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blue · cool

#a6ccdf

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Light Blue

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
166, 204, 223
HSL
200°, 47%, 76%
CMYK
26, 9, 0, 13
Luminance
0.5662

#a6ccdf is a light vivid blue, 200° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.32:1). As text it scores 1.70:1 on white — use #397D9F instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(200 47% 76%)rgb(166 204 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a6ccdf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a6ccdf
Hue
200°
blue
Saturation
47%
vivid
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5662
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.32:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
15.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.824
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 14.3
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue200° of 360°
Saturation47%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a6ccdf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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
Red14%
Green76%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#a6ccdf
HEX (8-digit)#a6ccdfff
RGBrgb(166, 204, 223)
RGBArgba(166, 204, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(200, 47%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(200, 26%, 87%)
HWBhwb(200 65% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 9%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(80.0 -8.3 -13.5)
LCHlch(80.0 15.9 238.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.824 0.048 229.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.63, 56.62, 78.06)
Decimal10931423
Display P3color(display-p3 0.651 0.800 0.875)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a6ccdf;
background-color: #a6ccdf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a6ccdf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a6ccdf] bg-[#a6ccdf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a6ccdf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.651, green: 0.800, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.651, green: 0.800, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A6CCDF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA6CCDF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA6CCDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 204, 166)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(166, 204, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(166, 204, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 166, 204, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6510f, 0.8000f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{166,204,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a6ccdf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a6ccdf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#224A5E, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a6ccdf 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: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF2F5;
  --brand-200: #D0E2EC;
  --brand-300: #a6ccdf;
  --brand-400: #83B8D2;
  --brand-500: #5AA0C4;
  --brand-600: #418EB4;
  --brand-700: #367696;
  --brand-800: #2B5E78;
  --brand-900: #234658;
  --brand-950: #162C37;
  --brand: #a6ccdf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C3DDE9;
  --brand-hover: #8CBDD6;
  --brand-pressed: #72AECC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8FA',
        100: '#EAF2F5',
        200: '#D0E2EC',
        300: '#a6ccdf',
        400: '#83B8D2',
        500: '#5AA0C4',
        600: '#418EB4',
        700: '#367696',
        800: '#2B5E78',
        900: '#234658',
        950: '#162C37',
        DEFAULT: '#a6ccdf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8FA,
  '100': #EAF2F5,
  '200': #D0E2EC,
  '300': #a6ccdf,
  '400': #83B8D2,
  '500': #5AA0C4,
  '600': #418EB4,
  '700': #367696,
  '800': #2B5E78,
  '900': #234658,
  '950': #162C37,
);
$brand-base: #a6ccdf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F8FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF2F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D0E2EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#a6ccdf", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#83B8D2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5AA0C4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#418EB4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#367696", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2B5E78", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#234658", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#162C37", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a6ccdf · 12.32:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.70:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a6ccdf as text scores 1.70:1 on white and 12.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #224A5E at 5.58:1.

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
#397D9F · 4.56:1
AA on white−34% L
#397D9F
The quick fox
#2A5C75 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−45% L
#2A5C75
The quick fox
#a6ccdf · 12.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a6ccdf
The quick fox
#a6ccdf · 12.32:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a6ccdf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #549DC1 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
#a6ccdf on white: 1.70:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a6ccdf on black: 12.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a6ccdf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a6ccdf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.70:1AaAa
Slate 501.63:1AaAa
Slate 1001.56:1AaAa
Slate 2001.38:1AaAa
Slate 3001.15:1AaAa
Slate 4001.50:1AaAa
Slate 5002.79:1AaAa
Slate 6004.45:1AaAa
Slate 7006.08:1AaAa
Slate 8008.59:1AaAa
Slate 90010.48:1AaAa
Black12.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C2CAE0
deuteranopia · #BAC3DF
tritanopia · #95D2D2

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. #a6ccdf is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F8FA
#EAF2F5
#D0E2EC
#a6ccdf
#83B8D2
#5AA0C4
#418EB4
#367696
#2B5E78
#234658
#162C37
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #162C37Text 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 0.012 229.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 229.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.029 229.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.038 229.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.045 229.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.048 229.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.048 229.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.045 229.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.041 229.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.034 229.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.027 229.7);
}

Colors that work with #a6ccdf

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#C3DDE9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B809B
Captions on the surface
Accent#993B33
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#224A5E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF4F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#8CBDD6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#72AECC
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F6F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B0D6E9
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 #a6ccdf

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 #224A5E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #549DC1

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

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
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#DFB9A6
Analogous left#A6DFD6
Analogous right#A6B0DF
Split-complement 1#DFA6B0
Split-complement 2#DFD6A6
Triadic 1#DFA6CC
Triadic 2#CCDFA6
Tetradic#D6A6DF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°200°

#a6ccdf sits at 200°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red65.1%
Green80.0%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
166
0xa6
G · 0–255
204
0xcc
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.6%
Magenta8.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a6ccdf text on a black background

contrast 12.32:1

Card sample

#a6ccdf text on a white background

contrast 1.70:1

Card sample

#a6ccdf on grey

1.56:1

#a6ccdf on its own surface

1.59:1

#a6ccdf on its dark surface

9.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a6ccdf;
Background color
Panel with #a6ccdf background
background-color: #a6ccdf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a6ccdf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(166, 204, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(166, 204, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a6ccdf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a6ccdf, #A6A6DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a6ccdf, #B4A6DF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a6ccdf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a6ccdf;
caret-color: #a6ccdf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a6ccdf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF4F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a6ccdf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a6ccdf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a6ccdf 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(166, 204, 223, 0.5)
rgb(166 204 223 / 50%)
#a6ccdf80
hsl(200 47% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a6ccdf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a6ccdf1a#F6FAFC
20%#a6ccdf33#EDF5F9
40%#a6ccdf66#DBEBF2
60%#a6ccdf99#CAE0EC
80%#a6ccdfcc#B8D6E5

Gradients from #a6ccdf

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, #D3E6EF, #a6ccdf 45%, #224A5E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a6ccdf, #9690D7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a6ccdf, #DFB9A6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAF3F7 0%, #a6ccdf 45%, #224A5E 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%, #CCEDE4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BDC0E7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #224A5E 0%, transparent 65%), #a6ccdf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a6ccdf

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.

#a6ccdf 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 12.32:1.

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.

#a6ccdf, answered

What color is #a6ccdf?

#a6ccdf is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 200° on the hue wheel with 47% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a6ccdf?

rgb(166, 204, 223) — 166 red, 204 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 65.1% / 80% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #a6ccdf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(200, 47%, 76%) and hsv(200, 26%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a6ccdf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5662 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a6ccdf?

Black. It scores 12.32:1 against #a6ccdf, versus 1.70:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a6ccdf accessible on a white background?

#a6ccdf on white scores 1.70:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #397D9F to reach 4.5:1, or #2A5C75 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a6ccdf?

#DFB9A6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFA6B0 and #DFD6A6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a6ccdf?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C3DDE9 for borders, #4B809B for secondary text, #993B33 as an accent and #224A5E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A6DFD6 and #A6B0DF stays calm, while #DFB9A6 is the loudest partner.

What is #a6ccdf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 9%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a6ccdf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A6DFDD; nudged cooler, #A5C4E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a6ccdf?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 14.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a6ccdf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a6ccdf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a6ccdf] or text-[#a6ccdf], 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 #a6ccdf with 50% opacity?

rgba(166, 204, 223, 0.5), or #a6ccdf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D3E6EF; over black, #536670.

Is #a6ccdf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 9.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a6ccdf 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 #a6ccdf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3E6EF, #a6ccdf 45%, #224A5E). For more colour, a short hue run to #9690D7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a6ccdf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a6ccdf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.