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blue · cool

#b9bfd8

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
185, 191, 216
HSL
228°, 28%, 79%
CMYK
14, 12, 0, 15
Luminance
0.5253

#b9bfd8 is a light soft blue, 228° on the wheel and 82/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.51:1). As text it scores 1.83:1 on white — use #6774AA instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(228 28% 79%)rgb(185 191 216)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b9bfd8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b9bfd8
Hue
228°
blue
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5253
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
82/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.51:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
13.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.808
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 23.7
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue228° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b9bfd8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool82% 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
Red20%
Green71%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#b9bfd8
HEX (8-digit)#b9bfd8ff
RGBrgb(185, 191, 216)
RGBArgba(185, 191, 216, 1)
HSLhsl(228, 28%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(228, 14%, 85%)
HWBhwb(228 73% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 12%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(77.6 2.9 -13.2)
LCHlch(77.6 13.5 282.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.808 0.036 274.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.03, 52.53, 72.40)
Decimal12173272
Display P3color(display-p3 0.725 0.749 0.847)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b9bfd8;
background-color: #b9bfd8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b9bfd8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b9bfd8] bg-[#b9bfd8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b9bfd8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.725, green: 0.749, blue: 0.847)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.725, green: 0.749, blue: 0.847, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B9BFD8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB9BFD8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB9BFD8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(216, 191, 185)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(185, 191, 216)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(185, 191, 216)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 185, 191, 216)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7255f, 0.7490f, 0.8471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{185,191,216}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b9bfd8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b9bfd8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E3552, #D8DBE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b9bfd8 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF3;
  --brand-200: #D6D9E6;
  --brand-300: #b9bfd8;
  --brand-400: #939CC3;
  --brand-500: #6F7BAF;
  --brand-600: #58659D;
  --brand-700: #495483;
  --brand-800: #3A4369;
  --brand-900: #2D334D;
  --brand-950: #1C2030;
  --brand: #b9bfd8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-border: #CBCFE2;
  --brand-hover: #A2AACB;
  --brand-pressed: #8B95BE;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141724;
    --brand-ink: #D8DBE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#ECEEF3',
        200: '#D6D9E6',
        300: '#b9bfd8',
        400: '#939CC3',
        500: '#6F7BAF',
        600: '#58659D',
        700: '#495483',
        800: '#3A4369',
        900: '#2D334D',
        950: '#1C2030',
        DEFAULT: '#b9bfd8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #ECEEF3,
  '200': #D6D9E6,
  '300': #b9bfd8,
  '400': #939CC3,
  '500': #6F7BAF,
  '600': #58659D,
  '700': #495483,
  '800': #3A4369,
  '900': #2D334D,
  '950': #1C2030,
);
$brand-base: #b9bfd8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6D9E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b9bfd8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#939CC3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6F7BAF", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#58659D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#495483", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3A4369", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2D334D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C2030", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b9bfd8 · 11.51:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.83:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.51:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b9bfd8 as text scores 1.83:1 on white and 11.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2E3552 at 6.59:1.

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
#6774AA · 4.51:1
AA on white−25% L
#6774AA
The quick fox
#4A5585 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−38% L
#4A5585
The quick fox
#b9bfd8 · 11.51:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b9bfd8
The quick fox
#b9bfd8 · 11.51:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b9bfd8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8892BD 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
#b9bfd8 on white: 1.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b9bfd8 on black: 11.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b9bfd8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b9bfd8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.83:1AaAa
Slate 501.74:1AaAa
Slate 1001.67:1AaAa
Slate 2001.48:1AaAa
Slate 3001.23:1AaAa
Slate 4001.40:1AaAa
Slate 5002.61:1AaAa
Slate 6004.15:1AaAa
Slate 7005.67:1AaAa
Slate 8008.02:1AaAa
Slate 9009.78:1AaAa
Black11.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8C1D9
deuteranopia · #B6BFD7
tritanopia · #B2C3C7

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. #b9bfd8 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.

#F6F6F9
#ECEEF3
#D6D9E6
#b9bfd8
#939CC3
#6F7BAF
#58659D
#495483
#3A4369
#2D334D
#1C2030
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1C2030Text 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 0.009 274.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 274.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.021 274.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.028 274.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.033 274.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.036 274.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.036 274.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.034 274.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.030 274.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.025 274.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.020 274.9);
}

Colors that work with #b9bfd8

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#F5F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBCFE2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#525F93
Captions on the surface
Accent#876945
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E3552
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF0F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141724
Dark-mode background
Hover#A2AACB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8B95BE
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C2C8E4
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 #b9bfd8

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 #2E3552
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8892BD

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#D8D2B9
Analogous left#B9CED8
Analogous right#C2B9D8
Split-complement 1#D8C2B9
Split-complement 2#CED8B9
Triadic 1#D8B9BF
Triadic 2#BFD8B9
Tetradic#D8B9CE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°228°

#b9bfd8 sits at 228°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.5%
Green74.9%
Blue84.7%
R · 0–255
185
0xb9
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
216
0xd8

CMYK percentages

Cyan14.4%
Magenta11.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.3%

Total ink coverage is 41%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b9bfd8 text on a black background

contrast 11.51:1

Card sample

#b9bfd8 text on a white background

contrast 1.83:1

Card sample

#b9bfd8 on grey

1.67:1

#b9bfd8 on its own surface

1.69:1

#b9bfd8 on its dark surface

9.77:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b9bfd8;
Background color
Panel with #b9bfd8 background
background-color: #b9bfd8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b9bfd8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(185, 191, 216, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(185, 191, 216, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b9bfd8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b9bfd8, #C8B9D8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9bfd8, #CFB9D8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b9bfd8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b9bfd8;
caret-color: #b9bfd8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b9bfd8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF0F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b9bfd8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b9bfd8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b9bfd8 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, 216, 0.5)
rgb(185 191 216 / 50%)
#b9bfd880
hsl(228 28% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b9bfd8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b9bfd81a#F8F9FB
20%#b9bfd833#F1F2F7
40%#b9bfd866#E3E5EF
60%#b9bfd899#D5D9E8
80%#b9bfd8cc#C7CCE0

Gradients from #b9bfd8

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, #E0E3EE, #b9bfd8 45%, #2E3552);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b9bfd8, #BBA5CD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9bfd8, #D8D2B9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F5F9 0%, #b9bfd8 45%, #2E3552 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DAE6EA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D5CDE3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E3552 0%, transparent 65%), #b9bfd8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b9bfd8

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.

#b9bfd8 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 11.51:1.

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.

#b9bfd8, answered

What color is #b9bfd8?

#b9bfd8 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 228° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b9bfd8?

rgb(185, 191, 216) — 185 red, 191 green and 216 blue out of 255, or 72.5% / 74.9% / 84.7% by channel.

What is #b9bfd8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(228, 28%, 79%) and hsv(228, 14%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b9bfd8 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5253 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.51:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b9bfd8?

Black. It scores 11.51:1 against #b9bfd8, versus 1.83:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b9bfd8 accessible on a white background?

#b9bfd8 on white scores 1.83:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6774AA to reach 4.5:1, or #4A5585 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b9bfd8?

#D8D2B9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D8C2B9 and #CED8B9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b9bfd8?

For interface work: #F5F6FA as the surface, #CBCFE2 for borders, #525F93 for secondary text, #876945 as an accent and #2E3552 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B9CED8 and #C2B9D8 stays calm, while #D8D2B9 is the loudest partner.

What is #b9bfd8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 12%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b9bfd8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 82 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BEB9D8; nudged cooler, #B8C6D9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b9bfd8?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 23.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b9bfd8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b9bfd8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b9bfd8] or text-[#b9bfd8], 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 #b9bfd8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(185, 191, 216, 0.5), or #b9bfd880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCDFEC; over black, #5D606C.

Is #b9bfd8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 11 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b9bfd8 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 #b9bfd8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0E3EE, #b9bfd8 45%, #2E3552). For more colour, a short hue run to #BBA5CD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b9bfd8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b9bfd8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.