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blue · cool

#cec4f8

a pale, electric blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Whisper Harbour

RGB
206, 196, 248
HSL
252°, 79%, 87%
CMYK
17, 21, 0, 3
Luminance
0.5938

#cec4f8 is a pale electric blue, 252° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.88:1). As text it scores 1.63:1 on white — use #775BEC instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(252 79% 87%)rgb(206 196 248)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cec4f8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cec4f8
Hue
252°
blue
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
87%
pale
Brightness
97%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5938
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.88:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 9.6
Chroma
27.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.846
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 27.7
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue252° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness87%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cec4f8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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%
Green66%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#cec4f8
HEX (8-digit)#cec4f8ff
RGBrgb(206, 196, 248)
RGBArgba(206, 196, 248, 1)
HSLhsl(252, 79%, 87%)
HSV / HSBhsv(252, 21%, 97%)
HWBhwb(252 77% 3%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 21%, 0%, 3%)
LABlab(81.5 13.7 -24.3)
LCHlch(81.5 27.9 299.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.846 0.072 293.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(62.13, 59.38, 96.98)
Decimal13550840
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.769 0.973)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cec4f8;
background-color: #cec4f8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cec4f8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cec4f8] bg-[#cec4f8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cec4f8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.769, blue: 0.973)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.769, blue: 0.973, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CEC4F8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCEC4F8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCEC4F8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(248, 196, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 196, 248)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 196, 248)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 196, 248)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.7686f, 0.9725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,196,248}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cec4f8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cec4f8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#210E72, #D8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cec4f8 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: #F4F3FC;
  --brand-100: #EAE6F9;
  --brand-200: #cec4f8;
  --brand-300: #AC9BF3;
  --brand-400: #8269ED;
  --brand-500: #5836E7;
  --brand-600: #3F1ADB;
  --brand-700: #3416B6;
  --brand-800: #2A1192;
  --brand-900: #22116A;
  --brand-950: #150B42;
  --brand: #cec4f8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C8C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #B4A4F4;
  --brand-pressed: #9984F0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F3FC',
        100: '#EAE6F9',
        200: '#cec4f8',
        300: '#AC9BF3',
        400: '#8269ED',
        500: '#5836E7',
        600: '#3F1ADB',
        700: '#3416B6',
        800: '#2A1192',
        900: '#22116A',
        950: '#150B42',
        DEFAULT: '#cec4f8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F3FC,
  '100': #EAE6F9,
  '200': #cec4f8,
  '300': #AC9BF3,
  '400': #8269ED,
  '500': #5836E7,
  '600': #3F1ADB,
  '700': #3416B6,
  '800': #2A1192,
  '900': #22116A,
  '950': #150B42,
);
$brand-base: #cec4f8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAE6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cec4f8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AC9BF3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8269ED", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5836E7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3F1ADB", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3416B6", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2A1192", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#22116A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#150B42", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cec4f8 · 12.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.63:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cec4f8 as text scores 1.63:1 on white and 12.88:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #210E72 at 9.40:1.

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
#775BEC · 4.67:1
AA on white−23% L
#775BEC
The quick fox
#5532E7 · 7.01:1
AAA on white−32% L
#5532E7
The quick fox
#cec4f8 · 12.88:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cec4f8
The quick fox
#cec4f8 · 12.88:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cec4f8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9984F0 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
#cec4f8 on white: 1.63:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cec4f8 on black: 12.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cec4f8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cec4f8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.63:1AaAa
Slate 501.56:1AaAa
Slate 1001.49:1AaAa
Slate 2001.32:1AaAa
Slate 3001.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.57:1AaAa
Slate 5002.92:1AaAa
Slate 6004.65:1AaAa
Slate 7006.35:1AaAa
Slate 8008.97:1AaAa
Slate 90010.95:1AaAa
Black12.88:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9CBFA
deuteranopia · #B9CAF7
tritanopia · #C6CCD6

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. #cec4f8 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.

#F4F3FC
#EAE6F9
#cec4f8
#AC9BF3
#8269ED
#5836E7
#3F1ADB
#3416B6
#2A1192
#22116A
#150B42
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F4F3FCDarkest = 950 · #150B42Text 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 0.018 293.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 293.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 293.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 293.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 293.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 293.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 293.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 293.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 293.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 293.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 293.6);
}

Colors that work with #cec4f8

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#C8C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5A4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B9B013
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#210E72
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECE8FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B4A4F4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9984F0
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCD4FC
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 #cec4f8

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 #210E72
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9984F0

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight13/100
  • 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#EEF8C4
Analogous left#C4D4F8
Analogous right#E8C4F8
Split-complement 1#F8E8C4
Split-complement 2#D4F8C4
Triadic 1#F8CEC4
Triadic 2#C4F8CE
Tetradic#F8C4D4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°252°

#cec4f8 sits at 252°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green76.9%
Blue97.3%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
196
0xc4
B · 0–255
248
0xf8

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.9%
Magenta21.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)2.7%

Total ink coverage is 41%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cec4f8 text on a black background

contrast 12.88:1

Card sample

#cec4f8 text on a white background

contrast 1.63:1

Card sample

#cec4f8 on grey

1.49:1

#cec4f8 on its own surface

1.49:1

#cec4f8 on its dark surface

11.08:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cec4f8;
Background color
Panel with #cec4f8 background
background-color: #cec4f8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cec4f8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 196, 248, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 196, 248, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cec4f8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cec4f8, #F1C4F8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cec4f8, #F8C4F2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cec4f8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cec4f8;
caret-color: #cec4f8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cec4f8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECE8FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cec4f8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cec4f8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cec4f8 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(206, 196, 248, 0.5)
rgb(206 196 248 / 50%)
#cec4f880
hsl(252 79% 87% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cec4f8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cec4f81a#FAF9FE
20%#cec4f833#F5F3FE
40%#cec4f866#EBE7FC
60%#cec4f899#E2DCFB
80%#cec4f8cc#D8D0F9

Gradients from #cec4f8

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, #F0EDFD, #cec4f8 45%, #210E72);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cec4f8, #F0A9F5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cec4f8, #EEF8C4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F1FD 0%, #cec4f8 45%, #210E72 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%, #F2F6FD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F5E0FB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #210E72 0%, transparent 65%), #cec4f8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cec4f8

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.

#cec4f8 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 12.88:1.

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.

#cec4f8, answered

What color is #cec4f8?

#cec4f8 is a pale electric blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 9.6). It sits at 252° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 87% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cec4f8?

rgb(206, 196, 248) — 206 red, 196 green and 248 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 76.9% / 97.3% by channel.

What is #cec4f8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(252, 79%, 87%) and hsv(252, 21%, 97%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cec4f8 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5938 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 12.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cec4f8?

Black. It scores 12.88:1 against #cec4f8, versus 1.63:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cec4f8 accessible on a white background?

#cec4f8 on white scores 1.63:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #775BEC to reach 4.5:1, or #5532E7 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cec4f8?

#EEF8C4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F8E8C4 and #D4F8C4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cec4f8?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C8C0ED for borders, #5A4B9B for secondary text, #B9B013 as an accent and #210E72 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4D4F8 and #E8C4F8 stays calm, while #EEF8C4 is the loudest partner.

What is #cec4f8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 21%, 0%, 3%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #cec4f8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E1C4F8; nudged cooler, #C4CDF9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cec4f8?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 27.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cec4f8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cec4f8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cec4f8] or text-[#cec4f8], 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 #cec4f8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 196, 248, 0.5), or #cec4f880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7E2FC; over black, #67627C.

Is #cec4f8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 3.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cec4f8 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 #cec4f8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F0EDFD, #cec4f8 45%, #210E72). For more colour, a short hue run to #F0A9F5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cec4f8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cec4f8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.