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#bcd7fd

a pale, electric blue · cool · closest name: Light Steel Blue

RGB
188, 215, 253
HSL
215°, 94%, 87%
CMYK
26, 15, 0, 1
Luminance
0.6638

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcd7fd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcd7fd
Hue
215°
blue
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
87%
pale
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6638
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.28:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 5.6
Where it sits
Hue215° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness87%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% 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#bcd7fd
RGBrgb(188, 215, 253)
HSLhsl(215, 94%, 87%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 15%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(85.2 -0.8 -21.5)
LCHlch(85.2 21.5 268.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.872 0.060 256.9)
Decimal12376061
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.843 0.992)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bcd7fd;
background-color: #bcd7fd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcd7fd] bg-[#bcd7fd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcd7fd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.843, blue: 0.992)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bcd7fd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCD7FD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 215, 188)

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 #bcd7fd · 14.28:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.47:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.28:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcd7fd as text scores 1.47:1 on white and 14.28:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bcd7fd on white: 1.47:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcd7fd on black: 14.28:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #CAD8FF
deuteranopia · #C3D2FC
tritanopia · #AADFE3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bcd7fd is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2F6FD
#E4EEFB
#bcd7fd
#92BEFC
#5C9DFA
#257DF8
#0767EE
#0656C6
#05459E
#083472
#052147
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F2F6FDDarkest = 950 · #052147
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2F6FD;
  --brand-100: #E4EEFB;
  --brand-200: #bcd7fd;
  --brand-300: #92BEFC;
  --brand-400: #5C9DFA;
  --brand-500: #257DF8;
  --brand-600: #0767EE;
  --brand-700: #0656C6;
  --brand-800: #05459E;
  --brand-900: #083472;
  --brand-950: #052147;
  --brand: #bcd7fd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bcd7fd

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D2ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6C9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C94403
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#04367C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F0FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141B24
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 #bcd7fd

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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#FDE2BC
Analogous left#BCF7FD
Analogous right#C2BCFD
Split-complement 1#FDC2BC
Split-complement 2#F7FDBC
Triadic 1#FDBCD7
Triadic 2#D7FDBC
Tetradic#FDBCF7

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green84.3%
Blue99.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.7%
Magenta15.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Color previews

#bcd7fd text on a black background

contrast 14.28:1

Card sample

#bcd7fd text on a white background

contrast 1.47:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcd7fd;
Background color
Panel with #bcd7fd background
background-color: #bcd7fd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcd7fd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 215, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 215, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcd7fd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcd7fd, #CCBCFD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcd7fd

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.

#bcd7fd 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#bcd7fd, answered

What color is #bcd7fd?

#bcd7fd is a pale electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 215° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 87% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bcd7fd?

rgb(188, 215, 253) — 188 red, 215 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 84.3% / 99.2% by channel.

Is #bcd7fd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6638 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 14.28:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcd7fd?

Black. It scores 14.28:1 against #bcd7fd, versus 1.47:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bcd7fd?

#FDE2BC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FDC2BC and #F7FDBC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcd7fd?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D2ED for borders, #4B6C9B for secondary text, #C94403 as an accent and #04367C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCF7FD and #C2BCFD stays calm, while #FDE2BC is the loudest partner.

What is #bcd7fd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 15%, 0%, 1%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #bcd7fd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCBFFD; nudged cooler, #A2CCFD.

Work with #bcd7fd in the Color Lab