Skip to content
blue · cool

#c3cbec

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
195, 203, 236
HSL
228°, 52%, 85%
CMYK
17, 14, 0, 8
Luminance
0.6037

#c3cbec is a light vivid blue, 228° on the wheel and 90/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.07:1). As text it scores 1.61:1 on white — use #5A70CB instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(228 52% 85%)rgb(195 203 236)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c3cbec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c3cbec
Hue
228°
blue
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
85%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6037
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.07:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.5
Chroma
17.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.847
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 24.4
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue228° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c3cbec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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
Red19%
Green71%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#c3cbec
HEX (8-digit)#c3cbecff
RGBrgb(195, 203, 236)
RGBArgba(195, 203, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(228, 52%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(228, 17%, 93%)
HWBhwb(228 76% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 14%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(82.0 3.9 -17.2)
LCHlch(82.0 17.6 282.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.847 0.047 274.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(59.00, 60.37, 87.88)
Decimal12831724
Display P3color(display-p3 0.765 0.796 0.925)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c3cbec;
background-color: #c3cbec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c3cbec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c3cbec] bg-[#c3cbec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c3cbec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.765, green: 0.796, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.765, green: 0.796, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C3CBEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC3CBEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC3CBEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 203, 195)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(195, 203, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(195, 203, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 195, 203, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7647f, 0.7961f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{195,203,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c3cbec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c3cbec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1F2C61, #D3D8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c3cbec 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: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EAECF6;
  --brand-200: #c3cbec;
  --brand-300: #AAB5E4;
  --brand-400: #7F90D7;
  --brand-500: #556BC9;
  --brand-600: #3B54BA;
  --brand-700: #31469B;
  --brand-800: #27387C;
  --brand-900: #202B5A;
  --brand-950: #141B39;
  --brand: #c3cbec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C1C9EB;
  --brand-hover: #A8B3E3;
  --brand-pressed: #8D9CDB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141724;
    --brand-ink: #D3D8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F5FA',
        100: '#EAECF6',
        200: '#c3cbec',
        300: '#AAB5E4',
        400: '#7F90D7',
        500: '#556BC9',
        600: '#3B54BA',
        700: '#31469B',
        800: '#27387C',
        900: '#202B5A',
        950: '#141B39',
        DEFAULT: '#c3cbec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F5FA,
  '100': #EAECF6,
  '200': #c3cbec,
  '300': #AAB5E4,
  '400': #7F90D7,
  '500': #556BC9,
  '600': #3B54BA,
  '700': #31469B,
  '800': #27387C,
  '900': #202B5A,
  '950': #141B39,
);
$brand-base: #c3cbec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAECF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#c3cbec", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AAB5E4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7F90D7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#556BC9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3B54BA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#31469B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#27387C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#202B5A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#141B39", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c3cbec · 13.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.61:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c3cbec as text scores 1.61:1 on white and 13.07:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1F2C61 at 8.22:1.

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
#5A70CB · 4.55:1
AA on white−27% L
#5A70CB
The quick fox
#384FB0 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−39% L
#384FB0
The quick fox
#c3cbec · 13.07:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c3cbec
The quick fox
#c3cbec · 13.07:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c3cbec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7D8FD6 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
#c3cbec on white: 1.61:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c3cbec on black: 13.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c3cbec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c3cbec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.61:1AaAa
Slate 501.54:1AaAa
Slate 1001.47:1AaAa
Slate 2001.30:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.60:1AaAa
Slate 5002.96:1AaAa
Slate 6004.72:1AaAa
Slate 7006.45:1AaAa
Slate 8009.11:1AaAa
Slate 90011.11:1AaAa
Black13.07:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C2CEEE
deuteranopia · #BFCBEB
tritanopia · #BAD1D6

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. #c3cbec 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.

#F4F5FA
#EAECF6
#c3cbec
#AAB5E4
#7F90D7
#556BC9
#3B54BA
#31469B
#27387C
#202B5A
#141B39
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F4F5FADarkest = 950 · #141B39Text step on white = 500
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 0.012 274.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 274.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 274.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.037 274.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.043 274.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.047 274.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.047 274.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.044 274.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 274.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 274.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 274.6);
}

Colors that work with #c3cbec

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C1C9EB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B5A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A06C2C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1F2C61
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECEEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141724
Dark-mode background
Hover#A8B3E3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8D9CDB
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D0D7F4
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 #c3cbec

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 #1F2C61
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7D8FD6

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#ECE4C3
Analogous left#C3DFEC
Analogous right#CFC3EC
Split-complement 1#ECCFC3
Split-complement 2#DFECC3
Triadic 1#ECC3CB
Triadic 2#CBECC3
Tetradic#ECC3DF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°228°

#c3cbec sits at 228°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.5%
Green79.6%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
195
0xc3
G · 0–255
203
0xcb
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.4%
Magenta14.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 39%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c3cbec text on a black background

contrast 13.07:1

Card sample

#c3cbec text on a white background

contrast 1.61:1

Card sample

#c3cbec on grey

1.47:1

#c3cbec on its own surface

1.48:1

#c3cbec on its dark surface

11.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c3cbec;
Background color
Panel with #c3cbec background
background-color: #c3cbec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c3cbec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(195, 203, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(195, 203, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c3cbec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c3cbec, #D6C3EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c3cbec, #E1C3EC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c3cbec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c3cbec;
caret-color: #c3cbec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c3cbec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECEEF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c3cbec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c3cbec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c3cbec 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(195, 203, 236, 0.5)
rgb(195 203 236 / 50%)
#c3cbec80
hsl(228 52% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c3cbec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c3cbec1a#F9FAFD
20%#c3cbec33#F3F5FB
40%#c3cbec66#E7EAF7
60%#c3cbec99#DBE0F4
80%#c3cbeccc#CFD5F0

Gradients from #c3cbec

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, #F0F2FA, #c3cbec 45%, #1F2C61);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c3cbec, #CBACE5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c3cbec, #ECE4C3);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3F5FB 0%, #c3cbec 45%, #1F2C61 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EAF5F8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E4DAF3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1F2C61 0%, transparent 65%), #c3cbec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c3cbec

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.

#c3cbec 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 13.07:1.

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.

#c3cbec, answered

What color is #c3cbec?

#c3cbec is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.5). It sits at 228° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c3cbec?

rgb(195, 203, 236) — 195 red, 203 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 76.5% / 79.6% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #c3cbec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(228, 52%, 85%) and hsv(228, 17%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c3cbec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6037 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c3cbec?

Black. It scores 13.07:1 against #c3cbec, versus 1.61:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c3cbec accessible on a white background?

#c3cbec on white scores 1.61:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5A70CB to reach 4.5:1, or #384FB0 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c3cbec?

#ECE4C3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECCFC3 and #DFECC3, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c3cbec?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C1C9EB for borders, #4B5A9B for secondary text, #A06C2C as an accent and #1F2C61 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C3DFEC and #CFC3EC stays calm, while #ECE4C3 is the loudest partner.

What is #c3cbec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 14%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c3cbec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CAC3EC; nudged cooler, #C2D4ED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c3cbec?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 24.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c3cbec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c3cbec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c3cbec] or text-[#c3cbec], 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 #c3cbec with 50% opacity?

rgba(195, 203, 236, 0.5), or #c3cbec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E1E5F6; over black, #626676.

Is #c3cbec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 5.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c3cbec 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 #c3cbec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0F2FA, #c3cbec 45%, #1F2C61). For more colour, a short hue run to #CBACE5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c3cbec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c3cbec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.