Skip to content
blue · cool

#b6c1df

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
182, 193, 223
HSL
224°, 39%, 79%
CMYK
18, 14, 0, 13
Luminance
0.5341

#b6c1df is a light soft blue, 224° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.68:1). As text it scores 1.80:1 on white — use #5A73B7 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(224 39% 79%)rgb(182 193 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b6c1df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b6c1df
Hue
224°
blue
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5341
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.68:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
16.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.812
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 21.7
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue224° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b6c1df.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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
Red19%
Green71%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#b6c1df
HEX (8-digit)#b6c1dfff
RGBrgb(182, 193, 223)
RGBArgba(182, 193, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(224, 39%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(224, 18%, 87%)
HWBhwb(224 71% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 14%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(78.1 2.4 -16.2)
LCHlch(78.1 16.4 278.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.812 0.044 269.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.68, 53.41, 77.38)
Decimal11977183
Display P3color(display-p3 0.714 0.757 0.875)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b6c1df;
background-color: #b6c1df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b6c1df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b6c1df] bg-[#b6c1df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b6c1df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.714, green: 0.757, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.714, green: 0.757, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B6C1DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB6C1DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB6C1DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 193, 182)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(182, 193, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(182, 193, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 182, 193, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7137f, 0.7569f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{182,193,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b6c1df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b6c1df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#273459, #D4DBEC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b6c1df 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: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-100: #EBEEF4;
  --brand-200: #D2D9E9;
  --brand-300: #b6c1df;
  --brand-400: #8A9CCC;
  --brand-500: #637BBB;
  --brand-600: #4B64AA;
  --brand-700: #3E548E;
  --brand-800: #324371;
  --brand-900: #273353;
  --brand-950: #192034;
  --brand: #b6c1df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C6CFE6;
  --brand-hover: #9DACD4;
  --brand-pressed: #8497C9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D4DBEC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F6FA',
        100: '#EBEEF4',
        200: '#D2D9E9',
        300: '#b6c1df',
        400: '#8A9CCC',
        500: '#637BBB',
        600: '#4B64AA',
        700: '#3E548E',
        800: '#324371',
        900: '#273353',
        950: '#192034',
        DEFAULT: '#b6c1df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F6FA,
  '100': #EBEEF4,
  '200': #D2D9E9,
  '300': #b6c1df,
  '400': #8A9CCC,
  '500': #637BBB,
  '600': #4B64AA,
  '700': #3E548E,
  '800': #324371,
  '900': #273353,
  '950': #192034,
);
$brand-base: #b6c1df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F6FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBEEF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D2D9E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b6c1df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8A9CCC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#637BBB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4B64AA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3E548E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#324371", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#273353", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#192034", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b6c1df · 11.68:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.80:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.68:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b6c1df as text scores 1.80:1 on white and 11.68:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #273459 at 6.79:1.

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
#5A73B7 · 4.59:1
AA on white−26% L
#5A73B7
The quick fox
#405693 · 7.07:1
AAA on white−38% L
#405693
The quick fox
#b6c1df · 11.68:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b6c1df
The quick fox
#b6c1df · 11.68:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b6c1df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8194C8 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
#b6c1df on white: 1.80:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b6c1df on black: 11.68:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b6c1df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b6c1df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.80:1AaAa
Slate 501.72:1AaAa
Slate 1001.64:1AaAa
Slate 2001.46:1AaAa
Slate 3001.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.43:1AaAa
Slate 5002.65:1AaAa
Slate 6004.22:1AaAa
Slate 7005.76:1AaAa
Slate 8008.14:1AaAa
Slate 9009.93:1AaAa
Black11.68:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8C3E0
deuteranopia · #B5C0DE
tritanopia · #ACC7CB

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. #b6c1df 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.

#F5F6FA
#EBEEF4
#D2D9E9
#b6c1df
#8A9CCC
#637BBB
#4B64AA
#3E548E
#324371
#273353
#192034
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F6FADarkest = 950 · #192034Text 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 0.011 269.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 269.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.026 269.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.034 269.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.040 269.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.044 269.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.044 269.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.041 269.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.037 269.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.031 269.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.024 269.5);
}

Colors that work with #b6c1df

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6CFE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B609B
Captions on the surface
Accent#92653A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#273459
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF0F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#9DACD4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8497C9
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C0CBE9
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 #b6c1df

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 #273459
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8194C8

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
  • Weight21/100
  • 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#DFD4B6
Analogous left#B6D5DF
Analogous right#BFB6DF
Split-complement 1#DFBFB6
Split-complement 2#D5DFB6
Triadic 1#DFB6C1
Triadic 2#C1DFB6
Tetradic#DFB6D5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°224°

#b6c1df sits at 224°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.4%
Green75.7%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
182
0xb6
G · 0–255
193
0xc1
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.4%
Magenta13.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 44%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b6c1df text on a black background

contrast 11.68:1

Card sample

#b6c1df text on a white background

contrast 1.80:1

Card sample

#b6c1df on grey

1.64:1

#b6c1df on its own surface

1.66:1

#b6c1df on its dark surface

9.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b6c1df;
Background color
Panel with #b6c1df background
background-color: #b6c1df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b6c1df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(182, 193, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(182, 193, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b6c1df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b6c1df, #C6B6DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6c1df, #D1B6DF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b6c1df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b6c1df;
caret-color: #b6c1df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b6c1df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF0F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b6c1df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b6c1df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b6c1df 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, 193, 223, 0.5)
rgb(182 193 223 / 50%)
#b6c1df80
hsl(224 39% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b6c1df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b6c1df1a#F8F9FC
20%#b6c1df33#F0F3F9
40%#b6c1df66#E2E6F2
60%#b6c1df99#D3DAEC
80%#b6c1dfcc#C5CDE5

Gradients from #b6c1df

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, #E1E5F2, #b6c1df 45%, #273459);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b6c1df, #BAA1D6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6c1df, #DFD4B6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F6FA 0%, #b6c1df 45%, #273459 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D9EBEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D4CBE8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #273459 0%, transparent 65%), #b6c1df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b6c1df

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.

#b6c1df 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 11.68:1.

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.

#b6c1df, answered

What color is #b6c1df?

#b6c1df is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 224° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b6c1df?

rgb(182, 193, 223) — 182 red, 193 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 71.4% / 75.7% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #b6c1df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(224, 39%, 79%) and hsv(224, 18%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b6c1df a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5341 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.68:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b6c1df?

Black. It scores 11.68:1 against #b6c1df, versus 1.80:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b6c1df accessible on a white background?

#b6c1df on white scores 1.80:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5A73B7 to reach 4.5:1, or #405693 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b6c1df?

#DFD4B6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFBFB6 and #D5DFB6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b6c1df?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C6CFE6 for borders, #4B609B for secondary text, #92653A as an accent and #273459 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6D5DF and #BFB6DF stays calm, while #DFD4B6 is the loudest partner.

What is #b6c1df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 14%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b6c1df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BAB6DF; nudged cooler, #B5C8E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b6c1df?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 21.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b6c1df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b6c1df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b6c1df] or text-[#b6c1df], 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 #b6c1df with 50% opacity?

rgba(182, 193, 223, 0.5), or #b6c1df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBE0EF; over black, #5B6170.

Is #b6c1df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 12.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b6c1df 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 #b6c1df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E1E5F2, #b6c1df 45%, #273459). For more colour, a short hue run to #BAA1D6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b6c1df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b6c1df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.