#bcdcd5
a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue
Token name suggestion: Linen Lagoon
#bcdcd5 is a light soft cyan, 167° on the wheel and 79/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.34:1). As text it scores 1.46:1 on white — use #427F72 instead. Nearest name is Powder Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #bcdcd5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcdcd5.
Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.
Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.
Every format
| HEX | #bcdcd5 |
| HEX (8-digit) | #bcdcd5ff |
| RGB | rgb(188, 220, 213) |
| RGBA | rgba(188, 220, 213, 1) |
| HSL | hsl(167, 31%, 80%) |
| HSV / HSB | hsv(167, 15%, 86%) |
| HWB | hwb(167 74% 14%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(15%, 0%, 3%, 14%) |
| LAB | lab(85.3 -11.9 -0.1) |
| LCH | lch(85.3 11.9 180.5) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.869 0.035 180.8) |
| XYZ (D65) | xyz(58.34, 66.68, 72.73) |
| Decimal | 12377301 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.737 0.863 0.835) |
| Web-safe | #CCCCCC |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #bcdcd5;
background-color: #bcdcd5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcdcd5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcdcd5] bg-[#bcdcd5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcdcd5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.863, blue: 0.835)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.863, blue: 0.835, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCDCD5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCDCD5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCDCD5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(213, 220, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 220, 213)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 220, 213)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 220, 213)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.8627f, 0.8353f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,220,213}/* mix without leaving CSS */ background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdcd5 85%, white); border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdcd5 40%, transparent); /* theme-aware in one line */ color: light-dark(#2C544B, #D7EAE6); /* relative colour syntax */ --hover: hsl(from #bcdcd5 h s calc(l - 7));
Design tokens
The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.
:root {
--brand-50: #F5F9F8;
--brand-100: #ECF3F2;
--brand-200: #D5E7E3;
--brand-300: #bcdcd5;
--brand-400: #90C5BA;
--brand-500: #6CB2A3;
--brand-600: #54A190;
--brand-700: #468678;
--brand-800: #386B60;
--brand-900: #2C4F47;
--brand-950: #1B312C;
--brand: #bcdcd5;
--brand-ink: #000000;
--brand-surface: #F5FAF9;
--brand-border: #C9E3DD;
--brand-hover: #A5D0C6;
--brand-pressed: #8DC4B8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--brand-surface: #142421;
--brand-ink: #D7EAE6;
}
}theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
brand: {
50: '#F5F9F8',
100: '#ECF3F2',
200: '#D5E7E3',
300: '#bcdcd5',
400: '#90C5BA',
500: '#6CB2A3',
600: '#54A190',
700: '#468678',
800: '#386B60',
900: '#2C4F47',
950: '#1B312C',
DEFAULT: '#bcdcd5',
},
},
},
}$brand: (
'50': #F5F9F8,
'100': #ECF3F2,
'200': #D5E7E3,
'300': #bcdcd5,
'400': #90C5BA,
'500': #6CB2A3,
'600': #54A190,
'700': #468678,
'800': #386B60,
'900': #2C4F47,
'950': #1B312C,
);
$brand-base: #bcdcd5;
$brand-ink: #000000;
@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }{
"color": {
"brand": {
"50": { "$value": "#F5F9F8", "$type": "color" },
"100": { "$value": "#ECF3F2", "$type": "color" },
"200": { "$value": "#D5E7E3", "$type": "color" },
"300": { "$value": "#bcdcd5", "$type": "color" },
"400": { "$value": "#90C5BA", "$type": "color" },
"500": { "$value": "#6CB2A3", "$type": "color" },
"600": { "$value": "#54A190", "$type": "color" },
"700": { "$value": "#468678", "$type": "color" },
"800": { "$value": "#386B60", "$type": "color" },
"900": { "$value": "#2C4F47", "$type": "color" },
"950": { "$value": "#1B312C", "$type": "color" }
},
"brandInk": { "$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.
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.
Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #54A190 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
Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcdcd5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcdcd5.
| Neutral | Ratio | Verdict | Both directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| White#ffffff | 1.46:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 50#f8fafc | 1.40:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 100#f1f5f9 | 1.34:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 200#e2e8f0 | 1.19:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 300#cbd5e1 | 1.01:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 400#94a3b8 | 1.75:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 500#64748b | 3.25:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 600#475569 | 5.17:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 700#334155 | 7.07:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 800#1e293b | 9.99:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 900#0f172a | 12.19:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Black#000000 | 14.34:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
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. #bcdcd5 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.
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.
:root {
--brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.009 180.8);
--brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 180.8);
--brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.021 180.8);
--brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.027 180.8);
--brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.032 180.8);
--brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.035 180.8);
--brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.035 180.8);
--brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.033 180.8);
--brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.030 180.8);
--brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.025 180.8);
--brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 180.8);
}Colors that work with #bcdcd5
Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.
Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.
Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.
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.
Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.
The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.
How to use #bcdcd5
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓Text and icons on dark surfaces
- ✓Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
- ✓Card and section backgrounds
- ✓Brand accents, badges and data highlights
- ⚠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
Meaning and mood
What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.
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.
At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.
- FormalityMedium
- EnergyMedium
- Weight20/100
- 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 | #DCBCC3 | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #BCDCC5 | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #BCD3DC | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #DCBCD3 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #DCC5BC | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #D5BCDC | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #DCD5BC | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #C5BCDC | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
#bcdcd5 sits at 167°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Total ink coverage is 31%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.
Color previews
#bcdcd5 text on a black background
contrast 14.34:1
#bcdcd5 text on a white background
contrast 1.46:1
#bcdcd5 on grey
1.34:1
#bcdcd5 on its own surface
1.39:1
#bcdcd5 on its dark surface
10.99:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #bcdcd5;
background-color: #bcdcd5;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcdcd5;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 220, 213, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 220, 213, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #bcdcd5; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcdcd5, #BCCEDC);
Gradient headline
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdcd5, #BCC6DC); -webkit-background-clip: text; color: transparent;
outline: 2px solid #bcdcd5; outline-offset: 3px;
Marked up text
text-decoration-color: #bcdcd5; caret-color: #bcdcd5;
border-left: 4px solid #bcdcd5;
background: #EEF6F5; box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcdcd5;
background: conic-gradient(#bcdcd5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);
Transparency
What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcdcd5 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.
rgba(188, 220, 213, 0.5) rgb(188 220 213 / 50%) #bcdcd580 hsl(167 31% 80% / 50%) color-mix(in srgb, #bcdcd5 50%, transparent)
| Alpha | 8-digit hex | Flat on white |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | #bcdcd51a | #F8FCFB |
| 20% | #bcdcd533 | #F2F8F7 |
| 40% | #bcdcd566 | #E4F1EE |
| 60% | #bcdcd599 | #D7EAE6 |
| 80% | #bcdcd5cc | #C9E3DD |
Gradients from #bcdcd5
Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #E4F1EE, #bcdcd5 45%, #2C544B);
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcdcd5, #A8BBD2);
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdcd5, #DCBCC3);
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5FAF9 0%, #bcdcd5 45%, #2C544B 100%);
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5FAF9, #ffffff);
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DDEEE1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D0DEE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C544B 0%, transparent 65%), #bcdcd5;
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #bcdcd5
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Opal (#a8c3bc) — ΔE2000 6.1 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#bcdcd5 in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.
Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.
Usable as-is on a dark surface at 14.34:1.
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.
#bcdcd5, answered
What color is #bcdcd5?
#bcdcd5 is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 167° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as cool.
What is the RGB value of #bcdcd5?
rgb(188, 220, 213) — 188 red, 220 green and 213 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 86.3% / 83.5% by channel.
What is #bcdcd5 in HSL and HSV?
hsl(167, 31%, 80%) and hsv(167, 15%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.
Is #bcdcd5 a light or a dark color?
It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6668 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 14.34:1.
Should I use black or white text on #bcdcd5?
Black. It scores 14.34:1 against #bcdcd5, versus 1.46:1 for white — AAA at any size.
Is #bcdcd5 accessible on a white background?
#bcdcd5 on white scores 1.46:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #427F72 to reach 4.5:1, or #336157 for 7:1.
What is the complementary color of #bcdcd5?
#DCBCC3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCBCD3 and #DCC5BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #bcdcd5?
For interface work: #F5FAF9 as the surface, #C9E3DD for borders, #4F9787 for secondary text, #8A4264 as an accent and #2C544B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCDCC5 and #BCD3DC stays calm, while #DCBCC3 is the loudest partner.
What is #bcdcd5 in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(15%, 0%, 3%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.
Is #bcdcd5 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 #BCDCC9; nudged cooler, #BBD8DD.
Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcdcd5?
The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 19.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcdcd5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.
How do I use #bcdcd5 in Tailwind CSS?
Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcdcd5] or text-[#bcdcd5], 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 #bcdcd5 with 50% opacity?
rgba(188, 220, 213, 0.5), or #bcdcd580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEEEEA; over black, #5E6E6B.
Is #bcdcd5 a web-safe color?
No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 12.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.
What does the color #bcdcd5 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 #bcdcd5?
The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E4F1EE, #bcdcd5 45%, #2C544B). For more colour, a short hue run to #A8BBD2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.
Work with #bcdcd5 in the Color Lab
Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.
Every value on this page is computed from #bcdcd5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.