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cyan · cool

#b3cccb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Lagoon

RGB
179, 204, 203
HSL
178°, 20%, 75%
CMYK
12, 0, 1, 20
Luminance
0.5708

#b3cccb is a light soft cyan, 178° on the wheel and 71/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.42:1). As text it scores 1.69:1 on white — use #547D7C instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(178 20% 75%)rgb(179 204 203)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b3cccb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b3cccb
Hue
178°
cyan
Saturation
20%
soft
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5708
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
71/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.42:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
8.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.826
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 18.1
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue178° of 360°
Saturation20%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b3cccb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool71% 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
Red17%
Green76%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#b3cccb
HEX (8-digit)#b3cccbff
RGBrgb(179, 204, 203)
RGBArgba(179, 204, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(178, 20%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(178, 12%, 80%)
HWBhwb(178 70% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(12%, 0%, 1%, 20%)
LABlab(80.2 -8.6 -2.3)
LCHlch(80.2 8.9 195.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.826 0.027 193.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.96, 57.08, 64.82)
Decimal11783371
Display P3color(display-p3 0.702 0.800 0.796)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b3cccb;
background-color: #b3cccb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b3cccb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b3cccb] bg-[#b3cccb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b3cccb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.702, green: 0.800, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.702, green: 0.800, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B3CCCB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB3CCCB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB3CCCB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 204, 179)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(179, 204, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(179, 204, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 179, 204, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7020f, 0.8000f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{179,204,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b3cccb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b3cccb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#334C4B, #DAE6E6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b3cccb 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: #EDF2F2;
  --brand-200: #D8E4E3;
  --brand-300: #b3cccb;
  --brand-400: #9ABBBA;
  --brand-500: #79A5A3;
  --brand-600: #629391;
  --brand-700: #527A78;
  --brand-800: #426260;
  --brand-900: #324847;
  --brand-950: #1F2D2D;
  --brand: #b3cccb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F9;
  --brand-border: #CEDEDE;
  --brand-hover: #9EBEBC;
  --brand-pressed: #88AFAE;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #172221;
    --brand-ink: #DAE6E6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F9F8',
        100: '#EDF2F2',
        200: '#D8E4E3',
        300: '#b3cccb',
        400: '#9ABBBA',
        500: '#79A5A3',
        600: '#629391',
        700: '#527A78',
        800: '#426260',
        900: '#324847',
        950: '#1F2D2D',
        DEFAULT: '#b3cccb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F9F8,
  '100': #EDF2F2,
  '200': #D8E4E3,
  '300': #b3cccb,
  '400': #9ABBBA,
  '500': #79A5A3,
  '600': #629391,
  '700': #527A78,
  '800': #426260,
  '900': #324847,
  '950': #1F2D2D,
);
$brand-base: #b3cccb;
$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": "#EDF2F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8E4E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b3cccb", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9ABBBA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#79A5A3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#629391", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#527A78", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#426260", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#324847", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F2D2D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b3cccb · 12.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.69:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b3cccb as text scores 1.69:1 on white and 12.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #334C4B at 5.45:1.

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
#547D7C · 4.56:1
AA on white−34% L
#547D7C
The quick fox
#3E5C5B · 7.27:1
AAA on white−45% L
#3E5C5B
The quick fox
#b3cccb · 12.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b3cccb
The quick fox
#b3cccb · 12.42:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b3cccb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6D9D9B 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
#b3cccb on white: 1.69:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b3cccb on black: 12.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b3cccb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b3cccb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.69:1AaAa
Slate 501.62:1AaAa
Slate 1001.54:1AaAa
Slate 2001.37:1AaAa
Slate 3001.14:1AaAa
Slate 4001.52:1AaAa
Slate 5002.81:1AaAa
Slate 6004.48:1AaAa
Slate 7006.12:1AaAa
Slate 8008.65:1AaAa
Slate 90010.56:1AaAa
Black12.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9C9CB
deuteranopia · #C4C5CB
tritanopia · #ACCECC

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. #b3cccb 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
#EDF2F2
#D8E4E3
#b3cccb
#9ABBBA
#79A5A3
#629391
#527A78
#426260
#324847
#1F2D2D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F9F8Darkest = 950 · #1F2D2DText 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 0.007 193.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.011 193.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 193.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.021 193.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.025 193.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.027 193.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.027 193.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.025 193.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.023 193.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.019 193.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.015 193.7);
}

Colors that work with #b3cccb

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#F6F9F9
Tinted page background
Border#CEDEDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5C8988
Captions on the surface
Accent#7F4D5C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#334C4B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F5F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#172221
Dark-mode background
Hover#9EBEBC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#88AFAE
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F7F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BADAD8
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 #b3cccb

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 #334C4B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6D9D9B

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#CCB3B4
Analogous left#B3CCBF
Analogous right#B3C1CC
Split-complement 1#CCB3C1
Split-complement 2#CCBFB3
Triadic 1#CBB3CC
Triadic 2#CCCBB3
Tetradic#BFB3CC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°178°

#b3cccb sits at 178°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red70.2%
Green80.0%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
179
0xb3
G · 0–255
204
0xcc
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan12.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.5%
Key (black)20.0%

Total ink coverage is 33%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b3cccb text on a black background

contrast 12.42:1

Card sample

#b3cccb text on a white background

contrast 1.69:1

Card sample

#b3cccb on grey

1.54:1

#b3cccb on its own surface

1.60:1

#b3cccb on its dark surface

9.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b3cccb;
Background color
Panel with #b3cccb background
background-color: #b3cccb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b3cccb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(179, 204, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(179, 204, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b3cccb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b3cccb, #B3BCCC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b3cccb, #B3B6CC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b3cccb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b3cccb;
caret-color: #b3cccb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b3cccb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F5F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b3cccb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b3cccb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b3cccb 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, 204, 203, 0.5)
rgb(179 204 203 / 50%)
#b3cccb80
hsl(178 20% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b3cccb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b3cccb1a#F7FAFA
20%#b3cccb33#F0F5F5
40%#b3cccb66#E1EBEA
60%#b3cccb99#D1E0E0
80%#b3cccbcc#C2D6D5

Gradients from #b3cccb

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, #D8E5E4, #b3cccb 45%, #334C4B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b3cccb, #A1AAC0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b3cccb, #CCB3B4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAF1F1 0%, #b3cccb 45%, #334C4B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F9F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D2E0D7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C5CED8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #334C4B 0%, transparent 65%), #b3cccb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b3cccb

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.

#b3cccb 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 12.42:1.

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.

#b3cccb, answered

What color is #b3cccb?

#b3cccb is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 178° on the hue wheel with 20% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b3cccb?

rgb(179, 204, 203) — 179 red, 204 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 70.2% / 80% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #b3cccb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(178, 20%, 75%) and hsv(178, 12%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b3cccb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5708 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b3cccb?

Black. It scores 12.42:1 against #b3cccb, versus 1.69:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b3cccb accessible on a white background?

#b3cccb on white scores 1.69:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #547D7C to reach 4.5:1, or #3E5C5B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b3cccb?

#CCB3B4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CCB3C1 and #CCBFB3, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b3cccb?

For interface work: #F6F9F9 as the surface, #CEDEDE for borders, #5C8988 for secondary text, #7F4D5C as an accent and #334C4B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B3CCBF and #B3C1CC stays calm, while #CCB3B4 is the loudest partner.

What is #b3cccb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(12%, 0%, 1%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b3cccb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 71 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B3CCC2; nudged cooler, #B2C4CD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b3cccb?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 18.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b3cccb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b3cccb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b3cccb] or text-[#b3cccb], 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 #b3cccb with 50% opacity?

rgba(179, 204, 203, 0.5), or #b3cccb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9E6E5; over black, #5A6666.

Is #b3cccb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 10.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b3cccb 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 #b3cccb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D8E5E4, #b3cccb 45%, #334C4B). For more colour, a short hue run to #A1AAC0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b3cccb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b3cccb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.