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blue · cool

#b9cfdc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
185, 207, 220
HSL
202°, 33%, 79%
CMYK
16, 6, 0, 14
Luminance
0.6011

#b9cfdc is a light soft blue, 202° on the wheel and 95/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.02:1). As text it scores 1.61:1 on white — use #4C7B97 instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(202 33% 79%)rgb(185 207 220)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b9cfdc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b9cfdc
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6011
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.02:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
10.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.842
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 18.1
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b9cfdc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% 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%
Green74%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#b9cfdc
HEX (8-digit)#b9cfdcff
RGBrgb(185, 207, 220)
RGBArgba(185, 207, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(202, 33%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(202, 16%, 86%)
HWBhwb(202 73% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 6%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(81.9 -4.7 -8.9)
LCHlch(81.9 10.1 242.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.842 0.030 233.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(55.24, 60.11, 76.39)
Decimal12177372
Display P3color(display-p3 0.725 0.812 0.863)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b9cfdc;
background-color: #b9cfdc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b9cfdc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b9cfdc] bg-[#b9cfdc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b9cfdc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.725, green: 0.812, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.725, green: 0.812, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B9CFDC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB9CFDC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB9CFDC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 207, 185)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(185, 207, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(185, 207, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 185, 207, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7255f, 0.8118f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{185,207,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b9cfdc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b9cfdc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2B4555, #D6E3EB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b9cfdc 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: #ECF1F4;
  --brand-200: #D4E0E8;
  --brand-300: #b9cfdc;
  --brand-400: #8FB2C7;
  --brand-500: #6998B4;
  --brand-600: #5285A3;
  --brand-700: #446F88;
  --brand-800: #36596D;
  --brand-900: #2A4250;
  --brand-950: #1B2932;
  --brand: #b9cfdc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C9DAE4;
  --brand-hover: #A1BFD0;
  --brand-pressed: #89AEC4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D6E3EB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8F9',
        100: '#ECF1F4',
        200: '#D4E0E8',
        300: '#b9cfdc',
        400: '#8FB2C7',
        500: '#6998B4',
        600: '#5285A3',
        700: '#446F88',
        800: '#36596D',
        900: '#2A4250',
        950: '#1B2932',
        DEFAULT: '#b9cfdc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8F9,
  '100': #ECF1F4,
  '200': #D4E0E8,
  '300': #b9cfdc,
  '400': #8FB2C7,
  '500': #6998B4,
  '600': #5285A3,
  '700': #446F88,
  '800': #36596D,
  '900': #2A4250,
  '950': #1B2932,
);
$brand-base: #b9cfdc;
$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": "#ECF1F4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4E0E8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b9cfdc", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8FB2C7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6998B4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5285A3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#446F88", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#36596D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A4250", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2932", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b9cfdc · 13.02:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.61:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b9cfdc as text scores 1.61:1 on white and 13.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2B4555 at 6.24:1.

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
#4C7B97 · 4.58:1
AA on white−35% L
#4C7B97
The quick fox
#395C72 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−46% L
#395C72
The quick fox
#b9cfdc · 13.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b9cfdc
The quick fox
#b9cfdc · 13.02:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b9cfdc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6B99B5 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
#b9cfdc on white: 1.61:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b9cfdc on black: 13.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b9cfdc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b9cfdc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.61:1AaAa
Slate 501.54:1AaAa
Slate 1001.47:1AaAa
Slate 2001.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.59:1AaAa
Slate 5002.95:1AaAa
Slate 6004.70:1AaAa
Slate 7006.42:1AaAa
Slate 8009.07:1AaAa
Slate 90011.07:1AaAa
Black13.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9CEDD
deuteranopia · #C4CADC
tritanopia · #B0D3D3

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. #b9cfdc 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
#ECF1F4
#D4E0E8
#b9cfdc
#8FB2C7
#6998B4
#5285A3
#446F88
#36596D
#2A4250
#1B2932
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2932Text 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 0.007 233.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.012 233.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.018 233.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.023 233.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.028 233.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.030 233.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.030 233.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.028 233.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.025 233.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.021 233.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.016 233.7);
}

Colors that work with #b9cfdc

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#C9DAE4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4D7D99
Captions on the surface
Accent#8C4A40
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B4555
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF3F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#A1BFD0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#89AEC4
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C2D9E7
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 #b9cfdc

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 #2B4555
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6B99B5

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#DCC6B9
Analogous left#B9DCD7
Analogous right#B9BDDC
Split-complement 1#DCB9BD
Split-complement 2#DCD7B9
Triadic 1#DCB9CF
Triadic 2#CFDCB9
Tetradic#D7B9DC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°202°

#b9cfdc sits at 202°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.5%
Green81.2%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
185
0xb9
G · 0–255
207
0xcf
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.9%
Magenta5.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

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

Color previews

#b9cfdc text on a black background

contrast 13.02:1

Card sample

#b9cfdc text on a white background

contrast 1.61:1

Card sample

#b9cfdc on grey

1.47:1

#b9cfdc on its own surface

1.51:1

#b9cfdc on its dark surface

10.49:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b9cfdc;
Background color
Panel with #b9cfdc background
background-color: #b9cfdc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b9cfdc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(185, 207, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(185, 207, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b9cfdc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b9cfdc, #BAB9DC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9cfdc, #C3B9DC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b9cfdc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b9cfdc;
caret-color: #b9cfdc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b9cfdc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF3F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b9cfdc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b9cfdc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b9cfdc 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, 207, 220, 0.5)
rgb(185 207 220 / 50%)
#b9cfdc80
hsl(202 33% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b9cfdc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b9cfdc1a#F8FAFC
20%#b9cfdc33#F1F5F8
40%#b9cfdc66#E3ECF1
60%#b9cfdc99#D5E2EA
80%#b9cfdccc#C7D9E3

Gradients from #b9cfdc

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, #E2EBF0, #b9cfdc 45%, #2B4555);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b9cfdc, #AAA5D2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b9cfdc, #DCC6B9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F8FA 0%, #b9cfdc 45%, #2B4555 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%, #DBEDE9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CDCEE6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2B4555 0%, transparent 65%), #b9cfdc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b9cfdc

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.

#b9cfdc 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 13.02:1.

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.

#b9cfdc, answered

What color is #b9cfdc?

#b9cfdc is a light soft blue, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b9cfdc?

rgb(185, 207, 220) — 185 red, 207 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 72.5% / 81.2% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #b9cfdc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(202, 33%, 79%) and hsv(202, 16%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b9cfdc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6011 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 13.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b9cfdc?

Black. It scores 13.02:1 against #b9cfdc, versus 1.61:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b9cfdc accessible on a white background?

#b9cfdc on white scores 1.61:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #4C7B97 to reach 4.5:1, or #395C72 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b9cfdc?

#DCC6B9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCB9BD and #DCD7B9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b9cfdc?

For interface work: #F5F8FA as the surface, #C9DAE4 for borders, #4D7D99 for secondary text, #8C4A40 as an accent and #2B4555 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B9DCD7 and #B9BDDC stays calm, while #DCC6B9 is the loudest partner.

What is #b9cfdc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 6%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b9cfdc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B9DCDC; nudged cooler, #B8CADD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b9cfdc?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 18.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b9cfdc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b9cfdc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b9cfdc] or text-[#b9cfdc], 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 #b9cfdc with 50% opacity?

rgba(185, 207, 220, 0.5), or #b9cfdc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCE7EE; over black, #5D686E.

Is #b9cfdc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 9.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b9cfdc 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 #b9cfdc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E2EBF0, #b9cfdc 45%, #2B4555). For more colour, a short hue run to #AAA5D2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b9cfdc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b9cfdc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.