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blue · cool

#addbf4

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
173, 219, 244
HSL
201°, 76%, 82%
CMYK
29, 10, 0, 4
Luminance
0.6608

#addbf4 is a light electric blue, 201° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.22:1). As text it scores 1.48:1 on white — use #187CB3 instead. Nearest name is Light Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(201 76% 82%)rgb(173 219 244)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #addbf4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#addbf4
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6608
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.22:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 4.1
Chroma
19.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.867
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 15.8
Web-safe
#99CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #addbf4.

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
Red13%
Green77%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#addbf4
HEX (8-digit)#addbf4ff
RGBrgb(173, 219, 244)
RGBArgba(173, 219, 244, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 76%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(201, 29%, 96%)
HWBhwb(201 68% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 10%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(85.0 -9.2 -17.1)
LCHlch(85.0 19.4 241.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.867 0.059 232.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.89, 66.08, 95.22)
Decimal11394036
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.859 0.957)
Web-safe#99CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #addbf4;
background-color: #addbf4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #addbf4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#addbf4] bg-[#addbf4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #addbf4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.859, blue: 0.957)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.859, blue: 0.957, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADDBF4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADDBF4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADDBF4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(244, 219, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 219, 244)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 219, 244)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 219, 244)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.8588f, 0.9569f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,219,244}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #addbf4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #addbf4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0F4E70, #D3E4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #addbf4 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: #F3F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E7F2F9;
  --brand-200: #C8E4F4;
  --brand-300: #addbf4;
  --brand-400: #6BBEEB;
  --brand-500: #39A8E4;
  --brand-600: #1D96D8;
  --brand-700: #187DB4;
  --brand-800: #136490;
  --brand-900: #124A68;
  --brand-950: #0B2E41;
  --brand: #addbf4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DDED;
  --brand-hover: #8ECDF0;
  --brand-pressed: #6EBFEC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F9FC',
        100: '#E7F2F9',
        200: '#C8E4F4',
        300: '#addbf4',
        400: '#6BBEEB',
        500: '#39A8E4',
        600: '#1D96D8',
        700: '#187DB4',
        800: '#136490',
        900: '#124A68',
        950: '#0B2E41',
        DEFAULT: '#addbf4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F9FC,
  '100': #E7F2F9,
  '200': #C8E4F4,
  '300': #addbf4,
  '400': #6BBEEB,
  '500': #39A8E4,
  '600': #1D96D8,
  '700': #187DB4,
  '800': #136490,
  '900': #124A68,
  '950': #0B2E41,
);
$brand-base: #addbf4;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F9FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F2F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C8E4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#addbf4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6BBEEB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#39A8E4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1D96D8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#187DB4", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#136490", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#124A68", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0B2E41", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #addbf4 · 14.22:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #addbf4 as text scores 1.48:1 on white and 14.22:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0F4E70 at 6.06:1.

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
#187CB3 · 4.59:1
AA on white−42% L
#187CB3
The quick fox
#125D86 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−52% L
#125D86
The quick fox
#addbf4 · 14.22:1
AA on blackalready passes
#addbf4
The quick fox
#addbf4 · 14.22:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#addbf4

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #1E9CE0 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
#addbf4 on white: 1.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#addbf4 on black: 14.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #addbf4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #addbf4.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.48:1AaAa
Slate 501.41:1AaAa
Slate 1001.35:1AaAa
Slate 2001.20:1AaAa
Slate 3001.01:1AaAa
Slate 4001.74:1AaAa
Slate 5003.22:1AaAa
Slate 6005.13:1AaAa
Slate 7007.01:1AaAa
Slate 8009.90:1AaAa
Slate 90012.09:1AaAa
Black14.22:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CFD9F5
deuteranopia · #C5D1F4
tritanopia · #97E2E3

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. #addbf4 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.

#F3F9FC
#E7F2F9
#C8E4F4
#addbf4
#6BBEEB
#39A8E4
#1D96D8
#187DB4
#136490
#124A68
#0B2E41
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0B2E41Text 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 0.015 232.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.024 232.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.035 232.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.046 232.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.054 232.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.059 232.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.059 232.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.056 232.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.050 232.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.041 232.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.033 232.1);
}

Colors that work with #addbf4

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#C0DDED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B82514
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F4E70
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F5FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#8ECDF0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6EBFEC
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BCE4FA
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 #addbf4

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 #0F4E70
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #1E9CE0

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#F4C6AD
Analogous left#ADF4E9
Analogous right#ADB8F4
Split-complement 1#F4ADB8
Split-complement 2#F4E9AD
Triadic 1#F4ADDB
Triadic 2#DBF4AD
Tetradic#E9ADF4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#addbf4 sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green85.9%
Blue95.7%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
244
0xf4

CMYK percentages

Cyan29.1%
Magenta10.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.3%

Total ink coverage is 44%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#addbf4 text on a black background

contrast 14.22:1

Card sample

#addbf4 text on a white background

contrast 1.48:1

Card sample

#addbf4 on grey

1.35:1

#addbf4 on its own surface

1.38:1

#addbf4 on its dark surface

11.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #addbf4;
Background color
Panel with #addbf4 background
background-color: #addbf4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #addbf4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 219, 244, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 219, 244, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #addbf4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #addbf4, #AEADF4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #addbf4, #C0ADF4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #addbf4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #addbf4;
caret-color: #addbf4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #addbf4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F5FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #addbf4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#addbf4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #addbf4 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(173, 219, 244, 0.5)
rgb(173 219 244 / 50%)
#addbf480
hsl(201 76% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #addbf4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#addbf41a#F7FBFE
20%#addbf433#EFF8FD
40%#addbf466#DEF1FB
60%#addbf499#CEE9F8
80%#addbf4cc#BDE2F6

Gradients from #addbf4

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, #E3F3FB, #addbf4 45%, #0F4E70);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #addbf4, #9C92F0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #addbf4, #F4C6AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F9FD 0%, #addbf4 45%, #0F4E70 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%, #DAFAF3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8CBF8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0F4E70 0%, transparent 65%), #addbf4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #addbf4

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.

#addbf4 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 14.22:1.

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.

#addbf4, answered

What color is #addbf4?

#addbf4 is a light electric blue, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #addbf4?

rgb(173, 219, 244) — 173 red, 219 green and 244 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 85.9% / 95.7% by channel.

What is #addbf4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 76%, 82%) and hsv(201, 29%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #addbf4 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6608 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 14.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #addbf4?

Black. It scores 14.22:1 against #addbf4, versus 1.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #addbf4 accessible on a white background?

#addbf4 on white scores 1.48:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #187CB3 to reach 4.5:1, or #125D86 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #addbf4?

#F4C6AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F4ADB8 and #F4E9AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #addbf4?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B7F9B for secondary text, #B82514 as an accent and #0F4E70 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADF4E9 and #ADB8F4 stays calm, while #F4C6AD is the loudest partner.

What is #addbf4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 10%, 0%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #addbf4 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 #ADF4F3; nudged cooler, #ACD2F5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #addbf4?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 15.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #addbf4 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #addbf4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#addbf4] or text-[#addbf4], 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 #addbf4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 219, 244, 0.5), or #addbf480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6EDFA; over black, #576E7A.

Is #addbf4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCFF, ΔE2000 7.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #addbf4 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 #addbf4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3F3FB, #addbf4 45%, #0F4E70). For more colour, a short hue run to #9C92F0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #addbf4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #addbf4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.