Skip to content
blue · cool

#abc7e7

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Sapphire

RGB
171, 199, 231
HSL
212°, 56%, 79%
CMYK
26, 14, 0, 9
Luminance
0.5527

#abc7e7 is a light vivid blue, 212° on the wheel and 99/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.05:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #3778C2 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(212 56% 79%)rgb(171 199 231)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #abc7e7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#abc7e7
Hue
212°
blue
Saturation
56%
vivid
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
91%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5527
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
99/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.05:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 2.5
Chroma
19.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.820
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 16.9
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue212° of 360°
Saturation56%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #abc7e7.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool99% 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%
Green74%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#abc7e7
HEX (8-digit)#abc7e7ff
RGBrgb(171, 199, 231)
RGBArgba(171, 199, 231, 1)
HSLhsl(212, 56%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(212, 26%, 91%)
HWBhwb(212 67% 9%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 14%, 0%, 9%)
LABlab(79.2 -2.4 -19.0)
LCHlch(79.2 19.1 262.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.820 0.054 251.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.64, 55.27, 83.53)
Decimal11257831
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.780 0.906)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #abc7e7;
background-color: #abc7e7;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #abc7e7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#abc7e7] bg-[#abc7e7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #abc7e7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.780, blue: 0.906)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.671, green: 0.780, blue: 0.906, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ABC7E7</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFABC7E7)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFABC7E7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(231, 199, 171)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(171, 199, 231)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(171, 199, 231)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 171, 199, 231)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6706f, 0.7804f, 0.9059f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{171,199,231}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #abc7e7 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #abc7e7 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1C3D63, #D3DFEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #abc7e7 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: #F4F7FB;
  --brand-100: #E9EFF6;
  --brand-200: #CEDDEE;
  --brand-300: #abc7e7;
  --brand-400: #7CA8DA;
  --brand-500: #508BCD;
  --brand-600: #3676BE;
  --brand-700: #2D629F;
  --brand-800: #244F7F;
  --brand-900: #1E3B5D;
  --brand-950: #13253A;
  --brand: #abc7e7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D5ED;
  --brand-hover: #8FB4DF;
  --brand-pressed: #73A2D7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141B24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DFEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F7FB',
        100: '#E9EFF6',
        200: '#CEDDEE',
        300: '#abc7e7',
        400: '#7CA8DA',
        500: '#508BCD',
        600: '#3676BE',
        700: '#2D629F',
        800: '#244F7F',
        900: '#1E3B5D',
        950: '#13253A',
        DEFAULT: '#abc7e7',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F7FB,
  '100': #E9EFF6,
  '200': #CEDDEE,
  '300': #abc7e7,
  '400': #7CA8DA,
  '500': #508BCD,
  '600': #3676BE,
  '700': #2D629F,
  '800': #244F7F,
  '900': #1E3B5D,
  '950': #13253A,
);
$brand-base: #abc7e7;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9EFF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEDDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#abc7e7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7CA8DA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#508BCD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3676BE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2D629F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#244F7F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1E3B5D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#13253A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #abc7e7 · 12.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #abc7e7 as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.05:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1C3D63 at 6.35:1.

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
#3778C2 · 4.54:1
AA on white−30% L
#3778C2
The quick fox
#2A5A92 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−42% L
#2A5A92
The quick fox
#abc7e7 · 12.05:1
AA on blackalready passes
#abc7e7
The quick fox
#abc7e7 · 12.05:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#abc7e7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6397D3 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
#abc7e7 on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#abc7e7 on black: 12.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #abc7e7 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #abc7e7.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.74:1AaAa
Slate 501.66:1AaAa
Slate 1001.59:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.47:1AaAa
Slate 5002.73:1AaAa
Slate 6004.35:1AaAa
Slate 7005.94:1AaAa
Slate 8008.40:1AaAa
Slate 90010.25:1AaAa
Black12.05:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BBC8E9
deuteranopia · #B4C1E6
tritanopia · #9ACED1

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. #abc7e7 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.

#F4F7FB
#E9EFF6
#CEDDEE
#abc7e7
#7CA8DA
#508BCD
#3676BE
#2D629F
#244F7F
#1E3B5D
#13253A
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F4F7FBDarkest = 950 · #13253AText 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 0.014 251.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 251.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 251.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 251.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.050 251.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.054 251.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.054 251.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.051 251.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.046 251.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.038 251.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.030 251.9);
}

Colors that work with #abc7e7

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D5ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B709B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A24C2A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1C3D63
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF2F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141B24
Dark-mode background
Hover#8FB4DF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#73A2D7
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B6D1F0
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 #abc7e7

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 #1C3D63
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6397D3

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
  • Weight21/100
  • 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#E7CBAB
Analogous left#ABE5E7
Analogous right#ADABE7
Split-complement 1#E7ADAB
Split-complement 2#E5E7AB
Triadic 1#E7ABC7
Triadic 2#C7E7AB
Tetradic#E7ABE5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°212°

#abc7e7 sits at 212°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green78.0%
Blue90.6%
R · 0–255
171
0xab
G · 0–255
199
0xc7
B · 0–255
231
0xe7

CMYK percentages

Cyan26.0%
Magenta13.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)9.4%

Total ink coverage is 49%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#abc7e7 text on a black background

contrast 12.05:1

Card sample

#abc7e7 text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

#abc7e7 on grey

1.59:1

#abc7e7 on its own surface

1.62:1

#abc7e7 on its dark surface

9.95:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #abc7e7;
Background color
Panel with #abc7e7 background
background-color: #abc7e7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #abc7e7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 199, 231, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 199, 231, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #abc7e7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #abc7e7, #B7ABE7);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #abc7e7, #C6ABE7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #abc7e7;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #abc7e7;
caret-color: #abc7e7;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #abc7e7;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF2F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #abc7e7;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#abc7e7 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #abc7e7 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(171, 199, 231, 0.5)
rgb(171 199 231 / 50%)
#abc7e780
hsl(212 56% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #abc7e7 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#abc7e71a#F7F9FD
20%#abc7e733#EEF4FA
40%#abc7e766#DDE9F5
60%#abc7e799#CDDDF1
80%#abc7e7cc#BCD2EC

Gradients from #abc7e7

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, #DAE7F5, #abc7e7 45%, #1C3D63);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #abc7e7, #A993E0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #abc7e7, #E7CBAB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F7FB 0%, #abc7e7 45%, #1C3D63 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D3F2F1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8C3EE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1C3D63 0%, transparent 65%), #abc7e7;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #abc7e7

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.

#abc7e7 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 12.05:1.

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.

#abc7e7, answered

What color is #abc7e7?

#abc7e7 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 2.5). It sits at 212° on the hue wheel with 56% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #abc7e7?

rgb(171, 199, 231) — 171 red, 199 green and 231 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 78% / 90.6% by channel.

What is #abc7e7 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(212, 56%, 79%) and hsv(212, 26%, 91%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #abc7e7 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5527 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #abc7e7?

Black. It scores 12.05:1 against #abc7e7, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #abc7e7 accessible on a white background?

#abc7e7 on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3778C2 to reach 4.5:1, or #2A5A92 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #abc7e7?

#E7CBAB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E7ADAB and #E5E7AB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #abc7e7?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D5ED for borders, #4B709B for secondary text, #A24C2A as an accent and #1C3D63 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ABE5E7 and #ADABE7 stays calm, while #E7CBAB is the loudest partner.

What is #abc7e7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 14%, 0%, 9%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #abc7e7 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 99 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ABB1E7; nudged cooler, #96BAE3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #abc7e7?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 16.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #abc7e7 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #abc7e7 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#abc7e7] or text-[#abc7e7], 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 #abc7e7 with 50% opacity?

rgba(171, 199, 231, 0.5), or #abc7e780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D5E3F3; over black, #566474.

Is #abc7e7 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 5.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #abc7e7 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 #abc7e7?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAE7F5, #abc7e7 45%, #1C3D63). For more colour, a short hue run to #A993E0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #abc7e7 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #abc7e7 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.