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#c4dfe3

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Powder Blue

RGB
196, 223, 227
HSL
188°, 36%, 83%
CMYK
14, 2, 0, 11
Luminance
0.7006

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c4dfe3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c4dfe3
Hue
188°
cyan
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
85%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7006
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
15.01:1
Closest name
Powder Blue
ΔE2000 5.2
Where it sits
Hue188° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness83%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#c4dfe3
RGBrgb(196, 223, 227)
HSLhsl(188, 36%, 83%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 2%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(87.0 -8.1 -5.0)
LCHlch(87.0 9.5 211.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.885 0.029 207.4)
Decimal12902371
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.875 0.890)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #c4dfe3;
background-color: #c4dfe3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c4dfe3] bg-[#c4dfe3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c4dfe3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.875, blue: 0.890)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#c4dfe3")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC4DFE3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(227, 223, 196)

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 #c4dfe3 · 15.01:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.40:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.01:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c4dfe3 as text scores 1.40:1 on white and 15.01:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#c4dfe3 on white: 1.40:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c4dfe3 on black: 15.01:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #DADDE3
deuteranopia · #D5D8E3
tritanopia · #BBE2E0

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #c4dfe3 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.

#F5F9F9
#EBF3F4
#c4dfe3
#B3D6DB
#8DC1C9
#67ACB7
#4F9BA6
#42818A
#35676F
#294C51
#1A3033
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F5F9F9Darkest = 950 · #1A3033
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9F9;
  --brand-100: #EBF3F4;
  --brand-200: #c4dfe3;
  --brand-300: #B3D6DB;
  --brand-400: #8DC1C9;
  --brand-500: #67ACB7;
  --brand-600: #4F9BA6;
  --brand-700: #42818A;
  --brand-800: #35676F;
  --brand-900: #294C51;
  --brand-950: #1A3033;
  --brand: #c4dfe3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #c4dfe3

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#F5F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C8E1E5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B919B
Captions on the surface
Accent#8F3D46
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#295156
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF6F7
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 #c4dfe3

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
  • 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#E3C8C4
Analogous left#C4E3D7
Analogous right#C4CFE3
Split-complement 1#E3C4CF
Split-complement 2#E3D7C4
Triadic 1#E3C4DF
Triadic 2#DFE3C4
Tetradic#D7C4E3

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green87.5%
Blue89.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.7%
Magenta1.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.0%

Color previews

#c4dfe3 text on a black background

contrast 15.01:1

Card sample

#c4dfe3 text on a white background

contrast 1.40:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c4dfe3;
Background color
Panel with #c4dfe3 background
background-color: #c4dfe3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c4dfe3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 223, 227, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 223, 227, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c4dfe3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c4dfe3, #C4CAE3);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c4dfe3

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.

#c4dfe3 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#c4dfe3, answered

What color is #c4dfe3?

#c4dfe3 is a light soft cyan, closest to Powder Blue (ΔE2000 5.2). It sits at 188° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c4dfe3?

rgb(196, 223, 227) — 196 red, 223 green and 227 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 87.5% / 89% by channel.

Is #c4dfe3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7006 and perceived brightness is 85%, so black text on it reaches 15.01:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c4dfe3?

Black. It scores 15.01:1 against #c4dfe3, versus 1.40:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #c4dfe3?

#E3C8C4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E3C4CF and #E3D7C4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c4dfe3?

For interface work: #F5F9FA as the surface, #C8E1E5 for borders, #4B919B for secondary text, #8F3D46 as an accent and #295156 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4E3D7 and #C4CFE3 stays calm, while #E3C8C4 is the loudest partner.

What is #c4dfe3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 2%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c4dfe3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C4E3DC; nudged cooler, #C3D4E4.

Work with #c4dfe3 in the Color Lab