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#bbc6d7

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

RGB
187, 198, 215
HSL
216°, 26%, 79%
CMYK
13, 8, 0, 16
Luminance
0.5586

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbc6d7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbc6d7
Hue
216°
blue
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
84%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5586
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.17:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue216° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness79%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#bbc6d7
RGBrgb(187, 198, 215)
HSLhsl(216, 26%, 79%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 8%, 0%, 16%)
LABlab(79.5 -0.4 -9.8)
LCHlch(79.5 9.8 267.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.823 0.027 259.0)
Decimal12306135
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.776 0.843)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bbc6d7;
background-color: #bbc6d7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbc6d7] bg-[#bbc6d7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbc6d7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.776, blue: 0.843)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bbc6d7")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBC6D7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(215, 198, 187)

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 #bbc6d7 · 12.17:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.73:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.17:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbc6d7 as text scores 1.73:1 on white and 12.17:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bbc6d7 on white: 1.73:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbc6d7 on black: 12.17:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C1C7D8
deuteranopia · #BEC4D7
tritanopia · #B4C9CB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bbc6d7 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.

#F6F7F9
#EDEFF3
#D6DCE5
#bbc6d7
#95A6C1
#7289AC
#5B749A
#4C6080
#3C4D67
#2F3A4C
#1D242F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1D242F
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEFF3;
  --brand-200: #D6DCE5;
  --brand-300: #bbc6d7;
  --brand-400: #95A6C1;
  --brand-500: #7289AC;
  --brand-600: #5B749A;
  --brand-700: #4C6080;
  --brand-800: #3C4D67;
  --brand-900: #2F3A4C;
  --brand-950: #1D242F;
  --brand: #bbc6d7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bbc6d7

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#F5F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CCD4E1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#556C90
Captions on the surface
Accent#845D48
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F3C50
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF2F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151B23
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #bbc6d7

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

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#D7CCBB
Analogous left#BBD4D7
Analogous right#BEBBD7
Split-complement 1#D7BEBB
Split-complement 2#D4D7BB
Triadic 1#D7BBC6
Triadic 2#C6D7BB
Tetradic#D7BBD4

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green77.6%
Blue84.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.0%
Magenta7.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.7%

Color previews

#bbc6d7 text on a black background

contrast 12.17:1

Card sample

#bbc6d7 text on a white background

contrast 1.73:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbc6d7;
Background color
Panel with #bbc6d7 background
background-color: #bbc6d7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbc6d7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 198, 215, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 198, 215, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbc6d7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbc6d7, #C3BBD7);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbc6d7

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#bbc6d7 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.

#bbc6d7, answered

What color is #bbc6d7?

#bbc6d7 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 216° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bbc6d7?

rgb(187, 198, 215) — 187 red, 198 green and 215 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 77.6% / 84.3% by channel.

Is #bbc6d7 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5586 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.17:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbc6d7?

Black. It scores 12.17:1 against #bbc6d7, versus 1.73:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bbc6d7?

#D7CCBB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D7BEBB and #D4D7BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbc6d7?

For interface work: #F5F7F9 as the surface, #CCD4E1 for borders, #556C90 for secondary text, #845D48 as an accent and #2F3C50 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BBD4D7 and #BEBBD7 stays calm, while #D7CCBB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbc6d7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 8%, 0%, 16%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbc6d7 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BBBCD7; nudged cooler, #AABBCF.

Work with #bbc6d7 in the Color Lab