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blue · cool

#cdcfe9

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

Token name suggestion: Frost Sapphire

RGB
205, 207, 233
HSL
236°, 39%, 86%
CMYK
12, 11, 0, 9
Luminance
0.6349

#cdcfe9 is a pale soft blue, 236° on the wheel and 86/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.70:1). As text it scores 1.53:1 on white — use #6A70BD instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(236 39% 86%)rgb(205 207 233)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdcfe9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdcfe9
Hue
236°
blue
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
91%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6349
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.70:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
13.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.861
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 27.6
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue236° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness86%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdcfe9.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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
Red20%
Green70%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cdcfe9
HEX (8-digit)#cdcfe9ff
RGBrgb(205, 207, 233)
RGBArgba(205, 207, 233, 1)
HSLhsl(236, 39%, 86%)
HSV / HSBhsv(236, 12%, 91%)
HWBhwb(236 80% 9%)
CMYKcmyk(12%, 11%, 0%, 9%)
LABlab(83.7 4.3 -13.0)
LCHlch(83.7 13.7 288.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.861 0.036 282.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(62.19, 63.49, 86.05)
Decimal13488105
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.812 0.914)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdcfe9;
background-color: #cdcfe9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdcfe9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdcfe9] bg-[#cdcfe9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdcfe9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.812, blue: 0.914)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.812, blue: 0.914, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDCFE9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDCFE9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDCFE9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(233, 207, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 207, 233)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 207, 233)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 207, 233)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.8118f, 0.9137f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,207,233}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcfe9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcfe9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#272B59, #D4D6EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdcfe9 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: #F5F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EBECF4;
  --brand-200: #cdcfe9;
  --brand-300: #B1B4DD;
  --brand-400: #8A8FCC;
  --brand-500: #6369BA;
  --brand-600: #4B52AA;
  --brand-700: #3E448E;
  --brand-800: #323671;
  --brand-900: #272A53;
  --brand-950: #191B34;
  --brand: #cdcfe9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C6C9E6;
  --brand-hover: #B4B7DE;
  --brand-pressed: #9B9FD3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141524;
    --brand-ink: #D4D6EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F5FA',
        100: '#EBECF4',
        200: '#cdcfe9',
        300: '#B1B4DD',
        400: '#8A8FCC',
        500: '#6369BA',
        600: '#4B52AA',
        700: '#3E448E',
        800: '#323671',
        900: '#272A53',
        950: '#191B34',
        DEFAULT: '#cdcfe9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F5FA,
  '100': #EBECF4,
  '200': #cdcfe9,
  '300': #B1B4DD,
  '400': #8A8FCC,
  '500': #6369BA,
  '600': #4B52AA,
  '700': #3E448E,
  '800': #323671,
  '900': #272A53,
  '950': #191B34,
);
$brand-base: #cdcfe9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBECF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cdcfe9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B1B4DD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8A8FCC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6369BA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4B52AA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3E448E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#323671", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#272A53", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#191B34", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdcfe9 · 13.70:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.70:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdcfe9 as text scores 1.53:1 on white and 13.70:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #272B59 at 8.69:1.

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
#6A70BD · 4.50:1
AA on white−28% L
#6A70BD
The quick fox
#4950A6 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−39% L
#4950A6
The quick fox
#cdcfe9 · 13.70:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdcfe9
The quick fox
#cdcfe9 · 13.70:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdcfe9

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8A8ECB 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
#cdcfe9 on white: 1.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdcfe9 on black: 13.70:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdcfe9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdcfe9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.53:1AaAa
Slate 501.47:1AaAa
Slate 1001.40:1AaAa
Slate 2001.24:1AaAa
Slate 3001.03:1AaAa
Slate 4001.67:1AaAa
Slate 5003.10:1AaAa
Slate 6004.94:1AaAa
Slate 7006.75:1AaAa
Slate 8009.54:1AaAa
Slate 90011.64:1AaAa
Black13.70:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9D2EA
deuteranopia · #C8D0E8
tritanopia · #C7D3D7

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. #cdcfe9 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.

#F5F5FA
#EBECF4
#cdcfe9
#B1B4DD
#8A8FCC
#6369BA
#4B52AA
#3E448E
#323671
#272A53
#191B34
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F5F5FADarkest = 950 · #191B34Text 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 0.009 282.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 282.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.022 282.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.028 282.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.033 282.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.036 282.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.036 282.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.034 282.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.030 282.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.025 282.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.020 282.1);
}

Colors that work with #cdcfe9

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6C9E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B509B
Captions on the surface
Accent#91773B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#272B59
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDEEF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141524
Dark-mode background
Hover#B4B7DE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9B9FD3
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9DAF2
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 #cdcfe9

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 #272B59
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8A8ECB

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 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
  • Weight14/100
  • 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#E9E7CD
Analogous left#CDDDE9
Analogous right#D9CDE9
Split-complement 1#E9D9CD
Split-complement 2#DDE9CD
Triadic 1#E9CDCF
Triadic 2#CFE9CD
Tetradic#E9CDDD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°236°

#cdcfe9 sits at 236°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green81.2%
Blue91.4%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
207
0xcf
B · 0–255
233
0xe9

CMYK percentages

Cyan12.0%
Magenta11.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)8.6%

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

Color previews

#cdcfe9 text on a black background

contrast 13.70:1

Card sample

#cdcfe9 text on a white background

contrast 1.53:1

Card sample

#cdcfe9 on grey

1.40:1

#cdcfe9 on its own surface

1.41:1

#cdcfe9 on its dark surface

11.78:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdcfe9;
Background color
Panel with #cdcfe9 background
background-color: #cdcfe9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdcfe9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 207, 233, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 207, 233, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdcfe9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdcfe9, #DECDE9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcfe9, #E5CDE9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdcfe9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdcfe9;
caret-color: #cdcfe9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdcfe9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDEEF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdcfe9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdcfe9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdcfe9 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(205, 207, 233, 0.5)
rgb(205 207 233 / 50%)
#cdcfe980
hsl(236 39% 86% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdcfe9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdcfe91a#FAFAFD
20%#cdcfe933#F5F5FB
40%#cdcfe966#EBECF6
60%#cdcfe999#E1E2F2
80%#cdcfe9cc#D7D9ED

Gradients from #cdcfe9

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, #F1F1F9, #cdcfe9 45%, #272B59);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdcfe9, #D3B8E0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcfe9, #E9E7CD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F5FA 0%, #cdcfe9 45%, #272B59 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F0F6F9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EBE2F2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #272B59 0%, transparent 65%), #cdcfe9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdcfe9

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.

#cdcfe9 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 13.70:1.

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.

#cdcfe9, answered

What color is #cdcfe9?

#cdcfe9 is a pale soft blue, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 236° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdcfe9?

rgb(205, 207, 233) — 205 red, 207 green and 233 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 81.2% / 91.4% by channel.

What is #cdcfe9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(236, 39%, 86%) and hsv(236, 12%, 91%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdcfe9 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6349 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 13.70:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdcfe9?

Black. It scores 13.70:1 against #cdcfe9, versus 1.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdcfe9 accessible on a white background?

#cdcfe9 on white scores 1.53:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6A70BD to reach 4.5:1, or #4950A6 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdcfe9?

#E9E7CD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E9D9CD and #DDE9CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdcfe9?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C6C9E6 for borders, #4B509B for secondary text, #91773B as an accent and #272B59 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDDDE9 and #D9CDE9 stays calm, while #E9E7CD is the loudest partner.

What is #cdcfe9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(12%, 11%, 0%, 9%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdcfe9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D5CDE9; nudged cooler, #CCD9EA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdcfe9?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 27.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdcfe9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdcfe9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdcfe9] or text-[#cdcfe9], 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 #cdcfe9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 207, 233, 0.5), or #cdcfe980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6E7F4; over black, #676875.

Is #cdcfe9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdcfe9 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 #cdcfe9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1F1F9, #cdcfe9 45%, #272B59). For more colour, a short hue run to #D3B8E0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdcfe9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdcfe9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.