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blue · cool

#dbecf9

a pale, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Alice Blue

Token name suggestion: Frost Harbour

RGB
219, 236, 249
HSL
206°, 71%, 92%
CMYK
12, 5, 0, 2
Luminance
0.8189

#dbecf9 is a pale vivid blue, 206° on the wheel and 98/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (17.38:1). As text it scores 1.21:1 on white — use #207ABF instead. Nearest name is Alice Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(206 71% 92%)rgb(219 236 249)Base step 100AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dbecf9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dbecf9
Hue
206°
blue
Saturation
71%
vivid
Lightness
92%
pale
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
91%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8189
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
17.38:1
Closest name
Alice Blue
ΔE2000 4.5
Chroma
8.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.934
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 23.6
Web-safe
#CCFFFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue206° of 360°
Saturation71%
Lightness92%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dbecf9.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool98% 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%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#dbecf9
HEX (8-digit)#dbecf9ff
RGBrgb(219, 236, 249)
RGBArgba(219, 236, 249, 1)
HSLhsl(206, 71%, 92%)
HSV / HSBhsv(206, 12%, 98%)
HWBhwb(206 86% 2%)
CMYKcmyk(12%, 5%, 0%, 2%)
LABlab(92.5 -3.1 -8.2)
LCHlch(92.5 8.8 249.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.934 0.025 240.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(76.30, 81.89, 101.39)
Decimal14413049
Display P3color(display-p3 0.859 0.925 0.976)
Web-safe#CCFFFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dbecf9;
background-color: #dbecf9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dbecf9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dbecf9] bg-[#dbecf9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dbecf9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.859, green: 0.925, blue: 0.976)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.859, green: 0.925, blue: 0.976, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DBECF9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDBECF9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDBECF9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(249, 236, 219)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(219, 236, 249)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(219, 236, 249)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 219, 236, 249)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8588f, 0.9255f, 0.9765f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{219,236,249}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dbecf9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dbecf9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#12466D, #D3E2EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dbecf9 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: #F3F8FC;
  --brand-100: #dbecf9;
  --brand-200: #C9E1F3;
  --brand-300: #9FCCEF;
  --brand-400: #6FB3E7;
  --brand-500: #3F99DF;
  --brand-600: #2386D2;
  --brand-700: #1D70AF;
  --brand-800: #17598C;
  --brand-900: #154365;
  --brand-950: #0D2A3F;
  --brand: #dbecf9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D9ED;
  --brand-hover: #BDDCF4;
  --brand-pressed: #9ECCEF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141D24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E2EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F8FC',
        100: '#dbecf9',
        200: '#C9E1F3',
        300: '#9FCCEF',
        400: '#6FB3E7',
        500: '#3F99DF',
        600: '#2386D2',
        700: '#1D70AF',
        800: '#17598C',
        900: '#154365',
        950: '#0D2A3F',
        DEFAULT: '#dbecf9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F8FC,
  '100': #dbecf9,
  '200': #C9E1F3,
  '300': #9FCCEF,
  '400': #6FB3E7,
  '500': #3F99DF,
  '600': #2386D2,
  '700': #1D70AF,
  '800': #17598C,
  '900': #154365,
  '950': #0D2A3F,
);
$brand-base: #dbecf9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F8FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#dbecf9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C9E1F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9FCCEF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6FB3E7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3F99DF", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2386D2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1D70AF", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#17598C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#154365", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0D2A3F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dbecf9 · 17.38:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.38:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dbecf9 as text scores 1.21:1 on white and 17.38:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #12466D at 8.19:1.

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
#207ABF · 4.57:1
AA on white−48% L
#207ABF
The quick fox
#185C8F · 7.08:1
AAA on white−59% L
#185C8F
The quick fox
#dbecf9 · 17.38:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dbecf9
The quick fox
#dbecf9 · 17.38:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dbecf9

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #429BDF 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
#dbecf9 on white: 1.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dbecf9 on black: 17.38:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dbecf9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dbecf9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.21:1AaAa
Slate 501.15:1AaAa
Slate 1001.10:1AaAa
Slate 2001.02:1AaAa
Slate 3001.23:1AaAa
Slate 4002.12:1AaAa
Slate 5003.94:1AaAa
Slate 6006.27:1AaAa
Slate 7008.57:1AaAa
Slate 80012.11:1AaAa
Slate 90014.77:1AaAa
Black17.38:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E7EBFA
deuteranopia · #E3E8F9
tritanopia · #D4EFF0

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. #dbecf9 is pinned to step 100; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3F8FC
#dbecf9
#C9E1F3
#9FCCEF
#6FB3E7
#3F99DF
#2386D2
#1D70AF
#17598C
#154365
#0D2A3F
Base = 100Lightest = 50 · #F3F8FCDarkest = 950 · #0D2A3FText 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 0.006 240.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 240.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.015 240.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.020 240.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.023 240.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.025 240.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.025 240.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.024 240.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.021 240.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 240.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 240.7);
}

Colors that work with #dbecf9

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#C0D9ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B789B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B43618
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#12466D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F3FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
Hover#BDDCF4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9ECCEF
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAEDFB
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 #dbecf9

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 #12466D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #429BDF

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
  • Weight8/100
  • 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#F9E8DB
Analogous left#DBF9F7
Analogous right#DBDDF9
Split-complement 1#F9DBDD
Split-complement 2#F9F7DB
Triadic 1#F9DBEC
Triadic 2#ECF9DB
Tetradic#F7DBF9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°206°

#dbecf9 sits at 206°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red85.9%
Green92.5%
Blue97.6%
R · 0–255
219
0xdb
G · 0–255
236
0xec
B · 0–255
249
0xf9

CMYK percentages

Cyan12.0%
Magenta5.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)2.4%

Total ink coverage is 20%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dbecf9 text on a black background

contrast 17.38:1

Card sample

#dbecf9 text on a white background

contrast 1.21:1

Card sample

#dbecf9 on grey

1.10:1

#dbecf9 on its own surface

1.13:1

#dbecf9 on its dark surface

14.12:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dbecf9;
Background color
Panel with #dbecf9 background
background-color: #dbecf9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dbecf9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(219, 236, 249, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(219, 236, 249, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dbecf9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dbecf9, #DEDBF9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbecf9, #E6DBF9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dbecf9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dbecf9;
caret-color: #dbecf9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dbecf9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F3FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dbecf9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dbecf9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dbecf9 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(219, 236, 249, 0.5)
rgb(219 236 249 / 50%)
#dbecf980
hsl(206 71% 92% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dbecf9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dbecf91a#FBFDFE
20%#dbecf933#F8FBFE
40%#dbecf966#F1F7FD
60%#dbecf999#E9F4FB
80%#dbecf9cc#E2F0FA

Gradients from #dbecf9

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, #EEF6FC, #dbecf9 45%, #12466D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dbecf9, #CAC1F5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbecf9, #F9E8DB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F8FD 0%, #dbecf9 45%, #12466D 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%, #FFFFFF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F6F5FD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #12466D 0%, transparent 65%), #dbecf9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dbecf9

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.

#dbecf9 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 17.38:1.

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.

#dbecf9, answered

What color is #dbecf9?

#dbecf9 is a pale vivid blue, closest to Alice Blue (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 206° on the hue wheel with 71% saturation and 92% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dbecf9?

rgb(219, 236, 249) — 219 red, 236 green and 249 blue out of 255, or 85.9% / 92.5% / 97.6% by channel.

What is #dbecf9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(206, 71%, 92%) and hsv(206, 12%, 98%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dbecf9 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8189 and perceived brightness is 91%, so black text on it reaches 17.38:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dbecf9?

Black. It scores 17.38:1 against #dbecf9, versus 1.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dbecf9 accessible on a white background?

#dbecf9 on white scores 1.21:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #207ABF to reach 4.5:1, or #185C8F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dbecf9?

#F9E8DB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F9DBDD and #F9F7DB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dbecf9?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0D9ED for borders, #4B789B for secondary text, #B43618 as an accent and #12466D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DBF9F7 and #DBDDF9 stays calm, while #F9E8DB is the loudest partner.

What is #dbecf9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(12%, 5%, 0%, 2%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dbecf9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 98 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DBE1F9; nudged cooler, #C5DDF6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dbecf9?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 23.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dbecf9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dbecf9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dbecf9] or text-[#dbecf9], 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 #dbecf9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(219, 236, 249, 0.5), or #dbecf980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EDF6FC; over black, #6E767D.

Is #dbecf9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCFFFF, ΔE2000 12.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dbecf9 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 #dbecf9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF6FC, #dbecf9 45%, #12466D). For more colour, a short hue run to #CAC1F5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dbecf9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dbecf9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.