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blue · cool

#bcdef1

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Light Blue

Token name suggestion: Linen Denim

RGB
188, 222, 241
HSL
202°, 65%, 84%
CMYK
22, 8, 0, 6
Luminance
0.6928

#bcdef1 is a light vivid blue, 202° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.86:1). As text it scores 1.41:1 on white — use #247CAD instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(202 65% 84%)rgb(188 222 241)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcdef1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcdef1
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
65%
vivid
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6928
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.86:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 4.2
Chroma
14.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.882
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation65%
Lightness84%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcdef1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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
Red15%
Green75%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#bcdef1
HEX (8-digit)#bcdef1ff
RGBrgb(188, 222, 241)
RGBArgba(188, 222, 241, 1)
HSLhsl(202, 65%, 84%)
HSV / HSBhsv(202, 22%, 95%)
HWBhwb(202 74% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(22%, 8%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(86.6 -7.1 -13.0)
LCHlch(86.6 14.8 241.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.882 0.044 232.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(62.73, 69.28, 93.27)
Decimal12377841
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.871 0.945)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcdef1;
background-color: #bcdef1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcdef1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcdef1] bg-[#bcdef1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcdef1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.871, blue: 0.945)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.871, blue: 0.945, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCDEF1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCDEF1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCDEF1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(241, 222, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 222, 241)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 222, 241)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 222, 241)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.8706f, 0.9451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,222,241}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdef1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcdef1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#164C69, #D3E4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcdef1 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: #F3F8FB;
  --brand-100: #E8F2F8;
  --brand-200: #bcdef1;
  --brand-300: #A2D1EC;
  --brand-400: #74BAE2;
  --brand-500: #45A4D8;
  --brand-600: #2A91CA;
  --brand-700: #2379A9;
  --brand-800: #1C6187;
  --brand-900: #184862;
  --brand-950: #0F2D3D;
  --brand: #bcdef1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DDED;
  --brand-hover: #9ECFEB;
  --brand-pressed: #81C1E5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F8FB',
        100: '#E8F2F8',
        200: '#bcdef1',
        300: '#A2D1EC',
        400: '#74BAE2',
        500: '#45A4D8',
        600: '#2A91CA',
        700: '#2379A9',
        800: '#1C6187',
        900: '#184862',
        950: '#0F2D3D',
        DEFAULT: '#bcdef1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F8FB,
  '100': #E8F2F8,
  '200': #bcdef1,
  '300': #A2D1EC,
  '400': #74BAE2,
  '500': #45A4D8,
  '600': #2A91CA,
  '700': #2379A9,
  '800': #1C6187,
  '900': #184862,
  '950': #0F2D3D,
);
$brand-base: #bcdef1;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F8FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F2F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#bcdef1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A2D1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#74BAE2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#45A4D8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2A91CA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2379A9", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1C6187", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#184862", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0F2D3D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcdef1 · 14.86:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.41:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcdef1 as text scores 1.41:1 on white and 14.86:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #164C69 at 6.54:1.

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
#247CAD · 4.60:1
AA on white−43% L
#247CAD
The quick fox
#1B5E83 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−53% L
#1B5E83
The quick fox
#bcdef1 · 14.86:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcdef1
The quick fox
#bcdef1 · 14.86:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcdef1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #359BD5 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
#bcdef1 on white: 1.41:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcdef1 on black: 14.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcdef1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcdef1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.41:1AaAa
Slate 501.35:1AaAa
Slate 1001.29:1AaAa
Slate 2001.15:1AaAa
Slate 3001.05:1AaAa
Slate 4001.81:1AaAa
Slate 5003.37:1AaAa
Slate 6005.36:1AaAa
Slate 7007.33:1AaAa
Slate 80010.35:1AaAa
Slate 90012.63:1AaAa
Black14.86:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D5DCF2
deuteranopia · #CDD6F1
tritanopia · #ADE3E4

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. #bcdef1 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.

#F3F8FB
#E8F2F8
#bcdef1
#A2D1EC
#74BAE2
#45A4D8
#2A91CA
#2379A9
#1C6187
#184862
#0F2D3D
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F8FBDarkest = 950 · #0F2D3DText 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 0.011 232.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 232.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.027 232.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.035 232.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.041 232.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.044 232.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.044 232.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.042 232.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.037 232.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.031 232.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.024 232.4);
}

Colors that work with #bcdef1

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#F4F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0DDED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7E9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#AE2D1E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#164C69
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAF5FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#9ECFEB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#81C1E5
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CAE7F8
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 #bcdef1

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #164C69
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #359BD5

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight16/100
  • 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#F1CFBC
Analogous left#BCF1E9
Analogous right#BCC3F1
Split-complement 1#F1BCC3
Split-complement 2#F1E9BC
Triadic 1#F1BCDE
Triadic 2#DEF1BC
Tetradic#E9BCF1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°202°

#bcdef1 sits at 202°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green87.1%
Blue94.5%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
222
0xde
B · 0–255
241
0xf1

CMYK percentages

Cyan22.0%
Magenta7.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.5%

Total ink coverage is 35%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcdef1 text on a black background

contrast 14.86:1

Card sample

#bcdef1 text on a white background

contrast 1.41:1

Card sample

#bcdef1 on grey

1.29:1

#bcdef1 on its own surface

1.32:1

#bcdef1 on its dark surface

11.97:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcdef1;
Background color
Panel with #bcdef1 background
background-color: #bcdef1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcdef1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 222, 241, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 222, 241, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcdef1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcdef1, #BDBCF1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdef1, #CBBCF1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcdef1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcdef1;
caret-color: #bcdef1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcdef1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAF5FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcdef1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcdef1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcdef1 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, 222, 241, 0.5)
rgb(188 222 241 / 50%)
#bcdef180
hsl(202 65% 84% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcdef1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcdef11a#F8FCFE
20%#bcdef133#F2F8FC
40%#bcdef166#E4F2F9
60%#bcdef199#D7EBF7
80%#bcdef1cc#C9E5F4

Gradients from #bcdef1

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, #EEF7FB, #bcdef1 45%, #164C69);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcdef1, #ABA3EC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcdef1, #F1CFBC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F9FC 0%, #bcdef1 45%, #164C69 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F8FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E6FAF5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D5D7F6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #164C69 0%, transparent 65%), #bcdef1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcdef1

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.

#bcdef1 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 14.86:1.

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.

#bcdef1, answered

What color is #bcdef1?

#bcdef1 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 4.2). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 65% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bcdef1?

rgb(188, 222, 241) — 188 red, 222 green and 241 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 87.1% / 94.5% by channel.

What is #bcdef1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(202, 65%, 84%) and hsv(202, 22%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcdef1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6928 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcdef1?

Black. It scores 14.86:1 against #bcdef1, versus 1.41:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcdef1 accessible on a white background?

#bcdef1 on white scores 1.41:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #247CAD to reach 4.5:1, or #1B5E83 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcdef1?

#F1CFBC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F1BCC3 and #F1E9BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcdef1?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B7E9B for secondary text, #AE2D1E as an accent and #164C69 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCF1E9 and #BCC3F1 stays calm, while #F1CFBC is the loudest partner.

What is #bcdef1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(22%, 8%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcdef1 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCF1F1; nudged cooler, #BBD7F2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcdef1?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcdef1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcdef1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcdef1] or text-[#bcdef1], 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 #bcdef1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 222, 241, 0.5), or #bcdef180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEEFF8; over black, #5E6F79.

Is #bcdef1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 15.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcdef1 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #bcdef1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF7FB, #bcdef1 45%, #164C69). For more colour, a short hue run to #ABA3EC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcdef1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcdef1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.