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blue · cool

#b8c2ce

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Denim

RGB
184, 194, 206
HSL
213°, 18%, 77%
CMYK
11, 6, 0, 19
Luminance
0.5323

#b8c2ce is a light soft blue, 213° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.65:1). As text it scores 1.80:1 on white — use #63778F instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(213 18% 77%)rgb(184 194 206)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b8c2ce is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b8c2ce
Hue
213°
blue
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5323
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.65:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
7.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.810
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 20.4
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue213° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b8c2ce.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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%
Green72%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#b8c2ce
HEX (8-digit)#b8c2ceff
RGBrgb(184, 194, 206)
RGBArgba(184, 194, 206, 1)
HSLhsl(213, 18%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(213, 11%, 81%)
HWBhwb(213 72% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(11%, 6%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(78.0 -1.1 -7.2)
LCHlch(78.0 7.3 261.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.810 0.020 252.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.20, 53.23, 66.01)
Decimal12108494
Display P3color(display-p3 0.722 0.761 0.808)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b8c2ce;
background-color: #b8c2ce;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b8c2ce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b8c2ce] bg-[#b8c2ce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b8c2ce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.722, green: 0.761, blue: 0.808)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.722, green: 0.761, blue: 0.808, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B8C2CE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB8C2CE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB8C2CE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 194, 184)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(184, 194, 206)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(184, 194, 206)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 184, 194, 206)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7216f, 0.7608f, 0.8078f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{184,194,206}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b8c2ce 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b8c2ce 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#343F4B, #DBE0E6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b8c2ce 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: #EEF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D9DDE3;
  --brand-300: #b8c2ce;
  --brand-400: #9BA9BA;
  --brand-500: #7A8DA3;
  --brand-600: #647891;
  --brand-700: #536479;
  --brand-800: #435061;
  --brand-900: #333C48;
  --brand-950: #20262D;
  --brand: #b8c2ce;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CFD6DE;
  --brand-hover: #A3B0BF;
  --brand-pressed: #8E9EB1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171C21;
    --brand-ink: #DBE0E6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F8',
        100: '#EEF0F2',
        200: '#D9DDE3',
        300: '#b8c2ce',
        400: '#9BA9BA',
        500: '#7A8DA3',
        600: '#647891',
        700: '#536479',
        800: '#435061',
        900: '#333C48',
        950: '#20262D',
        DEFAULT: '#b8c2ce',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F8,
  '100': #EEF0F2,
  '200': #D9DDE3,
  '300': #b8c2ce,
  '400': #9BA9BA,
  '500': #7A8DA3,
  '600': #647891,
  '700': #536479,
  '800': #435061,
  '900': #333C48,
  '950': #20262D,
);
$brand-base: #b8c2ce;
$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": "#EEF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9DDE3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b8c2ce", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9BA9BA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7A8DA3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#647891", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#536479", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#435061", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#333C48", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#20262D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b8c2ce · 11.65:1
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 · 11.65:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b8c2ce as text scores 1.80:1 on white and 11.65:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #343F4B at 5.95:1.

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
#63778F · 4.60:1
AA on white−29% L
#63778F
The quick fox
#4A596B · 7.16:1
AAA on white−41% L
#4A596B
The quick fox
#b8c2ce · 11.65:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b8c2ce
The quick fox
#b8c2ce · 11.65:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b8c2ce

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8596AB 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
#b8c2ce on white: 1.80:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b8c2ce on black: 11.65:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b8c2ce as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b8c2ce.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.80:1AaAa
Slate 501.72:1AaAa
Slate 1001.65:1AaAa
Slate 2001.46:1AaAa
Slate 3001.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.42:1AaAa
Slate 5002.64:1AaAa
Slate 6004.20:1AaAa
Slate 7005.74:1AaAa
Slate 8008.11:1AaAa
Slate 9009.90:1AaAa
Black11.65:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BEC2CF
deuteranopia · #BBC0CE
tritanopia · #B3C5C6

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. #b8c2ce 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
#EEF0F2
#D9DDE3
#b8c2ce
#9BA9BA
#7A8DA3
#647891
#536479
#435061
#333C48
#20262D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F8Darkest = 950 · #20262DText 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 0.005 252.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.008 252.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.012 252.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.016 252.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.019 252.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.020 252.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.020 252.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.019 252.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.017 252.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.014 252.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.011 252.9);
}

Colors that work with #b8c2ce

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#CFD6DE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5E7188
Captions on the surface
Accent#7C5E50
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#343F4B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F2F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171C21
Dark-mode background
Hover#A3B0BF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E9EB1
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BFCCDB
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 #b8c2ce

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 #343F4B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8596AB

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#CEC4B8
Analogous left#B8CDCE
Analogous right#B9B8CE
Split-complement 1#CEB9B8
Split-complement 2#CDCEB8
Triadic 1#CEB8C2
Triadic 2#C2CEB8
Tetradic#CEB8CD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°213°

#b8c2ce sits at 213°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.2%
Green76.1%
Blue80.8%
R · 0–255
184
0xb8
G · 0–255
194
0xc2
B · 0–255
206
0xce

CMYK percentages

Cyan10.7%
Magenta5.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 36%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b8c2ce text on a black background

contrast 11.65:1

Card sample

#b8c2ce text on a white background

contrast 1.80:1

Card sample

#b8c2ce on grey

1.65:1

#b8c2ce on its own surface

1.68:1

#b8c2ce on its dark surface

9.51:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b8c2ce;
Background color
Panel with #b8c2ce background
background-color: #b8c2ce;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b8c2ce;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(184, 194, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(184, 194, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b8c2ce;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b8c2ce, #BDB8CE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8c2ce, #C2B8CE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b8c2ce;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b8c2ce;
caret-color: #b8c2ce;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b8c2ce;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F2F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b8c2ce;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b8c2ce 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b8c2ce 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, 194, 206, 0.5)
rgb(184 194 206 / 50%)
#b8c2ce80
hsl(213 18% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b8c2ce 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b8c2ce1a#F8F9FA
20%#b8c2ce33#F1F3F5
40%#b8c2ce66#E3E7EB
60%#b8c2ce99#D4DAE2
80%#b8c2cecc#C6CED8

Gradients from #b8c2ce

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, #DCE1E7, #b8c2ce 45%, #343F4B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b8c2ce, #AEA6C2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b8c2ce, #CEC4B8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EEF1F4 0%, #b8c2ce 45%, #343F4B 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%, #D6E3E2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CCCADB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #343F4B 0%, transparent 65%), #b8c2ce;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b8c2ce

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.

#b8c2ce 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 11.65:1.

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.

#b8c2ce, answered

What color is #b8c2ce?

#b8c2ce is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 213° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b8c2ce?

rgb(184, 194, 206) — 184 red, 194 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 72.2% / 76.1% / 80.8% by channel.

What is #b8c2ce in HSL and HSV?

hsl(213, 18%, 77%) and hsv(213, 11%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b8c2ce a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5323 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.65:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b8c2ce?

Black. It scores 11.65:1 against #b8c2ce, versus 1.80:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b8c2ce accessible on a white background?

#b8c2ce on white scores 1.80:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #63778F to reach 4.5:1, or #4A596B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b8c2ce?

#CEC4B8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CEB9B8 and #CDCEB8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b8c2ce?

For interface work: #F6F7F9 as the surface, #CFD6DE for borders, #5E7188 for secondary text, #7C5E50 as an accent and #343F4B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B8CDCE and #B9B8CE stays calm, while #CEC4B8 is the loudest partner.

What is #b8c2ce in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(11%, 6%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b8c2ce warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B8BACE; nudged cooler, #A8B5C5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b8c2ce?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 20.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b8c2ce as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b8c2ce in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b8c2ce] or text-[#b8c2ce], 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 #b8c2ce with 50% opacity?

rgba(184, 194, 206, 0.5), or #b8c2ce80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCE1E7; over black, #5C6167.

Is #b8c2ce a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 6.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b8c2ce 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 #b8c2ce?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DCE1E7, #b8c2ce 45%, #343F4B). For more colour, a short hue run to #AEA6C2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b8c2ce in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b8c2ce at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.