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#b4dcd2

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Pale Turquoise

RGB
180, 220, 210
HSL
165°, 36%, 78%
CMYK
18, 0, 5, 14
Luminance
0.6554

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b4dcd2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b4dcd2
Hue
165°
cyan
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6554
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
81/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
14.11:1
Closest name
Pale Turquoise
ΔE2000 6.7
Where it sits
Hue165° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness78%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool81% 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#b4dcd2
RGBrgb(180, 220, 210)
HSLhsl(165, 36%, 78%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 0%, 5%, 14%)
LABlab(84.8 -15.0 0.6)
LCHlch(84.8 15.1 177.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.863 0.044 178.3)
Decimal11853010
Display P3color(display-p3 0.706 0.863 0.824)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #b4dcd2;
background-color: #b4dcd2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b4dcd2] bg-[#b4dcd2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b4dcd2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.706, green: 0.863, blue: 0.824)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#b4dcd2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB4DCD2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(210, 220, 180)

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 #b4dcd2 · 14.11:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.49:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.11:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b4dcd2 as text scores 1.49:1 on white and 14.11:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#b4dcd2 on white: 1.49:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b4dcd2 on black: 14.11:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D9D7D2
deuteranopia · #D1D1D3
tritanopia · #AADDD9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #b4dcd2 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.

#F5FAF8
#EBF4F2
#D3E8E3
#b4dcd2
#8CC9BA
#66B8A3
#4EA791
#418B79
#346F60
#295247
#19332D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5FAF8Darkest = 950 · #19332D
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5FAF8;
  --brand-100: #EBF4F2;
  --brand-200: #D3E8E3;
  --brand-300: #b4dcd2;
  --brand-400: #8CC9BA;
  --brand-500: #66B8A3;
  --brand-600: #4EA791;
  --brand-700: #418B79;
  --brand-800: #346F60;
  --brand-900: #295247;
  --brand-950: #19332D;
  --brand: #b4dcd2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #b4dcd2

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#F5FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C7E5DE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B87
Captions on the surface
Accent#8F3D66
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#29574B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF7F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142420
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 #b4dcd2

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

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#DCB4BE
Analogous left#B4DCBE
Analogous right#B4D2DC
Split-complement 1#DCB4D2
Split-complement 2#DCBEB4
Triadic 1#D2B4DC
Triadic 2#DCD2B4
Tetradic#BEB4DC

RGB percentages

Red70.6%
Green86.3%
Blue82.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow4.5%
Key (black)13.7%

Color previews

#b4dcd2 text on a black background

contrast 14.11:1

Card sample

#b4dcd2 text on a white background

contrast 1.49:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b4dcd2;
Background color
Panel with #b4dcd2 background
background-color: #b4dcd2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b4dcd2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(180, 220, 210, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(180, 220, 210, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b4dcd2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b4dcd2, #B4CBDC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b4dcd2

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.

#b4dcd2 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.

#b4dcd2, answered

What color is #b4dcd2?

#b4dcd2 is a light soft cyan, closest to Pale Turquoise (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 165° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b4dcd2?

rgb(180, 220, 210) — 180 red, 220 green and 210 blue out of 255, or 70.6% / 86.3% / 82.4% by channel.

Is #b4dcd2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6554 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 14.11:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b4dcd2?

Black. It scores 14.11:1 against #b4dcd2, versus 1.49:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #b4dcd2?

#DCB4BE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCB4D2 and #DCBEB4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b4dcd2?

For interface work: #F5FAF9 as the surface, #C7E5DE for borders, #4B9B87 for secondary text, #8F3D66 as an accent and #29574B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B4DCBE and #B4D2DC stays calm, while #DCB4BE is the loudest partner.

What is #b4dcd2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 0%, 5%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b4dcd2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 81 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B4DCC3; nudged cooler, #B3D8DD.

Work with #b4dcd2 in the Color Lab