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blue · cool

#b6bbcc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
182, 187, 204
HSL
226°, 18%, 76%
CMYK
11, 8, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4985

#b6bbcc is a light soft blue, 226° on the wheel and 71/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.97:1). As text it scores 1.91:1 on white — use #6B7598 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(226 18% 76%)rgb(182 187 204)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b6bbcc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b6bbcc
Hue
226°
blue
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4985
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
71/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.97:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
9.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.793
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 23.5
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue226° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b6bbcc.

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
Red20%
Green71%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#b6bbcc
HEX (8-digit)#b6bbccff
RGBrgb(182, 187, 204)
RGBArgba(182, 187, 204, 1)
HSLhsl(226, 18%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(226, 11%, 80%)
HWBhwb(226 71% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(11%, 8%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(76.0 1.6 -9.1)
LCHlch(76.0 9.3 280.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.793 0.025 272.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.96, 49.84, 64.21)
Decimal11975628
Display P3color(display-p3 0.714 0.733 0.800)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b6bbcc;
background-color: #b6bbcc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b6bbcc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b6bbcc] bg-[#b6bbcc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b6bbcc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.714, green: 0.733, blue: 0.800)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.714, green: 0.733, blue: 0.800, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B6BBCC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB6BBCC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB6BBCC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 187, 182)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(182, 187, 204)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(182, 187, 204)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 182, 187, 204)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7137f, 0.7333f, 0.8000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{182,187,204}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b6bbcc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b6bbcc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#343A4B, #DBDDE6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b6bbcc 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: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEEFF2;
  --brand-200: #D9DBE3;
  --brand-300: #b6bbcc;
  --brand-400: #9CA3BA;
  --brand-500: #7B84A3;
  --brand-600: #656F90;
  --brand-700: #545C78;
  --brand-800: #434A60;
  --brand-900: #333847;
  --brand-950: #20232C;
  --brand: #b6bbcc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CFD2DD;
  --brand-hover: #A1A7BD;
  --brand-pressed: #8C94AF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171921;
    --brand-ink: #DBDDE6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F8',
        100: '#EEEFF2',
        200: '#D9DBE3',
        300: '#b6bbcc',
        400: '#9CA3BA',
        500: '#7B84A3',
        600: '#656F90',
        700: '#545C78',
        800: '#434A60',
        900: '#333847',
        950: '#20232C',
        DEFAULT: '#b6bbcc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F8,
  '100': #EEEFF2,
  '200': #D9DBE3,
  '300': #b6bbcc,
  '400': #9CA3BA,
  '500': #7B84A3,
  '600': #656F90,
  '700': #545C78,
  '800': #434A60,
  '900': #333847,
  '950': #20232C,
);
$brand-base: #b6bbcc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEFF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9DBE3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b6bbcc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9CA3BA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7B84A3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#656F90", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#545C78", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#434A60", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#333847", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#20232C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b6bbcc · 10.97:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.91:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.97:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b6bbcc as text scores 1.91:1 on white and 10.97:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #343A4B at 5.92:1.

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
#6B7598 · 4.54:1
AA on white−25% L
#6B7598
The quick fox
#4F5771 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−38% L
#4F5771
The quick fox
#b6bbcc · 10.97:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b6bbcc
The quick fox
#b6bbcc · 10.97:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b6bbcc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8C94AF 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
#b6bbcc on white: 1.91:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b6bbcc on black: 10.97:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b6bbcc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b6bbcc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.91:1AaAa
Slate 501.83:1AaAa
Slate 1001.75:1AaAa
Slate 2001.55:1AaAa
Slate 3001.29:1AaAa
Slate 4001.34:1AaAa
Slate 5002.49:1AaAa
Slate 6003.96:1AaAa
Slate 7005.41:1AaAa
Slate 8007.64:1AaAa
Slate 9009.33:1AaAa
Black10.97:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B6BCCD
deuteranopia · #B5BACC
tritanopia · #B1BEC0

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. #b6bbcc 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.

#F6F7F8
#EEEFF2
#D9DBE3
#b6bbcc
#9CA3BA
#7B84A3
#656F90
#545C78
#434A60
#333847
#20232C
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F8Darkest = 950 · #20232CText 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 0.006 272.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 272.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.015 272.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.019 272.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.023 272.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.025 272.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.025 272.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.023 272.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.021 272.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.017 272.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 272.7);
}

Colors that work with #b6bbcc

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#F6F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CFD2DD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5E6887
Captions on the surface
Accent#7B6851
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#343A4B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F1F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171921
Dark-mode background
Hover#A1A7BD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C94AF
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BDC3DA
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 #b6bbcc

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 #343A4B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8C94AF

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
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#CCC7B6
Analogous left#B6C6CC
Analogous right#BCB6CC
Split-complement 1#CCBCB6
Split-complement 2#C6CCB6
Triadic 1#CCB6BB
Triadic 2#BBCCB6
Tetradic#CCB6C6
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°226°

#b6bbcc sits at 226°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.4%
Green73.3%
Blue80.0%
R · 0–255
182
0xb6
G · 0–255
187
0xbb
B · 0–255
204
0xcc

CMYK percentages

Cyan10.8%
Magenta8.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Total ink coverage is 39%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b6bbcc text on a black background

contrast 10.97:1

Card sample

#b6bbcc text on a white background

contrast 1.91:1

Card sample

#b6bbcc on grey

1.75:1

#b6bbcc on its own surface

1.79:1

#b6bbcc on its dark surface

9.16:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b6bbcc;
Background color
Panel with #b6bbcc background
background-color: #b6bbcc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b6bbcc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(182, 187, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(182, 187, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b6bbcc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b6bbcc, #C0B6CC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6bbcc, #C5B6CC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b6bbcc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b6bbcc;
caret-color: #b6bbcc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b6bbcc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F1F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b6bbcc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b6bbcc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b6bbcc 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(182, 187, 204, 0.5)
rgb(182 187 204 / 50%)
#b6bbcc80
hsl(226 18% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b6bbcc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b6bbcc1a#F8F8FA
20%#b6bbcc33#F0F1F5
40%#b6bbcc66#E2E4EB
60%#b6bbcc99#D3D6E0
80%#b6bbcccc#C5C9D6

Gradients from #b6bbcc

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, #DADDE5, #b6bbcc 45%, #343A4B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b6bbcc, #B2A4BF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6bbcc, #CCC7B6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #ECEDF2 0%, #b6bbcc 45%, #343A4B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D4DFE1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CEC8D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #343A4B 0%, transparent 65%), #b6bbcc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b6bbcc

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.

#b6bbcc 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 10.97:1.

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.

#b6bbcc, answered

What color is #b6bbcc?

#b6bbcc is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 226° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b6bbcc?

rgb(182, 187, 204) — 182 red, 187 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 71.4% / 73.3% / 80% by channel.

What is #b6bbcc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(226, 18%, 76%) and hsv(226, 11%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b6bbcc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4985 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.97:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b6bbcc?

Black. It scores 10.97:1 against #b6bbcc, versus 1.91:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b6bbcc accessible on a white background?

#b6bbcc on white scores 1.91:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6B7598 to reach 4.5:1, or #4F5771 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b6bbcc?

#CCC7B6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CCBCB6 and #C6CCB6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b6bbcc?

For interface work: #F6F7F9 as the surface, #CFD2DD for borders, #5E6887 for secondary text, #7B6851 as an accent and #343A4B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6C6CC and #BCB6CC stays calm, while #CCC7B6 is the loudest partner.

What is #b6bbcc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(11%, 8%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b6bbcc 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 #B9B6CC; nudged cooler, #B5C0CD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b6bbcc?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 23.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b6bbcc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b6bbcc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b6bbcc] or text-[#b6bbcc], 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 #b6bbcc with 50% opacity?

rgba(182, 187, 204, 0.5), or #b6bbcc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBDDE6; over black, #5B5E66.

Is #b6bbcc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b6bbcc 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 #b6bbcc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DADDE5, #b6bbcc 45%, #343A4B). For more colour, a short hue run to #B2A4BF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b6bbcc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b6bbcc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.