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#bdcfe2

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

RGB
189, 207, 226
HSL
211°, 39%, 81%
CMYK
16, 8, 0, 11
Luminance
0.6094

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bdcfe2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bdcfe2
Hue
211°
blue
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6094
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
100/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.19:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue211° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness81%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool100% 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#bdcfe2
RGBrgb(189, 207, 226)
HSLhsl(211, 39%, 81%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 8%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(82.3 -2.2 -11.4)
LCHlch(82.3 11.6 259.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.847 0.033 249.7)
Decimal12439522
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.812 0.886)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bdcfe2;
background-color: #bdcfe2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bdcfe2] bg-[#bdcfe2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bdcfe2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.812, blue: 0.886)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bdcfe2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDCFE2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 207, 189)

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 #bdcfe2 · 13.19:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.19:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bdcfe2 as text scores 1.59:1 on white and 13.19:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bdcfe2 on white: 1.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bdcfe2 on black: 13.19:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C8CFE3
deuteranopia · #C4CBE2
tritanopia · #B4D3D5

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bdcfe2 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.

#F5F7FA
#EBF0F4
#D3DEE9
#bdcfe2
#8AAACC
#638EBA
#4B79AA
#3E658E
#325171
#273D53
#192634
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F7FADarkest = 950 · #192634
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF0F4;
  --brand-200: #D3DEE9;
  --brand-300: #bdcfe2;
  --brand-400: #8AAACC;
  --brand-500: #638EBA;
  --brand-600: #4B79AA;
  --brand-700: #3E658E;
  --brand-800: #325171;
  --brand-900: #273D53;
  --brand-950: #192634;
  --brand: #bdcfe2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bdcfe2

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#C6D6E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B729B
Captions on the surface
Accent#92523A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#273F59
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF2F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141C24
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 #bdcfe2

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#E2D0BD
Analogous left#BDE2E2
Analogous right#BEBDE2
Split-complement 1#E2BEBD
Split-complement 2#E2E2BD
Triadic 1#E2BDCF
Triadic 2#CFE2BD
Tetradic#E2BDE2

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green81.2%
Blue88.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.4%
Magenta8.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Color previews

#bdcfe2 text on a black background

contrast 13.19:1

Card sample

#bdcfe2 text on a white background

contrast 1.59:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bdcfe2;
Background color
Panel with #bdcfe2 background
background-color: #bdcfe2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bdcfe2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 207, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 207, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bdcfe2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bdcfe2, #C4BDE2);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bdcfe2

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.

#bdcfe2 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.

#bdcfe2, answered

What color is #bdcfe2?

#bdcfe2 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 211° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bdcfe2?

rgb(189, 207, 226) — 189 red, 207 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 81.2% / 88.6% by channel.

Is #bdcfe2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6094 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.19:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bdcfe2?

Black. It scores 13.19:1 against #bdcfe2, versus 1.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bdcfe2?

#E2D0BD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E2BEBD and #E2E2BD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bdcfe2?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C6D6E6 for borders, #4B729B for secondary text, #92523A as an accent and #273F59 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BDE2E2 and #BEBDE2 stays calm, while #E2D0BD is the loudest partner.

What is #bdcfe2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 8%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bdcfe2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 100 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BDC2E2; nudged cooler, #AAC2DB.

Work with #bdcfe2 in the Color Lab