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blue · cool

#c6bfef

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Meadow Sapphire

RGB
198, 191, 239
HSL
249°, 60%, 84%
CMYK
17, 20, 0, 6
Luminance
0.5550

#c6bfef is a light vivid blue, 249° on the wheel and 78/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.10:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #7665D9 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(249 60% 84%)rgb(198 191 239)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c6bfef is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c6bfef
Hue
249°
blue
Saturation
60%
vivid
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5550
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
78/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.10:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 9.4
Chroma
25.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.826
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 26.5
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue249° of 360°
Saturation60%
Lightness84%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c6bfef.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool78% 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
Red22%
Green67%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#c6bfef
HEX (8-digit)#c6bfefff
RGBrgb(198, 191, 239)
RGBArgba(198, 191, 239, 1)
HSLhsl(249, 60%, 84%)
HSV / HSBhsv(249, 20%, 94%)
HWBhwb(249 75% 6%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 20%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(79.3 12.0 -22.9)
LCHlch(79.3 25.8 297.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.826 0.067 291.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(57.50, 55.50, 89.33)
Decimal13025263
Display P3color(display-p3 0.776 0.749 0.937)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c6bfef;
background-color: #c6bfef;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c6bfef;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c6bfef] bg-[#c6bfef]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c6bfef;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.776, green: 0.749, blue: 0.937)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.776, green: 0.749, blue: 0.937, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C6BFEF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC6BFEF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC6BFEF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(239, 191, 198)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(198, 191, 239)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(198, 191, 239)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 198, 191, 239)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7765f, 0.7490f, 0.9373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{198,191,239}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c6bfef 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c6bfef 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#251A66, #D7D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c6bfef 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: #F5F4FB;
  --brand-100: #EBE9F7;
  --brand-200: #c6bfef;
  --brand-300: #AFA5E9;
  --brand-400: #8778DD;
  --brand-500: #5F4BD2;
  --brand-600: #4631C4;
  --brand-700: #3B29A3;
  --brand-800: #2F2183;
  --brand-900: #251B5F;
  --brand-950: #17113B;
  --brand: #c6bfef;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C6C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #ACA2E8;
  --brand-pressed: #9386E1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161424;
    --brand-ink: #D7D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F4FB',
        100: '#EBE9F7',
        200: '#c6bfef',
        300: '#AFA5E9',
        400: '#8778DD',
        500: '#5F4BD2',
        600: '#4631C4',
        700: '#3B29A3',
        800: '#2F2183',
        900: '#251B5F',
        950: '#17113B',
        DEFAULT: '#c6bfef',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F4FB,
  '100': #EBE9F7,
  '200': #c6bfef,
  '300': #AFA5E9,
  '400': #8778DD,
  '500': #5F4BD2,
  '600': #4631C4,
  '700': #3B29A3,
  '800': #2F2183,
  '900': #251B5F,
  '950': #17113B,
);
$brand-base: #c6bfef;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBE9F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#c6bfef", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AFA5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8778DD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5F4BD2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4631C4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3B29A3", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2F2183", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#251B5F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#17113B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c6bfef · 12.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c6bfef as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #251A66 at 8.53:1.

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
#7665D9 · 4.53:1
AA on white−22% L
#7665D9
The quick fox
#523CCE · 7.25:1
AAA on white−32% L
#523CCE
The quick fox
#c6bfef · 12.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c6bfef
The quick fox
#c6bfef · 12.10:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c6bfef

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9386E1 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
#c6bfef on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c6bfef on black: 12.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c6bfef as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c6bfef.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.74:1AaAa
Slate 501.66:1AaAa
Slate 1001.58:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.48:1AaAa
Slate 5002.74:1AaAa
Slate 6004.37:1AaAa
Slate 7005.97:1AaAa
Slate 8008.43:1AaAa
Slate 90010.29:1AaAa
Black12.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B4C5F1
deuteranopia · #B4C4EE
tritanopia · #BEC7CF

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. #c6bfef 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.

#F5F4FB
#EBE9F7
#c6bfef
#AFA5E9
#8778DD
#5F4BD2
#4631C4
#3B29A3
#2F2183
#251B5F
#17113B
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F5F4FBDarkest = 950 · #17113BText 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 0.017 291.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.027 291.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.040 291.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.052 291.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.062 291.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.067 291.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.067 291.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.063 291.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.056 291.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.047 291.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.037 291.5);
}

Colors that work with #c6bfef

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#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#564B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A89924
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#251A66
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDEBFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161424
Dark-mode background
Hover#ACA2E8
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9386E1
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D2CCF6
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 #c6bfef

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 #251A66
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9386E1

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#E8EFBF
Analogous left#BFD0EF
Analogous right#DEBFEF
Split-complement 1#EFDEBF
Split-complement 2#D0EFBF
Triadic 1#EFC6BF
Triadic 2#BFEFC6
Tetradic#EFBFD0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°249°

#c6bfef sits at 249°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red77.6%
Green74.9%
Blue93.7%
R · 0–255
198
0xc6
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
239
0xef

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.2%
Magenta20.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.3%

Total ink coverage is 44%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c6bfef text on a black background

contrast 12.10:1

Card sample

#c6bfef text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

#c6bfef on grey

1.58:1

#c6bfef on its own surface

1.59:1

#c6bfef on its dark surface

10.43:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c6bfef;
Background color
Panel with #c6bfef background
background-color: #c6bfef;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c6bfef;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(198, 191, 239, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(198, 191, 239, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c6bfef;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c6bfef, #E6BFEF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6bfef, #EFBFEC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c6bfef;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c6bfef;
caret-color: #c6bfef;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c6bfef;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDEBFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c6bfef;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c6bfef 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c6bfef 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(198, 191, 239, 0.5)
rgb(198 191 239 / 50%)
#c6bfef80
hsl(249 60% 84% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c6bfef 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c6bfef1a#F9F9FD
20%#c6bfef33#F4F2FC
40%#c6bfef66#E8E5F9
60%#c6bfef99#DDD9F5
80%#c6bfefcc#D1CCF2

Gradients from #c6bfef

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, #F0EFFB, #c6bfef 45%, #251A66);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c6bfef, #E2A6E9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6bfef, #E8EFBF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F3FC 0%, #c6bfef 45%, #251A66 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E8EFF9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EDD7F5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #251A66 0%, transparent 65%), #c6bfef;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c6bfef

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.

#c6bfef 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 12.10:1.

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.

#c6bfef, answered

What color is #c6bfef?

#c6bfef is a light vivid blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 9.4). It sits at 249° on the hue wheel with 60% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c6bfef?

rgb(198, 191, 239) — 198 red, 191 green and 239 blue out of 255, or 77.6% / 74.9% / 93.7% by channel.

What is #c6bfef in HSL and HSV?

hsl(249, 60%, 84%) and hsv(249, 20%, 94%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c6bfef a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5550 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c6bfef?

Black. It scores 12.10:1 against #c6bfef, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c6bfef accessible on a white background?

#c6bfef on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7665D9 to reach 4.5:1, or #523CCE for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c6bfef?

#E8EFBF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EFDEBF and #D0EFBF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c6bfef?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C6C0ED for borders, #564B9B for secondary text, #A89924 as an accent and #251A66 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BFD0EF and #DEBFEF stays calm, while #E8EFBF is the loudest partner.

What is #c6bfef in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 20%, 0%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c6bfef warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 78 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D8BFEF; nudged cooler, #BEC9F0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c6bfef?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 26.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c6bfef as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c6bfef in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c6bfef] or text-[#c6bfef], 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 #c6bfef with 50% opacity?

rgba(198, 191, 239, 0.5), or #c6bfef80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E3DFF7; over black, #636078.

Is #c6bfef a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c6bfef 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 #c6bfef?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0EFFB, #c6bfef 45%, #251A66). For more colour, a short hue run to #E2A6E9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c6bfef in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c6bfef at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.