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blue · cool

#b6cfdc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
182, 207, 220
HSL
201°, 35%, 79%
CMYK
17, 6, 0, 14
Luminance
0.5974

#b6cfdc is a light soft blue, 201° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.95:1). As text it scores 1.62:1 on white — use #487C97 instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(201 35% 79%)rgb(182 207 220)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b6cfdc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b6cfdc
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
35%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5974
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.95:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 5.1
Chroma
10.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.840
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 17.3
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation35%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b6cfdc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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%
Green75%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#b6cfdc
HEX (8-digit)#b6cfdcff
RGBrgb(182, 207, 220)
RGBArgba(182, 207, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 35%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(201, 17%, 86%)
HWBhwb(201 71% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 6%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(81.7 -5.7 -9.3)
LCHlch(81.7 10.8 238.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.840 0.033 230.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(54.52, 59.74, 76.35)
Decimal11980764
Display P3color(display-p3 0.714 0.812 0.863)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b6cfdc;
background-color: #b6cfdc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b6cfdc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b6cfdc] bg-[#b6cfdc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b6cfdc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.714, green: 0.812, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.714, green: 0.812, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B6CFDC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB6CFDC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB6CFDC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 207, 182)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(182, 207, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(182, 207, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 182, 207, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7137f, 0.8118f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{182,207,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b6cfdc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b6cfdc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#294756, #D6E4EB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b6cfdc 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: #F5F8F9;
  --brand-100: #EBF1F4;
  --brand-200: #D4E1E8;
  --brand-300: #b6cfdc;
  --brand-400: #8DB4C8;
  --brand-500: #679BB6;
  --brand-600: #4F88A5;
  --brand-700: #42718A;
  --brand-800: #355B6E;
  --brand-900: #294351;
  --brand-950: #1A2A33;
  --brand: #b6cfdc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C8DBE5;
  --brand-hover: #9EBFD0;
  --brand-pressed: #86AFC5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D6E4EB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8F9',
        100: '#EBF1F4',
        200: '#D4E1E8',
        300: '#b6cfdc',
        400: '#8DB4C8',
        500: '#679BB6',
        600: '#4F88A5',
        700: '#42718A',
        800: '#355B6E',
        900: '#294351',
        950: '#1A2A33',
        DEFAULT: '#b6cfdc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8F9,
  '100': #EBF1F4,
  '200': #D4E1E8,
  '300': #b6cfdc,
  '400': #8DB4C8,
  '500': #679BB6,
  '600': #4F88A5,
  '700': #42718A,
  '800': #355B6E,
  '900': #294351,
  '950': #1A2A33,
);
$brand-base: #b6cfdc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBF1F4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4E1E8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b6cfdc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8DB4C8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#679BB6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4F88A5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#42718A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#355B6E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#294351", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A2A33", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b6cfdc · 12.95:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.62:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b6cfdc as text scores 1.62:1 on white and 12.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #294756 at 6.08:1.

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
#487C97 · 4.56:1
AA on white−35% L
#487C97
The quick fox
#365D71 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−46% L
#365D71
The quick fox
#b6cfdc · 12.95:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b6cfdc
The quick fox
#b6cfdc · 12.95:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b6cfdc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #679BB6 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
#b6cfdc on white: 1.62:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b6cfdc on black: 12.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b6cfdc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b6cfdc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.62:1AaAa
Slate 501.55:1AaAa
Slate 1001.48:1AaAa
Slate 2001.32:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5002.93:1AaAa
Slate 6004.67:1AaAa
Slate 7006.38:1AaAa
Slate 8009.02:1AaAa
Slate 90011.01:1AaAa
Black12.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9CEDD
deuteranopia · #C3C9DC
tritanopia · #ACD3D3

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. #b6cfdc 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.

#F5F8F9
#EBF1F4
#D4E1E8
#b6cfdc
#8DB4C8
#679BB6
#4F88A5
#42718A
#355B6E
#294351
#1A2A33
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1A2A33Text 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 0.008 230.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 230.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.019 230.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.025 230.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 230.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.033 230.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.033 230.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.031 230.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.027 230.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.023 230.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 230.3);
}

Colors that work with #b6cfdc

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#F5F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C8DBE5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8E463E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#294756
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF4F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#9EBFD0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#86AFC5
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BFD9E7
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 #b6cfdc

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 #294756
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #679BB6

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#DCC3B6
Analogous left#B6DCD6
Analogous right#B6BCDC
Split-complement 1#DCB6BC
Split-complement 2#DCD6B6
Triadic 1#DCB6CF
Triadic 2#CFDCB6
Tetradic#D6B6DC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#b6cfdc sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.4%
Green81.2%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
182
0xb6
G · 0–255
207
0xcf
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.3%
Magenta5.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b6cfdc text on a black background

contrast 12.95:1

Card sample

#b6cfdc text on a white background

contrast 1.62:1

Card sample

#b6cfdc on grey

1.48:1

#b6cfdc on its own surface

1.52:1

#b6cfdc on its dark surface

10.35:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b6cfdc;
Background color
Panel with #b6cfdc background
background-color: #b6cfdc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b6cfdc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(182, 207, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(182, 207, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b6cfdc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b6cfdc, #B6B6DC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6cfdc, #C0B6DC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b6cfdc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b6cfdc;
caret-color: #b6cfdc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b6cfdc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF4F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b6cfdc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b6cfdc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b6cfdc 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, 207, 220, 0.5)
rgb(182 207 220 / 50%)
#b6cfdc80
hsl(201 35% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b6cfdc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b6cfdc1a#F8FAFC
20%#b6cfdc33#F0F5F8
40%#b6cfdc66#E2ECF1
60%#b6cfdc99#D3E2EA
80%#b6cfdccc#C5D9E3

Gradients from #b6cfdc

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, #DFEAF0, #b6cfdc 45%, #294756);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b6cfdc, #A6A1D2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6cfdc, #DCC3B6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F8FA 0%, #b6cfdc 45%, #294756 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F8FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D8ECE8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CBCDE6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #294756 0%, transparent 65%), #b6cfdc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b6cfdc

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.

#b6cfdc 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 12.95:1.

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.

#b6cfdc, answered

What color is #b6cfdc?

#b6cfdc is a light soft blue, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 5.1). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 35% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b6cfdc?

rgb(182, 207, 220) — 182 red, 207 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 71.4% / 81.2% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #b6cfdc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 35%, 79%) and hsv(201, 17%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b6cfdc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5974 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b6cfdc?

Black. It scores 12.95:1 against #b6cfdc, versus 1.62:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b6cfdc accessible on a white background?

#b6cfdc on white scores 1.62:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #487C97 to reach 4.5:1, or #365D71 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b6cfdc?

#DCC3B6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCB6BC and #DCD6B6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b6cfdc?

For interface work: #F5F8FA as the surface, #C8DBE5 for borders, #4B7F9B for secondary text, #8E463E as an accent and #294756 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6DCD6 and #B6BCDC stays calm, while #DCC3B6 is the loudest partner.

What is #b6cfdc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 6%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b6cfdc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B6DCDB; nudged cooler, #B5C9DD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b6cfdc?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 17.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b6cfdc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b6cfdc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b6cfdc] or text-[#b6cfdc], 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 #b6cfdc with 50% opacity?

rgba(182, 207, 220, 0.5), or #b6cfdc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBE7EE; over black, #5B686E.

Is #b6cfdc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 9.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b6cfdc 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 #b6cfdc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DFEAF0, #b6cfdc 45%, #294756). For more colour, a short hue run to #A6A1D2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b6cfdc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b6cfdc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.