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blue · cool

#cbdcf6

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

Token name suggestion: Chalk Harbour

RGB
203, 220, 246
HSL
216°, 71%, 88%
CMYK
18, 11, 0, 4
Luminance
0.7054

#cbdcf6 is a pale vivid blue, 216° on the wheel and 97/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.11:1). As text it scores 1.39:1 on white — use #2E72DB instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(216 71% 88%)rgb(203 220 246)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbdcf6 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbdcf6
Hue
216°
blue
Saturation
71%
vivid
Lightness
88%
pale
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7054
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
15.11:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
14.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.890
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 22.7
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue216° of 360°
Saturation71%
Lightness88%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbdcf6.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% 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
Red18%
Green73%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cbdcf6
HEX (8-digit)#cbdcf6ff
RGBrgb(203, 220, 246)
RGBArgba(203, 220, 246, 1)
HSLhsl(216, 71%, 88%)
HSV / HSBhsv(216, 17%, 96%)
HWBhwb(216 80% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 11%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(87.3 -0.4 -14.6)
LCHlch(87.3 14.6 268.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.890 0.040 258.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(66.85, 70.54, 97.26)
Decimal13360374
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.863 0.965)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbdcf6;
background-color: #cbdcf6;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbdcf6;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbdcf6] bg-[#cbdcf6]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbdcf6;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.863, blue: 0.965)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.863, blue: 0.965, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBDCF6</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBDCF6)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBDCF6)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(246, 220, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 220, 246)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 220, 246)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 220, 246)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.8627f, 0.9647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,220,246}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbdcf6 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbdcf6 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#13366D, #D3DEEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbdcf6 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: #F3F6FC;
  --brand-100: #E7EEF8;
  --brand-200: #cbdcf6;
  --brand-300: #9FBFEE;
  --brand-400: #709EE6;
  --brand-500: #407EDE;
  --brand-600: #2468D1;
  --brand-700: #1E57AE;
  --brand-800: #18468B;
  --brand-900: #163565;
  --brand-950: #0D213F;
  --brand: #cbdcf6;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D1ED;
  --brand-hover: #ACC7F1;
  --brand-pressed: #8EB3EB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DEEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F6FC',
        100: '#E7EEF8',
        200: '#cbdcf6',
        300: '#9FBFEE',
        400: '#709EE6',
        500: '#407EDE',
        600: '#2468D1',
        700: '#1E57AE',
        800: '#18468B',
        900: '#163565',
        950: '#0D213F',
        DEFAULT: '#cbdcf6',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F6FC,
  '100': #E7EEF8,
  '200': #cbdcf6,
  '300': #9FBFEE,
  '400': #709EE6,
  '500': #407EDE,
  '600': #2468D1,
  '700': #1E57AE,
  '800': #18468B,
  '900': #163565,
  '950': #0D213F,
);
$brand-base: #cbdcf6;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F6FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7EEF8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cbdcf6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9FBFEE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#709EE6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#407EDE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2468D1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1E57AE", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#18468B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#163565", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0D213F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbdcf6 · 15.11:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.39:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.11:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbdcf6 as text scores 1.39:1 on white and 15.11:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #13366D at 8.51:1.

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
#2E72DB · 4.62:1
AA on white−36% L
#2E72DB
The quick fox
#1D55AA · 7.16:1
AAA on white−49% L
#1D55AA
The quick fox
#cbdcf6 · 15.11:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbdcf6
The quick fox
#cbdcf6 · 15.11:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbdcf6

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6296E4 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
#cbdcf6 on white: 1.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbdcf6 on black: 15.11:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbdcf6 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbdcf6.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.39:1AaAa
Slate 501.33:1AaAa
Slate 1001.27:1AaAa
Slate 2001.13:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.84:1AaAa
Slate 5003.42:1AaAa
Slate 6005.45:1AaAa
Slate 7007.45:1AaAa
Slate 80010.52:1AaAa
Slate 90012.84:1AaAa
Black15.11:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D4DDF7
deuteranopia · #CFD9F5
tritanopia · #C0E1E4

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. #cbdcf6 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.

#F3F6FC
#E7EEF8
#cbdcf6
#9FBFEE
#709EE6
#407EDE
#2468D1
#1E57AE
#18468B
#163565
#0D213F
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F6FCDarkest = 950 · #0D213FText 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 0.010 258.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.016 258.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.024 258.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.031 258.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.037 258.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.040 258.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.040 258.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.038 258.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.034 258.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.028 258.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.022 258.8);
}

Colors that work with #cbdcf6

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D1ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B1501B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#13366D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F0FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#ACC7F1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8EB3EB
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAE7FB
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 #cbdcf6

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 #13366D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6296E4

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
  • Weight12/100
  • 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#F6E5CB
Analogous left#CBF1F6
Analogous right#CFCBF6
Split-complement 1#F6CFCB
Split-complement 2#F1F6CB
Triadic 1#F6CBDC
Triadic 2#DCF6CB
Tetradic#F6CBF1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°216°

#cbdcf6 sits at 216°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green86.3%
Blue96.5%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
246
0xf6

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.5%
Magenta10.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.5%

Total ink coverage is 32%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbdcf6 text on a black background

contrast 15.11:1

Card sample

#cbdcf6 text on a white background

contrast 1.39:1

Card sample

#cbdcf6 on grey

1.27:1

#cbdcf6 on its own surface

1.29:1

#cbdcf6 on its dark surface

12.56:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbdcf6;
Background color
Panel with #cbdcf6 background
background-color: #cbdcf6;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbdcf6;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 220, 246, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 220, 246, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbdcf6;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbdcf6, #D7CBF6);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbdcf6, #E1CBF6);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbdcf6;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbdcf6;
caret-color: #cbdcf6;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbdcf6;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F0FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbdcf6;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbdcf6 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbdcf6 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(203, 220, 246, 0.5)
rgb(203 220 246 / 50%)
#cbdcf680
hsl(216 71% 88% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbdcf6 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbdcf61a#FAFCFE
20%#cbdcf633#F5F8FD
40%#cbdcf666#EAF1FB
60%#cbdcf699#E0EAFA
80%#cbdcf6cc#D5E3F8

Gradients from #cbdcf6

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, #EEF3FC, #cbdcf6 45%, #13366D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbdcf6, #C8B1F1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbdcf6, #F6E5CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F6FD 0%, #cbdcf6 45%, #13366D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6FDFD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E9E5FA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #13366D 0%, transparent 65%), #cbdcf6;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbdcf6

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.

#cbdcf6 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 15.11:1.

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.

#cbdcf6, answered

What color is #cbdcf6?

#cbdcf6 is a pale vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 216° on the hue wheel with 71% saturation and 88% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cbdcf6?

rgb(203, 220, 246) — 203 red, 220 green and 246 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 86.3% / 96.5% by channel.

What is #cbdcf6 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(216, 71%, 88%) and hsv(216, 17%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbdcf6 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7054 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.11:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbdcf6?

Black. It scores 15.11:1 against #cbdcf6, versus 1.39:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbdcf6 accessible on a white background?

#cbdcf6 on white scores 1.39:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #2E72DB to reach 4.5:1, or #1D55AA for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbdcf6?

#F6E5CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F6CFCB and #F1F6CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbdcf6?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D1ED for borders, #4B6A9B for secondary text, #B1501B as an accent and #13366D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CBF1F6 and #CFCBF6 stays calm, while #F6E5CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cbdcf6 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 11%, 0%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbdcf6 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBCCF6; nudged cooler, #B4D1F3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbdcf6?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 22.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbdcf6 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbdcf6 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbdcf6] or text-[#cbdcf6], 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 #cbdcf6 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 220, 246, 0.5), or #cbdcf680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5EEFB; over black, #666E7B.

Is #cbdcf6 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 9.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbdcf6 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 #cbdcf6?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF3FC, #cbdcf6 45%, #13366D). For more colour, a short hue run to #C8B1F1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbdcf6 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbdcf6 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.