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blue · cool

#b8c1eb

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
184, 193, 235
HSL
229°, 56%, 82%
CMYK
22, 18, 0, 8
Luminance
0.5433

#b8c1eb is a light vivid blue, 229° on the wheel and 89/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.87:1). As text it scores 1.77:1 on white — use #596ED0 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(229 56% 82%)rgb(184 193 235)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b8c1eb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b8c1eb
Hue
229°
blue
Saturation
56%
vivid
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5433
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.87:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
22.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.818
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 22.8
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue229° of 360°
Saturation56%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b8c1eb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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%
Green70%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#b8c1eb
HEX (8-digit)#b8c1ebff
RGBrgb(184, 193, 235)
RGBArgba(184, 193, 235, 1)
HSLhsl(229, 56%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(229, 22%, 92%)
HWBhwb(229 72% 8%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 18%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(78.7 5.7 -21.9)
LCHlch(78.7 22.6 284.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.818 0.060 275.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.83, 54.33, 86.23)
Decimal12108267
Display P3color(display-p3 0.722 0.757 0.922)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b8c1eb;
background-color: #b8c1eb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b8c1eb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b8c1eb] bg-[#b8c1eb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b8c1eb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.722, green: 0.757, blue: 0.922)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.722, green: 0.757, blue: 0.922, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B8C1EB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB8C1EB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB8C1EB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(235, 193, 184)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(184, 193, 235)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(184, 193, 235)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 184, 193, 235)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7216f, 0.7569f, 0.9216f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{184,193,235}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b8c1eb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b8c1eb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1C2963, #D3D7EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b8c1eb 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: #F4F5FB;
  --brand-100: #E9EBF6;
  --brand-200: #CED3EE;
  --brand-300: #b8c1eb;
  --brand-400: #7C8CDA;
  --brand-500: #5066CE;
  --brand-600: #364EBF;
  --brand-700: #2D419F;
  --brand-800: #24347F;
  --brand-900: #1E295D;
  --brand-950: #131A3A;
  --brand: #b8c1eb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C0C8ED;
  --brand-hover: #9CA9E3;
  --brand-pressed: #8091DB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141724;
    --brand-ink: #D3D7EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F5FB',
        100: '#E9EBF6',
        200: '#CED3EE',
        300: '#b8c1eb',
        400: '#7C8CDA',
        500: '#5066CE',
        600: '#364EBF',
        700: '#2D419F',
        800: '#24347F',
        900: '#1E295D',
        950: '#131A3A',
        DEFAULT: '#b8c1eb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F5FB,
  '100': #E9EBF6,
  '200': #CED3EE,
  '300': #b8c1eb,
  '400': #7C8CDA,
  '500': #5066CE,
  '600': #364EBF,
  '700': #2D419F,
  '800': #24347F,
  '900': #1E295D,
  '950': #131A3A,
);
$brand-base: #b8c1eb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F5FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9EBF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CED3EE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b8c1eb", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7C8CDA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5066CE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#364EBF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2D419F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#24347F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1E295D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#131A3A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b8c1eb · 11.87:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.77:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.87:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b8c1eb as text scores 1.77:1 on white and 11.87:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1C2963 at 7.67:1.

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
#596ED0 · 4.60:1
AA on white−24% L
#596ED0
The quick fox
#354DBC · 7.15:1
AAA on white−35% L
#354DBC
The quick fox
#b8c1eb · 11.87:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b8c1eb
The quick fox
#b8c1eb · 11.87:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b8c1eb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8091DB 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
#b8c1eb on white: 1.77:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b8c1eb on black: 11.87:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b8c1eb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b8c1eb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.77:1AaAa
Slate 501.69:1AaAa
Slate 1001.62:1AaAa
Slate 2001.44:1AaAa
Slate 3001.19:1AaAa
Slate 4001.45:1AaAa
Slate 5002.69:1AaAa
Slate 6004.28:1AaAa
Slate 7005.85:1AaAa
Slate 8008.27:1AaAa
Slate 90010.09:1AaAa
Black11.87:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B5C5ED
deuteranopia · #B2C1EA
tritanopia · #ACC9CF

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. #b8c1eb 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.

#F4F5FB
#E9EBF6
#CED3EE
#b8c1eb
#7C8CDA
#5066CE
#364EBF
#2D419F
#24347F
#1E295D
#131A3A
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F4F5FBDarkest = 950 · #131A3AText step on white = 500
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 0.015 275.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.024 275.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.036 275.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.047 275.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.055 275.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.060 275.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.060 275.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.056 275.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.050 275.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.042 275.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.033 275.5);
}

Colors that work with #b8c1eb

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B599B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A47028
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1C2963
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBEEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141724
Dark-mode background
Hover#9CA9E3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8091DB
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C5CDF3
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 #b8c1eb

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #1C2963
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8091DB

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#EBE2B8
Analogous left#B8DBEB
Analogous right#C9B8EB
Split-complement 1#EBC9B8
Split-complement 2#DBEBB8
Triadic 1#EBB8C1
Triadic 2#C1EBB8
Tetradic#EBB8DB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°229°

#b8c1eb sits at 229°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.2%
Green75.7%
Blue92.2%
R · 0–255
184
0xb8
G · 0–255
193
0xc1
B · 0–255
235
0xeb

CMYK percentages

Cyan21.7%
Magenta17.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.8%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b8c1eb text on a black background

contrast 11.87:1

Card sample

#b8c1eb text on a white background

contrast 1.77:1

Card sample

#b8c1eb on grey

1.62:1

#b8c1eb on its own surface

1.63:1

#b8c1eb on its dark surface

10.07:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b8c1eb;
Background color
Panel with #b8c1eb background
background-color: #b8c1eb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b8c1eb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(184, 193, 235, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(184, 193, 235, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b8c1eb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b8c1eb, #D1B8EB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8c1eb, #DEB8EB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b8c1eb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b8c1eb;
caret-color: #b8c1eb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b8c1eb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBEEF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b8c1eb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b8c1eb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b8c1eb 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(184, 193, 235, 0.5)
rgb(184 193 235 / 50%)
#b8c1eb80
hsl(229 56% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b8c1eb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b8c1eb1a#F8F9FD
20%#b8c1eb33#F1F3FB
40%#b8c1eb66#E3E6F7
60%#b8c1eb99#D4DAF3
80%#b8c1ebcc#C6CDEF

Gradients from #b8c1eb

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, #E8EBF8, #b8c1eb 45%, #1C2963);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b8c1eb, #C7A0E4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8c1eb, #EBE2B8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3F5FC 0%, #b8c1eb 45%, #1C2963 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E0F1F6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DED0F2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1C2963 0%, transparent 65%), #b8c1eb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b8c1eb

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.

#b8c1eb 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 11.87:1.

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.

#b8c1eb, answered

What color is #b8c1eb?

#b8c1eb is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 229° on the hue wheel with 56% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b8c1eb?

rgb(184, 193, 235) — 184 red, 193 green and 235 blue out of 255, or 72.2% / 75.7% / 92.2% by channel.

What is #b8c1eb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(229, 56%, 82%) and hsv(229, 22%, 92%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b8c1eb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5433 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 11.87:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b8c1eb?

Black. It scores 11.87:1 against #b8c1eb, versus 1.77:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b8c1eb accessible on a white background?

#b8c1eb on white scores 1.77:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #596ED0 to reach 4.5:1, or #354DBC for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b8c1eb?

#EBE2B8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EBC9B8 and #DBEBB8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b8c1eb?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C0C8ED for borders, #4B599B for secondary text, #A47028 as an accent and #1C2963 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B8DBEB and #C9B8EB stays calm, while #EBE2B8 is the loudest partner.

What is #b8c1eb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 18%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b8c1eb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C2B8EB; nudged cooler, #B7CDEC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b8c1eb?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 22.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b8c1eb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b8c1eb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b8c1eb] or text-[#b8c1eb], 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 #b8c1eb with 50% opacity?

rgba(184, 193, 235, 0.5), or #b8c1eb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCE0F5; over black, #5C6176.

Is #b8c1eb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b8c1eb 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #b8c1eb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E8EBF8, #b8c1eb 45%, #1C2963). For more colour, a short hue run to #C7A0E4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b8c1eb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b8c1eb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.