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blue · cool

#dfe4ee

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

Token name suggestion: Chalk Harbour

RGB
223, 228, 238
HSL
220°, 31%, 90%
CMYK
6, 4, 0, 7
Luminance
0.7735

#dfe4ee is a pale soft blue, 220° on the wheel and 89/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (16.47:1). As text it scores 1.28:1 on white — use #5D76A9 instead. Nearest name is Alice Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(220 31% 90%)rgb(223 228 238)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfe4ee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfe4ee
Hue
220°
blue
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
90%
pale
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
89%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7735
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
16.47:1
Closest name
Alice Blue
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
5.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.918
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 26.5
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue220° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness90%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfe4ee.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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%
Green72%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#dfe4ee
HEX (8-digit)#dfe4eeff
RGBrgb(223, 228, 238)
RGBArgba(223, 228, 238, 1)
HSLhsl(220, 31%, 90%)
HSV / HSBhsv(220, 6%, 93%)
HWBhwb(220 87% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 4%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(90.5 0.2 -5.4)
LCHlch(90.5 5.4 271.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.918 0.015 264.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(73.60, 77.35, 91.92)
Decimal14673134
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.894 0.933)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfe4ee;
background-color: #dfe4ee;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfe4ee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfe4ee] bg-[#dfe4ee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfe4ee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.894, blue: 0.933)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.894, blue: 0.933, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFE4EE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFE4EE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFE4EE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 228, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 228, 238)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 228, 238)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 228, 238)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.8941f, 0.9333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,228,238}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfe4ee 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfe4ee 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2C3953, #D7DDEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfe4ee 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: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF3;
  --brand-200: #dfe4ee;
  --brand-300: #B6C1D8;
  --brand-400: #91A2C5;
  --brand-500: #6C83B1;
  --brand-600: #556EA0;
  --brand-700: #475C85;
  --brand-800: #39496B;
  --brand-900: #2C374E;
  --brand-950: #1B2331;
  --brand: #dfe4ee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-border: #CAD2E3;
  --brand-hover: #C8D0E2;
  --brand-pressed: #B0BDD5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D7DDEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#ECEEF3',
        200: '#dfe4ee',
        300: '#B6C1D8',
        400: '#91A2C5',
        500: '#6C83B1',
        600: '#556EA0',
        700: '#475C85',
        800: '#39496B',
        900: '#2C374E',
        950: '#1B2331',
        DEFAULT: '#dfe4ee',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #ECEEF3,
  '200': #dfe4ee,
  '300': #B6C1D8,
  '400': #91A2C5,
  '500': #6C83B1,
  '600': #556EA0,
  '700': #475C85,
  '800': #39496B,
  '900': #2C374E,
  '950': #1B2331,
);
$brand-base: #dfe4ee;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#dfe4ee", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B6C1D8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#91A2C5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6C83B1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#556EA0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#475C85", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#39496B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2C374E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2331", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfe4ee · 16.47:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.28:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.47:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfe4ee as text scores 1.28:1 on white and 16.47:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2C3953 at 9.06:1.

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
#5D76A9 · 4.54:1
AA on white−39% L
#5D76A9
The quick fox
#445880 · 7.11:1
AAA on white−52% L
#445880
The quick fox
#dfe4ee · 16.47:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfe4ee
The quick fox
#dfe4ee · 16.47:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfe4ee

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8295BC 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
#dfe4ee on white: 1.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfe4ee on black: 16.47:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfe4ee as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfe4ee.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.28:1AaAa
Slate 501.22:1AaAa
Slate 1001.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.03:1AaAa
Slate 3001.16:1AaAa
Slate 4002.01:1AaAa
Slate 5003.73:1AaAa
Slate 6005.94:1AaAa
Slate 7008.12:1AaAa
Slate 80011.47:1AaAa
Slate 90014.00:1AaAa
Black16.47:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E1E4EF
deuteranopia · #E0E3EE
tritanopia · #DCE6E7

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. #dfe4ee 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.

#F6F7F9
#ECEEF3
#dfe4ee
#B6C1D8
#91A2C5
#6C83B1
#556EA0
#475C85
#39496B
#2C374E
#1B2331
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2331Text 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 0.004 264.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.006 264.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.009 264.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.011 264.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.013 264.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.015 264.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.015 264.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.014 264.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.012 264.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.010 264.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.008 264.5);
}

Colors that work with #dfe4ee

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#F5F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#CAD2E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#506796
Captions on the surface
Accent#896043
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C3953
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#C8D0E2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B0BDD5
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E2E8F3
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 #dfe4ee

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 #2C3953
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8295BC

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
  • Weight10/100
  • 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#EEE9DF
Analogous left#DFECEE
Analogous right#E2DFEE
Split-complement 1#EEE2DF
Split-complement 2#ECEEDF
Triadic 1#EEDFE4
Triadic 2#E4EEDF
Tetradic#EEDFEC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°220°

#dfe4ee sits at 220°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green89.4%
Blue93.3%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
228
0xe4
B · 0–255
238
0xee

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.3%
Magenta4.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Total ink coverage is 17%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfe4ee text on a black background

contrast 16.47:1

Card sample

#dfe4ee text on a white background

contrast 1.28:1

Card sample

#dfe4ee on grey

1.16:1

#dfe4ee on its own surface

1.19:1

#dfe4ee on its dark surface

13.79:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfe4ee;
Background color
Panel with #dfe4ee background
background-color: #dfe4ee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfe4ee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 228, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 228, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfe4ee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfe4ee, #E4DFEE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfe4ee, #E8DFEE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfe4ee;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfe4ee;
caret-color: #dfe4ee;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfe4ee;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfe4ee;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfe4ee 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfe4ee 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(223, 228, 238, 0.5)
rgb(223 228 238 / 50%)
#dfe4ee80
hsl(220 31% 90% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfe4ee 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfe4ee1a#FCFCFD
20%#dfe4ee33#F9FAFC
40%#dfe4ee66#F2F4F8
60%#dfe4ee99#ECEFF5
80%#dfe4eecc#E5E9F1

Gradients from #dfe4ee

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, #F2F4F8, #dfe4ee 45%, #2C3953);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfe4ee, #D5CBE3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfe4ee, #EEE9DF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F7FA 0%, #dfe4ee 45%, #2C3953 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7FA, #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%, #F4F3F9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C3953 0%, transparent 65%), #dfe4ee;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfe4ee

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.

#dfe4ee 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 16.47:1.

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.

#dfe4ee, answered

What color is #dfe4ee?

#dfe4ee is a pale soft blue, closest to Alice Blue (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 220° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 90% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dfe4ee?

rgb(223, 228, 238) — 223 red, 228 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 89.4% / 93.3% by channel.

What is #dfe4ee in HSL and HSV?

hsl(220, 31%, 90%) and hsv(220, 6%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfe4ee a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7735 and perceived brightness is 89%, so black text on it reaches 16.47:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfe4ee?

Black. It scores 16.47:1 against #dfe4ee, versus 1.28:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfe4ee accessible on a white background?

#dfe4ee on white scores 1.28:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5D76A9 to reach 4.5:1, or #445880 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfe4ee?

#EEE9DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EEE2DF and #ECEEDF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfe4ee?

For interface work: #F5F7FA as the surface, #CAD2E3 for borders, #506796 for secondary text, #896043 as an accent and #2C3953 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DFECEE and #E2DFEE stays calm, while #EEE9DF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfe4ee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 4%, 0%, 7%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfe4ee warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E0DFEE; nudged cooler, #DFE6EF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfe4ee?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 26.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfe4ee as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfe4ee in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfe4ee] or text-[#dfe4ee], 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 #dfe4ee with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 228, 238, 0.5), or #dfe4ee80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFF2F7; over black, #707277.

Is #dfe4ee a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 14 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfe4ee 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 #dfe4ee?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2F4F8, #dfe4ee 45%, #2C3953). For more colour, a short hue run to #D5CBE3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfe4ee in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfe4ee at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.