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blue · cool

#cacadd

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Lavender

Token name suggestion: Linen Denim

RGB
202, 202, 221
HSL
240°, 22%, 83%
CMYK
9, 9, 0, 13
Luminance
0.6002

#cacadd is a light soft blue, 240° on the wheel and 71/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.00:1). As text it scores 1.61:1 on white — use #7070A3 instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(240 22% 83%)rgb(202 202 221)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#cacadd
Hue
240°
blue
Saturation
22%
soft
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6002
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
71/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.00:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 6.4
Chroma
10.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.845
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 28.2
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue240° of 360°
Saturation22%
Lightness83%
Saturation × lightness field

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

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool71% 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
Red21%
Green70%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cacadd
HEX (8-digit)#cacaddff
RGBrgb(202, 202, 221)
RGBArgba(202, 202, 221, 1)
HSLhsl(240, 22%, 83%)
HSV / HSBhsv(240, 9%, 87%)
HWBhwb(240 79% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(9%, 9%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(81.8 3.6 -9.4)
LCHlch(81.8 10.1 291.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.845 0.026 285.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.53, 60.02, 76.89)
Decimal13290205
Display P3color(display-p3 0.792 0.792 0.867)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cacadd;
background-color: #cacadd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cacadd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cacadd] bg-[#cacadd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cacadd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.792, green: 0.792, blue: 0.867)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.792, green: 0.792, blue: 0.867, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CACADD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCACADD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCACADD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(221, 202, 202)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(202, 202, 221)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(202, 202, 221)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 202, 202, 221)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7922f, 0.7922f, 0.8667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{202,202,221}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cacadd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cacadd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#32324E, #DADAE7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cacadd 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEDF2;
  --brand-200: #cacadd;
  --brand-300: #BBBBD3;
  --brand-400: #9999BD;
  --brand-500: #7676A7;
  --brand-600: #606095;
  --brand-700: #50507C;
  --brand-800: #404063;
  --brand-900: #313149;
  --brand-950: #1F1F2E;
  --brand: #cacadd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-border: #CDCDDF;
  --brand-hover: #B4B4CF;
  --brand-pressed: #9E9EC1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161622;
    --brand-ink: #DADAE7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#EDEDF2',
        200: '#cacadd',
        300: '#BBBBD3',
        400: '#9999BD',
        500: '#7676A7',
        600: '#606095',
        700: '#50507C',
        800: '#404063',
        900: '#313149',
        950: '#1F1F2E',
        DEFAULT: '#cacadd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #EDEDF2,
  '200': #cacadd,
  '300': #BBBBD3,
  '400': #9999BD,
  '500': #7676A7,
  '600': #606095,
  '700': #50507C,
  '800': #404063,
  '900': #313149,
  '950': #1F1F2E,
);
$brand-base: #cacadd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cacadd", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BBBBD3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9999BD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7676A7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#606095", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#50507C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#404063", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#313149", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F1F2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cacadd · 13.00:1
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 · 13.00:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cacadd as text scores 1.61:1 on white and 13.00:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #32324E at 7.64:1.

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
#7070A3 · 4.63:1
AA on white−29% L
#7070A3
The quick fox
#545482 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−41% L
#545482
The quick fox
#cacadd · 13.00:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cacadd
The quick fox
#cacadd · 13.00:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cacadd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8F8FB7 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
#cacadd on white: 1.61:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cacadd on black: 13.00:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.61:1AaAa
Slate 501.54:1AaAa
Slate 1001.47:1AaAa
Slate 2001.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.59:1AaAa
Slate 5002.95:1AaAa
Slate 6004.69:1AaAa
Slate 7006.41:1AaAa
Slate 8009.06:1AaAa
Slate 90011.05:1AaAa
Black13.00:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C6CCDE
deuteranopia · #C5CBDC
tritanopia · #C6CDD0

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. #cacadd 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.

#F6F6F9
#EDEDF2
#cacadd
#BBBBD3
#9999BD
#7676A7
#606095
#50507C
#404063
#313149
#1F1F2E
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1F1F2EText step on white = 600
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 0.007 285.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 285.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 285.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.020 285.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.024 285.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.026 285.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.026 285.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.025 285.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.022 285.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 285.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 285.8);
}

Colors that work with #cacadd

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#F6F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#CDCDDF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5A5A8C
Captions on the surface
Accent#81734B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#32324E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEFF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161622
Dark-mode background
Hover#B4B4CF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9E9EC1
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3D3E8
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 #cacadd

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
  • 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 #32324E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8F8FB7

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight17/100
  • 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#DDDDCA
Analogous left#CAD3DD
Analogous right#D3CADD
Split-complement 1#DDD3CA
Split-complement 2#D3DDCA
Triadic 1#DDCACA
Triadic 2#CADDCA
Tetradic#DDCAD3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°240°

#cacadd sits at 240°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.2%
Green79.2%
Blue86.7%
R · 0–255
202
0xca
G · 0–255
202
0xca
B · 0–255
221
0xdd

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.6%
Magenta8.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.3%

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

Color previews

#cacadd text on a black background

contrast 13.00:1

Card sample

#cacadd text on a white background

contrast 1.61:1

Card sample

#cacadd on grey

1.47:1

#cacadd on its own surface

1.50:1

#cacadd on its dark surface

11.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(202, 202, 221, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(202, 202, 221, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cacadd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cacadd, #D7CADD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

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

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cacadd;
caret-color: #cacadd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cacadd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEFF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cacadd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cacadd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cacadd 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(202, 202, 221, 0.5)
rgb(202 202 221 / 50%)
#cacadd80
hsl(240 22% 83% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cacadd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cacadd1a#FAFAFC
20%#cacadd33#F4F4F8
40%#cacadd66#EAEAF1
60%#cacadd99#DFDFEB
80%#cacaddcc#D5D5E4

Gradients from #cacadd

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, #EFEFF5, #cacadd 45%, #32324E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cacadd, #CBB7D1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cacadd, #DDDDCA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F6F9 0%, #cacadd 45%, #32324E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E9EEF1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E4DDE9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #32324E 0%, transparent 65%), #cacadd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cacadd

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.

#cacadd 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 13.00:1.

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.

#cacadd, answered

What color is #cacadd?

#cacadd is a light soft blue, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 240° on the hue wheel with 22% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cacadd?

rgb(202, 202, 221) — 202 red, 202 green and 221 blue out of 255, or 79.2% / 79.2% / 86.7% by channel.

What is #cacadd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(240, 22%, 83%) and hsv(240, 9%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cacadd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6002 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.00:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cacadd?

Black. It scores 13.00:1 against #cacadd, versus 1.61:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cacadd accessible on a white background?

#cacadd on white scores 1.61:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7070A3 to reach 4.5:1, or #545482 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cacadd?

#DDDDCA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DDD3CA and #D3DDCA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cacadd?

For interface work: #F6F6F9 as the surface, #CDCDDF for borders, #5A5A8C for secondary text, #81734B as an accent and #32324E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CAD3DD and #D3CADD stays calm, while #DDDDCA is the loudest partner.

What is #cacadd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(9%, 9%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cacadd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 71 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D1CADD; nudged cooler, #C9D1DE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cacadd?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 28.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cacadd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cacadd in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(202, 202, 221, 0.5), or #cacadd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5E5EE; over black, #65656F.

Is #cacadd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 8.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cacadd 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #cacadd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFEFF5, #cacadd 45%, #32324E). For more colour, a short hue run to #CBB7D1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cacadd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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