Skip to content
cyan · cool

#bcdae2

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Reef

RGB
188, 218, 226
HSL
193°, 40%, 81%
CMYK
17, 4, 0, 11
Luminance
0.6633

#bcdae2 is a light soft cyan, 193° on the wheel and 93/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.27:1). As text it scores 1.47:1 on white — use #3E7E8F instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(193 40% 81%)rgb(188 218 226)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcdae2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcdae2
Hue
193°
cyan
Saturation
40%
soft
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6633
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
14.27:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 3.4
Chroma
11.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.869
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue193° of 360°
Saturation40%
Lightness81%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcdae2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% 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
Red16%
Green76%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#bcdae2
HEX (8-digit)#bcdae2ff
RGBrgb(188, 218, 226)
RGBArgba(188, 218, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(193, 40%, 81%)
HSV / HSBhsv(193, 17%, 89%)
HWBhwb(193 74% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 4%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(85.2 -8.2 -7.3)
LCHlch(85.2 11.0 221.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.869 0.034 215.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(59.53, 66.32, 81.60)
Decimal12376802
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.855 0.886)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcdae2;
background-color: #bcdae2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcdae2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcdae2] bg-[#bcdae2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcdae2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.855, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.855, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCDAE2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCDAE2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCDAE2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 218, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 218, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 218, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 218, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.8549f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,218,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdae2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdae2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#274E59, #D4E7ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcdae2 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: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF2F4;
  --brand-200: #D2E5E9;
  --brand-300: #bcdae2;
  --brand-400: #8ABECC;
  --brand-500: #62A9BB;
  --brand-600: #4A97AB;
  --brand-700: #3E7D8E;
  --brand-800: #316472;
  --brand-900: #274A53;
  --brand-950: #182E34;
  --brand: #bcdae2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C6E0E6;
  --brand-hover: #A3CCD7;
  --brand-pressed: #8ABFCC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142124;
    --brand-ink: #D4E7ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9FA',
        100: '#EBF2F4',
        200: '#D2E5E9',
        300: '#bcdae2',
        400: '#8ABECC',
        500: '#62A9BB',
        600: '#4A97AB',
        700: '#3E7D8E',
        800: '#316472',
        900: '#274A53',
        950: '#182E34',
        DEFAULT: '#bcdae2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9FA,
  '100': #EBF2F4,
  '200': #D2E5E9,
  '300': #bcdae2,
  '400': #8ABECC,
  '500': #62A9BB,
  '600': #4A97AB,
  '700': #3E7D8E,
  '800': #316472,
  '900': #274A53,
  '950': #182E34,
);
$brand-base: #bcdae2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F9FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBF2F4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D2E5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bcdae2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8ABECC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#62A9BB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4A97AB", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3E7D8E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#316472", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#274A53", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#182E34", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcdae2 · 14.27:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.47:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.27:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcdae2 as text scores 1.47:1 on white and 14.27:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #274E59 at 6.15:1.

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
#3E7E8F · 4.58:1
AA on white−41% L
#3E7E8F
The quick fox
#2F5F6C · 7.06:1
AAA on white−51% L
#2F5F6C
The quick fox
#bcdae2 · 14.27:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcdae2
The quick fox
#bcdae2 · 14.27:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcdae2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #519FB4 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
#bcdae2 on white: 1.47:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcdae2 on black: 14.27:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcdae2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcdae2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.47:1AaAa
Slate 501.41:1AaAa
Slate 1001.34:1AaAa
Slate 2001.19:1AaAa
Slate 3001.01:1AaAa
Slate 4001.74:1AaAa
Slate 5003.23:1AaAa
Slate 6005.15:1AaAa
Slate 7007.03:1AaAa
Slate 8009.94:1AaAa
Slate 90012.13:1AaAa
Black14.27:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D4D8E3
deuteranopia · #CED3E2
tritanopia · #B1DDDC

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. #bcdae2 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF2F4
#D2E5E9
#bcdae2
#8ABECC
#62A9BB
#4A97AB
#3E7D8E
#316472
#274A53
#182E34
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #182E34Text 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 0.008 215.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 215.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.020 215.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.026 215.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.031 215.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.034 215.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.034 215.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.032 215.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.028 215.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.024 215.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 215.6);
}

Colors that work with #bcdae2

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6E0E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#93393E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#274E59
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF5F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
Hover#A3CCD7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8ABFCC
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C7E4EC
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 #bcdae2

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #274E59
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #519FB4

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

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

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight19/100
  • 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#E2C4BC
Analogous left#BCE2D7
Analogous right#BCC7E2
Split-complement 1#E2BCC7
Split-complement 2#E2D7BC
Triadic 1#E2BCDA
Triadic 2#DAE2BC
Tetradic#D7BCE2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°193°

#bcdae2 sits at 193°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green85.5%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
218
0xda
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.8%
Magenta3.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 32%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcdae2 text on a black background

contrast 14.27:1

Card sample

#bcdae2 text on a white background

contrast 1.47:1

Card sample

#bcdae2 on grey

1.34:1

#bcdae2 on its own surface

1.39:1

#bcdae2 on its dark surface

11.21:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcdae2;
Background color
Panel with #bcdae2 background
background-color: #bcdae2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcdae2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 218, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 218, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcdae2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcdae2, #BCC1E2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdae2, #C1BCE2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcdae2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcdae2;
caret-color: #bcdae2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcdae2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF5F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcdae2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcdae2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcdae2 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(188, 218, 226, 0.5)
rgb(188 218 226 / 50%)
#bcdae280
hsl(193 40% 81% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcdae2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcdae21a#F8FBFC
20%#bcdae233#F2F8F9
40%#bcdae266#E4F0F3
60%#bcdae299#D7E9EE
80%#bcdae2cc#C9E1E8

Gradients from #bcdae2

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, #E7F2F5, #bcdae2 45%, #274E59);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcdae2, #A7A9D9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdae2, #E2C4BC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F9FA 0%, #bcdae2 45%, #274E59 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E0F1EB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D1D7EB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #274E59 0%, transparent 65%), #bcdae2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcdae2

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.

#bcdae2 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
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 14.27:1.

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.

#bcdae2, answered

What color is #bcdae2?

#bcdae2 is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 3.4). It sits at 193° on the hue wheel with 40% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bcdae2?

rgb(188, 218, 226) — 188 red, 218 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 85.5% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #bcdae2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(193, 40%, 81%) and hsv(193, 17%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcdae2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6633 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 14.27:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcdae2?

Black. It scores 14.27:1 against #bcdae2, versus 1.47:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcdae2 accessible on a white background?

#bcdae2 on white scores 1.47:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3E7E8F to reach 4.5:1, or #2F5F6C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcdae2?

#E2C4BC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E2BCC7 and #E2D7BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcdae2?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C6E0E6 for borders, #4B8A9B for secondary text, #93393E as an accent and #274E59 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCE2D7 and #BCC7E2 stays calm, while #E2C4BC is the loudest partner.

What is #bcdae2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 4%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcdae2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCE2DC; nudged cooler, #BBD0E3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcdae2?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcdae2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcdae2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcdae2] or text-[#bcdae2], 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 #bcdae2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 218, 226, 0.5), or #bcdae280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEEDF1; over black, #5E6D71.

Is #bcdae2 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 #bcdae2 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bcdae2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E7F2F5, #bcdae2 45%, #274E59). For more colour, a short hue run to #A7A9D9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcdae2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcdae2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.