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blue · cool

#c6dbec

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

Token name suggestion: Whisper Sapphire

RGB
198, 219, 236
HSL
207°, 50%, 85%
CMYK
16, 7, 0, 8
Luminance
0.6872

#c6dbec is a pale vivid blue, 207° on the wheel and 99/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.74:1). As text it scores 1.42:1 on white — use #3A79AD instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(207 50% 85%)rgb(198 219 236)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c6dbec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c6dbec
Hue
207°
blue
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
85%
pale
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6872
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
99/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.74:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
11.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.881
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 20.3
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue207° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c6dbec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool99% 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
Red17%
Green74%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#c6dbec
HEX (8-digit)#c6dbecff
RGBrgb(198, 219, 236)
RGBArgba(198, 219, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(207, 50%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(207, 16%, 93%)
HWBhwb(207 78% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 7%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(86.4 -3.5 -10.7)
LCHlch(86.4 11.3 251.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.881 0.033 242.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(63.76, 68.72, 89.25)
Decimal13032428
Display P3color(display-p3 0.776 0.859 0.925)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c6dbec;
background-color: #c6dbec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c6dbec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c6dbec] bg-[#c6dbec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c6dbec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.776, green: 0.859, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.776, green: 0.859, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C6DBEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC6DBEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC6DBEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 219, 198)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(198, 219, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(198, 219, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 198, 219, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7765f, 0.8588f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{198,219,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c6dbec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c6dbec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#204360, #D3E2EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c6dbec 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: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF0F6;
  --brand-200: #c6dbec;
  --brand-300: #ABCAE3;
  --brand-400: #81AFD5;
  --brand-500: #5795C7;
  --brand-600: #3D81B8;
  --brand-700: #336B99;
  --brand-800: #29567A;
  --brand-900: #214059;
  --brand-950: #152838;
  --brand: #c6dbec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C2D8EB;
  --brand-hover: #ABCAE3;
  --brand-pressed: #90B9DA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141D24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E2EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F8FA',
        100: '#EAF0F6',
        200: '#c6dbec',
        300: '#ABCAE3',
        400: '#81AFD5',
        500: '#5795C7',
        600: '#3D81B8',
        700: '#336B99',
        800: '#29567A',
        900: '#214059',
        950: '#152838',
        DEFAULT: '#c6dbec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F8FA,
  '100': #EAF0F6,
  '200': #c6dbec,
  '300': #ABCAE3,
  '400': #81AFD5,
  '500': #5795C7,
  '600': #3D81B8,
  '700': #336B99,
  '800': #29567A,
  '900': #214059,
  '950': #152838,
);
$brand-base: #c6dbec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F8FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF0F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#c6dbec", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ABCAE3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#81AFD5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5795C7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3D81B8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#336B99", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#29567A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#214059", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#152838", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c6dbec · 14.74:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.42:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.74:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c6dbec as text scores 1.42:1 on white and 14.74:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #204360 at 7.25:1.

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
#3A79AD · 4.65:1
AA on white−40% L
#3A79AD
The quick fox
#2B5C82 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−51% L
#2B5C82
The quick fox
#c6dbec · 14.74:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c6dbec
The quick fox
#c6dbec · 14.74:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c6dbec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #5F9ACA 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
#c6dbec on white: 1.42:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c6dbec on black: 14.74:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c6dbec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c6dbec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.42:1AaAa
Slate 501.36:1AaAa
Slate 1001.30:1AaAa
Slate 2001.16:1AaAa
Slate 3001.04:1AaAa
Slate 4001.80:1AaAa
Slate 5003.34:1AaAa
Slate 6005.32:1AaAa
Slate 7007.27:1AaAa
Slate 80010.27:1AaAa
Slate 90012.54:1AaAa
Black14.74:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D4DBED
deuteranopia · #CFD6EC
tritanopia · #BCDFE0

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. #c6dbec 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.

#F4F8FA
#EAF0F6
#c6dbec
#ABCAE3
#81AFD5
#5795C7
#3D81B8
#336B99
#29567A
#214059
#152838
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F4F8FADarkest = 950 · #152838Text step on white = 700
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 0.008 242.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 242.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.020 242.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.025 242.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 242.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.033 242.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.033 242.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.031 242.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.027 242.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.023 242.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 242.4);
}

Colors that work with #c6dbec

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#F4F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C2D8EB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B779B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9E462E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#204360
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF3F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
Hover#ABCAE3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#90B9DA
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3E5F4
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 #c6dbec

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 #204360
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #5F9ACA

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 high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

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
  • Weight15/100
  • 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#ECD7C6
Analogous left#C6ECEA
Analogous right#C6C8EC
Split-complement 1#ECC6C8
Split-complement 2#ECEAC6
Triadic 1#ECC6DB
Triadic 2#DBECC6
Tetradic#EAC6EC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°207°

#c6dbec sits at 207°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red77.6%
Green85.9%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
198
0xc6
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.1%
Magenta7.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 31%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c6dbec text on a black background

contrast 14.74:1

Card sample

#c6dbec text on a white background

contrast 1.42:1

Card sample

#c6dbec on grey

1.30:1

#c6dbec on its own surface

1.33:1

#c6dbec on its dark surface

11.98:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c6dbec;
Background color
Panel with #c6dbec background
background-color: #c6dbec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c6dbec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(198, 219, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(198, 219, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c6dbec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c6dbec, #CAC6EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6dbec, #D4C6EC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c6dbec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c6dbec;
caret-color: #c6dbec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c6dbec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF3F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c6dbec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c6dbec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c6dbec 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, 219, 236, 0.5)
rgb(198 219 236 / 50%)
#c6dbec80
hsl(207 50% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c6dbec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c6dbec1a#F9FBFD
20%#c6dbec33#F4F8FB
40%#c6dbec66#E8F1F7
60%#c6dbec99#DDE9F4
80%#c6dbeccc#D1E2F0

Gradients from #c6dbec

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, #F0F5FA, #c6dbec 45%, #204360);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c6dbec, #BAAFE4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c6dbec, #ECD7C6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F8FB 0%, #c6dbec 45%, #204360 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F8FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ECF9F7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DEDDF4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #204360 0%, transparent 65%), #c6dbec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c6dbec

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.

#c6dbec 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

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 14.74:1.

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.

#c6dbec, answered

What color is #c6dbec?

#c6dbec is a pale vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 207° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #c6dbec?

rgb(198, 219, 236) — 198 red, 219 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 77.6% / 85.9% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #c6dbec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(207, 50%, 85%) and hsv(207, 16%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c6dbec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6872 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.74:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c6dbec?

Black. It scores 14.74:1 against #c6dbec, versus 1.42:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c6dbec accessible on a white background?

#c6dbec on white scores 1.42:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3A79AD to reach 4.5:1, or #2B5C82 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c6dbec?

#ECD7C6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECC6C8 and #ECEAC6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c6dbec?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C2D8EB for borders, #4B779B for secondary text, #9E462E as an accent and #204360 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C6ECEA and #C6C8EC stays calm, while #ECD7C6 is the loudest partner.

What is #c6dbec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 7%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c6dbec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 99 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C6CDEC; nudged cooler, #B2CBE7.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c6dbec?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 20.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c6dbec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c6dbec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c6dbec] or text-[#c6dbec], 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 #c6dbec with 50% opacity?

rgba(198, 219, 236, 0.5), or #c6dbec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E3EDF6; over black, #636E76.

Is #c6dbec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 13.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c6dbec 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 #c6dbec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0F5FA, #c6dbec 45%, #204360). For more colour, a short hue run to #BAAFE4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c6dbec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c6dbec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.