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blue · cool

#bacad3

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Denim

RGB
186, 202, 211
HSL
202°, 22%, 78%
CMYK
12, 4, 0, 17
Luminance
0.5738

#bacad3 is a light soft blue, 202° on the wheel and 79/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.48:1). As text it scores 1.68:1 on white — use #59798B instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(202 22% 78%)rgb(186 202 211)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bacad3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bacad3
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
22%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
83%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5738
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
79/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.48:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.9
Chroma
7.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.830
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 19
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation22%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bacad3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool79% 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
Red18%
Green74%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#bacad3
HEX (8-digit)#bacad3ff
RGBrgb(186, 202, 211)
RGBArgba(186, 202, 211, 1)
HSLhsl(202, 22%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(202, 12%, 83%)
HWBhwb(202 73% 17%)
CMYKcmyk(12%, 4%, 0%, 17%)
LABlab(80.4 -3.6 -6.3)
LCHlch(80.4 7.3 240.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.830 0.022 232.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.13, 57.38, 69.89)
Decimal12241619
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.792 0.827)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bacad3;
background-color: #bacad3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bacad3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bacad3] bg-[#bacad3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bacad3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.792, blue: 0.827)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.792, blue: 0.827, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BACAD3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBACAD3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBACAD3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(211, 202, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 202, 211)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 202, 211)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 202, 211)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.7922f, 0.8275f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,202,211}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bacad3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bacad3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#32444E, #DAE2E7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bacad3 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: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-100: #EDF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D7E0E4;
  --brand-300: #bacad3;
  --brand-400: #98B0BD;
  --brand-500: #7696A8;
  --brand-600: #5F8295;
  --brand-700: #4F6C7D;
  --brand-800: #405764;
  --brand-900: #31414A;
  --brand-950: #1E282E;
  --brand: #bacad3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-border: #CDD9DF;
  --brand-hover: #A4B9C5;
  --brand-pressed: #8EA8B7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161E22;
    --brand-ink: #DAE2E7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F9',
        100: '#EDF0F2',
        200: '#D7E0E4',
        300: '#bacad3',
        400: '#98B0BD',
        500: '#7696A8',
        600: '#5F8295',
        700: '#4F6C7D',
        800: '#405764',
        900: '#31414A',
        950: '#1E282E',
        DEFAULT: '#bacad3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F9,
  '100': #EDF0F2,
  '200': #D7E0E4,
  '300': #bacad3,
  '400': #98B0BD,
  '500': #7696A8,
  '600': #5F8295,
  '700': #4F6C7D,
  '800': #405764,
  '900': #31414A,
  '950': #1E282E,
);
$brand-base: #bacad3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7E0E4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bacad3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#98B0BD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7696A8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5F8295", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4F6C7D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#405764", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#31414A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E282E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bacad3 · 12.48:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.68:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.48:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bacad3 as text scores 1.68:1 on white and 12.48:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #32444E at 6.02:1.

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
#59798B · 4.63:1
AA on white−33% L
#59798B
The quick fox
#435C69 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−44% L
#435C69
The quick fox
#bacad3 · 12.48:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bacad3
The quick fox
#bacad3 · 12.48:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bacad3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7898A9 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
#bacad3 on white: 1.68:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bacad3 on black: 12.48:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bacad3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bacad3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.68:1AaAa
Slate 501.61:1AaAa
Slate 1001.54:1AaAa
Slate 2001.37:1AaAa
Slate 3001.13:1AaAa
Slate 4001.52:1AaAa
Slate 5002.83:1AaAa
Slate 6004.50:1AaAa
Slate 7006.15:1AaAa
Slate 8008.69:1AaAa
Slate 90010.61:1AaAa
Black12.48:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C6C9D4
deuteranopia · #C2C6D3
tritanopia · #B4CDCD

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. #bacad3 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.

#F6F8F9
#EDF0F2
#D7E0E4
#bacad3
#98B0BD
#7696A8
#5F8295
#4F6C7D
#405764
#31414A
#1E282E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1E282EText 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 0.005 232.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.009 232.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.013 232.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.017 232.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.020 232.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.022 232.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.022 232.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.020 232.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.018 232.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.015 232.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.012 232.2);
}

Colors that work with #bacad3

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#F6F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#CDD9DF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#597A8C
Captions on the surface
Accent#80514C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#32444E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF3F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161E22
Dark-mode background
Hover#A4B9C5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8EA8B7
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C2D5DF
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 #bacad3

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 #32444E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7898A9

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#D3C3BA
Analogous left#BAD3CF
Analogous right#BABDD3
Split-complement 1#D3BABD
Split-complement 2#D3CFBA
Triadic 1#D3BACA
Triadic 2#CAD3BA
Tetradic#CFBAD3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°202°

#bacad3 sits at 202°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green79.2%
Blue82.7%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
202
0xca
B · 0–255
211
0xd3

CMYK percentages

Cyan11.8%
Magenta4.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)17.3%

Total ink coverage is 33%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bacad3 text on a black background

contrast 12.48:1

Card sample

#bacad3 text on a white background

contrast 1.68:1

Card sample

#bacad3 on grey

1.54:1

#bacad3 on its own surface

1.58:1

#bacad3 on its dark surface

10.04:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bacad3;
Background color
Panel with #bacad3 background
background-color: #bacad3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bacad3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 202, 211, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 202, 211, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bacad3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bacad3, #BBBAD3);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bacad3, #C1BAD3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bacad3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bacad3;
caret-color: #bacad3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bacad3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF3F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bacad3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bacad3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bacad3 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(186, 202, 211, 0.5)
rgb(186 202 211 / 50%)
#bacad380
hsl(202 22% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bacad3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bacad31a#F8FAFB
20%#bacad333#F1F4F6
40%#bacad366#E3EAED
60%#bacad399#D6DFE5
80%#bacad3cc#C8D5DC

Gradients from #bacad3

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, #DFE7EB, #bacad3 45%, #32444E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bacad3, #ABA7C7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bacad3, #D3C3BA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F5F7 0%, #bacad3 45%, #32444E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D9E7E4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CDCEDF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #32444E 0%, transparent 65%), #bacad3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bacad3

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.

#bacad3 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 12.48:1.

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.

#bacad3, answered

What color is #bacad3?

#bacad3 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.9). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 22% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bacad3?

rgb(186, 202, 211) — 186 red, 202 green and 211 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 79.2% / 82.7% by channel.

What is #bacad3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(202, 22%, 78%) and hsv(202, 12%, 83%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bacad3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5738 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.48:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bacad3?

Black. It scores 12.48:1 against #bacad3, versus 1.68:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bacad3 accessible on a white background?

#bacad3 on white scores 1.68:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #59798B to reach 4.5:1, or #435C69 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bacad3?

#D3C3BA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D3BABD and #D3CFBA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bacad3?

For interface work: #F6F8F9 as the surface, #CDD9DF for borders, #597A8C for secondary text, #80514C as an accent and #32444E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BAD3CF and #BABDD3 stays calm, while #D3C3BA is the loudest partner.

What is #bacad3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(12%, 4%, 0%, 17%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bacad3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 79 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BAD3D3; nudged cooler, #B9C6D4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bacad3?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 19 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bacad3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bacad3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bacad3] or text-[#bacad3], 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 #bacad3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 202, 211, 0.5), or #bacad380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDE5E9; over black, #5D656A.

Is #bacad3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 7.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bacad3 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 #bacad3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DFE7EB, #bacad3 45%, #32444E). For more colour, a short hue run to #ABA7C7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bacad3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bacad3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.