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b3accb, #CBACC7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b3accb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b3accb;
caret-color: #b3accb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b3accb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1EFF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b3accb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b3accb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b3accb 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(179, 172, 203, 0.5)
rgb(179 172 203 / 50%)
#b3accb80
hsl(254 23% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b3accb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b3accb1a#F7F7FA
20%#b3accb33#F0EEF5
40%#b3accb66#E1DEEA
60%#b3accb99#D1CDE0
80%#b3accbcc#C2BDD5

Gradients from #b3accb

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, #D5D2E3, #b3accb 45%, #38314E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b3accb, #BE99BF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b3accb, #C4CBAC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E7E4EE 0%, #b3accb 45%, #38314E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CBD2DF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D2BFD7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #38314E 0%, transparent 65%), #b3accb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b3accb

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.

#b3accb 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.

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 9.68:1.

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.

#b3accb, answered

What color is #b3accb?

#b3accb is a light soft blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 254° on the hue wheel with 23% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b3accb?

rgb(179, 172, 203) — 179 red, 172 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 70.2% / 67.5% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #b3accb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(254, 23%, 74%) and hsv(254, 15%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b3accb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4340 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.68:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b3accb?

Black. It scores 9.68:1 against #b3accb, versus 2.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b3accb accessible on a white background?

#b3accb on white scores 2.17:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #796DA4 to reach 4.5:1, or #5C5182 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b3accb?

#C4CBAC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CBC2AC and #B4CBAC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b3accb?

For interface work: #F6F6F9 as the surface, #D1CDE0 for borders, #64588D for secondary text, #82804A as an accent and #38314E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ACB4CB and #C2ACCB stays calm, while #C4CBAC is the loudest partner.

What is #b3accb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(12%, 15%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b3accb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 67 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BEACCB; nudged cooler, #ABAFCC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b3accb?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 22.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b3accb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b3accb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b3accb] or text-[#b3accb], 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 #b3accb with 50% opacity?

rgba(179, 172, 203, 0.5), or #b3accb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9D6E5; over black, #5A5666.

Is #b3accb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 11.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b3accb 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #b3accb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D5D2E3, #b3accb 45%, #38314E). For more colour, a short hue run to #BE99BF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b3accb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b3accb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.