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#bdecf6

a pale, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue

RGB
189, 236, 246
HSL
191°, 76%, 85%
CMYK
23, 4, 0, 4
Luminance
0.7746

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bdecf6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bdecf6
Hue
191°
cyan
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
85%
pale
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
88%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7746
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.49:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 3.3
Where it sits
Hue191° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness85%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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#bdecf6
RGBrgb(189, 236, 246)
HSLhsl(191, 76%, 85%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 4%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(90.5 -12.9 -9.8)
LCHlch(90.5 16.2 217.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.913 0.050 212.1)
Decimal12446966
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.925 0.965)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bdecf6;
background-color: #bdecf6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bdecf6] bg-[#bdecf6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bdecf6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.925, blue: 0.965)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bdecf6")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDECF6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(246, 236, 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 #bdecf6 · 16.49:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.27:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.49:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bdecf6 as text scores 1.27:1 on white and 16.49:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bdecf6 on white: 1.27:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bdecf6 on black: 16.49:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E3E8F7
deuteranopia · #DAE1F6
tritanopia · #ABF1EF

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bdecf6 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.

#F3FAFC
#E7F6F9
#bdecf6
#9CE3F2
#6BD4EB
#3AC6E4
#1DB7D7
#1898B4
#147A90
#125968
#0C3841
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3FAFCDarkest = 950 · #0C3841
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FAFC;
  --brand-100: #E7F6F9;
  --brand-200: #bdecf6;
  --brand-300: #9CE3F2;
  --brand-400: #6BD4EB;
  --brand-500: #3AC6E4;
  --brand-600: #1DB7D7;
  --brand-700: #1898B4;
  --brand-800: #147A90;
  --brand-900: #125968;
  --brand-950: #0C3841;
  --brand: #bdecf6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bdecf6

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#C0E5ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B9131E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F5F70
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F9FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #bdecf6

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#F6C7BD
Analogous left#BDF6E3
Analogous right#BDD0F6
Split-complement 1#F6BDD0
Split-complement 2#F6E3BD
Triadic 1#F6BDEC
Triadic 2#ECF6BD
Tetradic#E3BDF6

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green92.5%
Blue96.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan23.2%
Magenta4.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.5%

Color previews

#bdecf6 text on a black background

contrast 16.49:1

Card sample

#bdecf6 text on a white background

contrast 1.27:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bdecf6;
Background color
Panel with #bdecf6 background
background-color: #bdecf6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bdecf6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 236, 246, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 236, 246, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bdecf6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bdecf6, #BDC6F6);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bdecf6

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.

#bdecf6 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

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

#bdecf6, answered

What color is #bdecf6?

#bdecf6 is a pale electric cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 3.3). It sits at 191° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bdecf6?

rgb(189, 236, 246) — 189 red, 236 green and 246 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 92.5% / 96.5% by channel.

Is #bdecf6 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7746 and perceived brightness is 88%, so black text on it reaches 16.49:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bdecf6?

Black. It scores 16.49:1 against #bdecf6, versus 1.27:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bdecf6?

#F6C7BD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F6BDD0 and #F6E3BD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bdecf6?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E5ED for borders, #4B8D9B for secondary text, #B9131E as an accent and #0F5F70 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BDF6E3 and #BDD0F6 stays calm, while #F6C7BD is the loudest partner.

What is #bdecf6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 4%, 0%, 4%). 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 #bdecf6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BDF6EB; nudged cooler, #BCDDF7.

Work with #bdecf6 in the Color Lab