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cyan · cool

#aac3cd

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Light Blue

Token name suggestion: Linen Teal

RGB
170, 195, 205
HSL
197°, 26%, 74%
CMYK
17, 5, 0, 20
Luminance
0.5198

#aac3cd is a light soft cyan, 197° on the wheel and 83/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.40:1). As text it scores 1.84:1 on white — use #527B8C instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(197 26% 74%)rgb(170 195 205)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #aac3cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#aac3cd
Hue
197°
cyan
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5198
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.40:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 6.3
Chroma
10.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.802
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 15.8
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue197° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #aac3cd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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
Red16%
Green75%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#aac3cd
HEX (8-digit)#aac3cdff
RGBrgb(170, 195, 205)
RGBArgba(170, 195, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(197, 26%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(197, 17%, 80%)
HWBhwb(197 67% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 5%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(77.3 -6.3 -7.8)
LCHlch(77.3 10.1 231.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.802 0.031 223.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.11, 51.98, 65.30)
Decimal11191245
Display P3color(display-p3 0.667 0.765 0.804)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #aac3cd;
background-color: #aac3cd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #aac3cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#aac3cd] bg-[#aac3cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #aac3cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.667, green: 0.765, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.667, green: 0.765, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AAC3CD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAAC3CD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAAC3CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 195, 170)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(170, 195, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(170, 195, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 170, 195, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6667f, 0.7647f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{170,195,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #aac3cd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #aac3cd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2F4750, #D8E4E8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #aac3cd 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: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-100: #EDF1F3;
  --brand-200: #D6E1E5;
  --brand-300: #aac3cd;
  --brand-400: #95B4C1;
  --brand-500: #729BAC;
  --brand-600: #5B889A;
  --brand-700: #4C7180;
  --brand-800: #3C5B67;
  --brand-900: #2F434C;
  --brand-950: #1D2A2F;
  --brand: #aac3cd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F8F9;
  --brand-border: #CCDBE1;
  --brand-hover: #93B3C0;
  --brand-pressed: #7DA3B2;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #151F23;
    --brand-ink: #D8E4E8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F9',
        100: '#EDF1F3',
        200: '#D6E1E5',
        300: '#aac3cd',
        400: '#95B4C1',
        500: '#729BAC',
        600: '#5B889A',
        700: '#4C7180',
        800: '#3C5B67',
        900: '#2F434C',
        950: '#1D2A2F',
        DEFAULT: '#aac3cd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F9,
  '100': #EDF1F3,
  '200': #D6E1E5,
  '300': #aac3cd,
  '400': #95B4C1,
  '500': #729BAC,
  '600': #5B889A,
  '700': #4C7180,
  '800': #3C5B67,
  '900': #2F434C,
  '950': #1D2A2F,
);
$brand-base: #aac3cd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF1F3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6E1E5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#aac3cd", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#95B4C1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#729BAC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5B889A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4C7180", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3C5B67", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2F434C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D2A2F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #aac3cd · 11.40:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.84:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.40:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #aac3cd as text scores 1.84:1 on white and 11.40:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2F4750 at 5.33:1.

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
#527B8C · 4.59:1
AA on white−30% L
#527B8C
The quick fox
#3D5C68 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−41% L
#3D5C68
The quick fox
#aac3cd · 11.40:1
AA on blackalready passes
#aac3cd
The quick fox
#aac3cd · 11.40:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#aac3cd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #709AAB 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
#aac3cd on white: 1.84:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#aac3cd on black: 11.40:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #aac3cd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #aac3cd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.84:1AaAa
Slate 501.76:1AaAa
Slate 1001.68:1AaAa
Slate 2001.49:1AaAa
Slate 3001.24:1AaAa
Slate 4001.39:1AaAa
Slate 5002.58:1AaAa
Slate 6004.11:1AaAa
Slate 7005.62:1AaAa
Slate 8007.94:1AaAa
Slate 9009.69:1AaAa
Black11.40:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BDC1CE
deuteranopia · #B8BDCD
tritanopia · #A0C6C6

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. #aac3cd 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.

#F6F8F9
#EDF1F3
#D6E1E5
#aac3cd
#95B4C1
#729BAC
#5B889A
#4C7180
#3C5B67
#2F434C
#1D2A2F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1D2A2FText 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 0.008 223.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.012 223.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.018 223.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.024 223.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.028 223.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.031 223.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.031 223.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.029 223.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.026 223.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.021 223.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.017 223.9);
}

Colors that work with #aac3cd

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#F5F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#CCDBE1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#558090
Captions on the surface
Accent#854A47
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F4750
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF4F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151F23
Dark-mode background
Hover#93B3C0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7DA3B2
Two steps down
Disabled#F1F5F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B1CEDA
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 #aac3cd

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #2F4750
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #709AAB

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#CDB4AA
Analogous left#AACDC5
Analogous right#AAB1CD
Split-complement 1#CDAAB1
Split-complement 2#CDC5AA
Triadic 1#CDAAC3
Triadic 2#C3CDAA
Tetradic#C5AACD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°197°

#aac3cd sits at 197°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red66.7%
Green76.5%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
170
0xaa
G · 0–255
195
0xc3
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.1%
Magenta4.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 42%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#aac3cd text on a black background

contrast 11.40:1

Card sample

#aac3cd text on a white background

contrast 1.84:1

Card sample

#aac3cd on grey

1.68:1

#aac3cd on its own surface

1.73:1

#aac3cd on its dark surface

9.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #aac3cd;
Background color
Panel with #aac3cd background
background-color: #aac3cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #aac3cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(170, 195, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(170, 195, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #aac3cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #aac3cd, #AAACCD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aac3cd, #B1AACD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #aac3cd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #aac3cd;
caret-color: #aac3cd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #aac3cd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF4F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #aac3cd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#aac3cd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #aac3cd 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(170, 195, 205, 0.5)
rgb(170 195 205 / 50%)
#aac3cd80
hsl(197 26% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #aac3cd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#aac3cd1a#F7F9FA
20%#aac3cd33#EEF3F5
40%#aac3cd66#DDE7EB
60%#aac3cd99#CCDBE1
80%#aac3cdcc#BBCFD7

Gradients from #aac3cd

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, #D0DEE4, #aac3cd 45%, #2F4750);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #aac3cd, #9897C2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #aac3cd, #CDB4AA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E4ECEF 0%, #aac3cd 45%, #2F4750 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CAE0D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BDC1D8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2F4750 0%, transparent 65%), #aac3cd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #aac3cd

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.

#aac3cd in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
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 11.40:1.

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.

#aac3cd, answered

What color is #aac3cd?

#aac3cd is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 6.3). It sits at 197° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #aac3cd?

rgb(170, 195, 205) — 170 red, 195 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 66.7% / 76.5% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #aac3cd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(197, 26%, 74%) and hsv(197, 17%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #aac3cd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5198 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.40:1.

Should I use black or white text on #aac3cd?

Black. It scores 11.40:1 against #aac3cd, versus 1.84:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #aac3cd accessible on a white background?

#aac3cd on white scores 1.84:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #527B8C to reach 4.5:1, or #3D5C68 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #aac3cd?

#CDB4AA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDAAB1 and #CDC5AA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #aac3cd?

For interface work: #F5F8F9 as the surface, #CCDBE1 for borders, #558090 for secondary text, #854A47 as an accent and #2F4750 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AACDC5 and #AAB1CD stays calm, while #CDB4AA is the loudest partner.

What is #aac3cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 5%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #aac3cd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AACDCA; nudged cooler, #A9BCCE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #aac3cd?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 15.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #aac3cd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #aac3cd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#aac3cd] or text-[#aac3cd], 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 #aac3cd with 50% opacity?

rgba(170, 195, 205, 0.5), or #aac3cd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D5E1E6; over black, #556267.

Is #aac3cd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 9.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #aac3cd mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #aac3cd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D0DEE4, #aac3cd 45%, #2F4750). For more colour, a short hue run to #9897C2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #aac3cd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #aac3cd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.