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gray · cool

#b9bfc3

a light, muted gray · cool · closest name: Silver

Token name suggestion: Meadow Ash

RGB
185, 191, 195
HSL
204°, 8%, 75%
CMYK
5, 2, 0, 24
Luminance
0.5152

#b9bfc3 is a light muted gray, 204° on the wheel and 60/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.30:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #6D7880 instead. Nearest name is Silver, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(204 8% 75%)rgb(185 191 195)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b9bfc3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b9bfc3
Hue
204°
gray
Saturation
8%
muted
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
76%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5152
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
60/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
11.30:1
Closest name
Silver
ΔE2000 3.2
Chroma
3.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.801
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 21
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue204° of 360°
Saturation8%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b9bfc3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool60% cool

Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.

Luminance by channel
Red20%
Green72%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#b9bfc3
HEX (8-digit)#b9bfc3ff
RGBrgb(185, 191, 195)
RGBArgba(185, 191, 195, 1)
HSLhsl(204, 8%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(204, 5%, 76%)
HWBhwb(204 73% 24%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 2%, 0%, 24%)
LABlab(77.0 -1.3 -2.7)
LCHlch(77.0 3.0 244.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.801 0.009 236.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.49, 51.52, 59.01)
Decimal12173251
Display P3color(display-p3 0.725 0.749 0.765)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b9bfc3;
background-color: #b9bfc3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b9bfc3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b9bfc3] bg-[#b9bfc3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b9bfc3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.725, green: 0.749, blue: 0.765)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.725, green: 0.749, blue: 0.765, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B9BFC3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB9BFC3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB9BFC3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(195, 191, 185)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(185, 191, 195)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(185, 191, 195)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 185, 191, 195)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7255f, 0.7490f, 0.7647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{185,191,195}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b9bfc3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b9bfc3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3B4145, #DEE1E3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b9bfc3 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: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EFF0F1;
  --brand-200: #DCDEE0;
  --brand-300: #b9bfc3;
  --brand-400: #A4ACB1;
  --brand-500: #869197;
  --brand-600: #717C84;
  --brand-700: #5E686E;
  --brand-800: #4B5358;
  --brand-900: #393E42;
  --brand-950: #242729;
  --brand: #b9bfc3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D3D7D9;
  --brand-hover: #A6ADB3;
  --brand-pressed: #939CA2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1A1C1E;
    --brand-ink: #DEE1E3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#EFF0F1',
        200: '#DCDEE0',
        300: '#b9bfc3',
        400: '#A4ACB1',
        500: '#869197',
        600: '#717C84',
        700: '#5E686E',
        800: '#4B5358',
        900: '#393E42',
        950: '#242729',
        DEFAULT: '#b9bfc3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #EFF0F1,
  '200': #DCDEE0,
  '300': #b9bfc3,
  '400': #A4ACB1,
  '500': #869197,
  '600': #717C84,
  '700': #5E686E,
  '800': #4B5358,
  '900': #393E42,
  '950': #242729,
);
$brand-base: #b9bfc3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFF0F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DCDEE0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b9bfc3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A4ACB1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#869197", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#717C84", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5E686E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4B5358", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#393E42", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#242729", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b9bfc3 · 11.30:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.30:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b9bfc3 as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.30:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3B4145 at 5.57:1.

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
#6D7880 · 4.52:1
AA on white−28% L
#6D7880
The quick fox
#51595F · 7.13:1
AAA on white−40% L
#51595F
The quick fox
#b9bfc3 · 11.30:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b9bfc3
The quick fox
#b9bfc3 · 11.30:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b9bfc3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8A949B 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
#b9bfc3 on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b9bfc3 on black: 11.30:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b9bfc3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b9bfc3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.78:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.56:1AaAa
Slate 6004.08:1AaAa
Slate 7005.57:1AaAa
Slate 8007.87:1AaAa
Slate 9009.61:1AaAa
Black11.30:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BDBFC3
deuteranopia · #BCBEC3
tritanopia · #B7C0C0

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. #b9bfc3 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.

#F7F7F8
#EFF0F1
#DCDEE0
#b9bfc3
#A4ACB1
#869197
#717C84
#5E686E
#4B5358
#393E42
#242729
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #242729Text 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 0.002 236.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.004 236.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.005 236.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.007 236.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.008 236.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.009 236.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.009 236.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.008 236.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.007 236.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.006 236.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.005 236.6);
}

Colors that work with #b9bfc3

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#F7F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D3D7D9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6A757C
Captions on the surface
Accent#735E59
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3B4145
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F2F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A1C1E
Dark-mode background
Hover#A6ADB3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#939CA2
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F5F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BECAD2
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 #b9bfc3

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
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 #3B4145
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8A949B

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

neutralquieteditorialengineered

Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight26/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#C3BDB9
Analogous left#B9C3C2
Analogous right#B9BAC3
Split-complement 1#C3B9BA
Split-complement 2#C3C2B9
Triadic 1#C3B9BF
Triadic 2#BFC3B9
Tetradic#C2B9C3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°204°

#b9bfc3 sits at 204°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.5%
Green74.9%
Blue76.5%
R · 0–255
185
0xb9
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
195
0xc3

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.1%
Magenta2.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)23.5%

Total ink coverage is 31%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b9bfc3 text on a black background

contrast 11.30:1

Card sample

#b9bfc3 text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#b9bfc3 on grey

1.70:1

#b9bfc3 on its own surface

1.74:1

#b9bfc3 on its dark surface

9.20:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b9bfc3;
Background color
Panel with #b9bfc3 background
background-color: #b9bfc3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b9bfc3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(185, 191, 195, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(185, 191, 195, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b9bfc3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b9bfc3, #BAB9C3);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9bfc3, #BCB9C3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b9bfc3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b9bfc3;
caret-color: #b9bfc3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b9bfc3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1F2F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b9bfc3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b9bfc3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b9bfc3 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(185, 191, 195, 0.5)
rgb(185 191 195 / 50%)
#b9bfc380
hsl(204 8% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b9bfc3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b9bfc31a#F8F9F9
20%#b9bfc333#F1F2F3
40%#b9bfc366#E3E5E7
60%#b9bfc399#D5D9DB
80%#b9bfc3cc#C7CCCF

Gradients from #b9bfc3

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, #DADDDF, #b9bfc3 45%, #3B4145);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b9bfc3, #AAA8B5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9bfc3, #C3BDB9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAECED 0%, #b9bfc3 45%, #3B4145 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D4DBD9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C9CAD1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3B4145 0%, transparent 65%), #b9bfc3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b9bfc3

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.

#b9bfc3 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
EditorialArchitectureEnterpriseLuxury goods
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 11.30:1.

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.

#b9bfc3, answered

What color is #b9bfc3?

#b9bfc3 is a light muted gray, closest to Silver (ΔE2000 3.2). It sits at 204° on the hue wheel with 8% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b9bfc3?

rgb(185, 191, 195) — 185 red, 191 green and 195 blue out of 255, or 72.5% / 74.9% / 76.5% by channel.

What is #b9bfc3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(204, 8%, 75%) and hsv(204, 5%, 76%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b9bfc3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5152 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.30:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b9bfc3?

Black. It scores 11.30:1 against #b9bfc3, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b9bfc3 accessible on a white background?

#b9bfc3 on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6D7880 to reach 4.5:1, or #51595F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b9bfc3?

#C3BDB9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C3B9BA and #C3C2B9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b9bfc3?

For interface work: #F7F7F8 as the surface, #D3D7D9 for borders, #6A757C for secondary text, #735E59 as an accent and #3B4145 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B9C3C2 and #B9BAC3 stays calm, while #C3BDB9 is the loudest partner.

What is #b9bfc3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 2%, 0%, 24%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b9bfc3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 60 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBC2BB; nudged cooler, #AFB9C3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b9bfc3?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 21 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b9bfc3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b9bfc3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b9bfc3] or text-[#b9bfc3], 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 #b9bfc3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(185, 191, 195, 0.5), or #b9bfc380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCDFE1; over black, #5D6062.

Is #b9bfc3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b9bfc3 mean?

As a gray, it reads neutral, quiet, editorial. Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #b9bfc3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DADDDF, #b9bfc3 45%, #3B4145). For more colour, a short hue run to #AAA8B5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b9bfc3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b9bfc3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.