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blue · cool

#b2bfd8

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Sapphire

RGB
178, 191, 216
HSL
220°, 33%, 77%
CMYK
18, 12, 0, 15
Luminance
0.5168

#b2bfd8 is a light soft blue, 220° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.34:1). As text it scores 1.85:1 on white — use #5A76AC instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(220 33% 77%)rgb(178 191 216)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b2bfd8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b2bfd8
Hue
220°
blue
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5168
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.34:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 2.8
Chroma
14.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.803
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 20.3
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue220° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b2bfd8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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
Red18%
Green72%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#b2bfd8
HEX (8-digit)#b2bfd8ff
RGBrgb(178, 191, 216)
RGBArgba(178, 191, 216, 1)
HSLhsl(220, 33%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(219, 18%, 85%)
HWBhwb(220 70% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 12%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(77.1 0.7 -14.0)
LCHlch(77.1 14.0 272.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.803 0.038 263.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.38, 51.68, 72.33)
Decimal11714520
Display P3color(display-p3 0.698 0.749 0.847)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b2bfd8;
background-color: #b2bfd8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b2bfd8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b2bfd8] bg-[#b2bfd8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b2bfd8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.698, green: 0.749, blue: 0.847)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.698, green: 0.749, blue: 0.847, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B2BFD8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB2BFD8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB2BFD8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(216, 191, 178)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(178, 191, 216)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(178, 191, 216)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 178, 191, 216)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6980f, 0.7490f, 0.8471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{178,191,216}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b2bfd8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b2bfd8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2B3955, #D6DDEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b2bfd8 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: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF4;
  --brand-200: #D4DBE7;
  --brand-300: #b2bfd8;
  --brand-400: #8FA2C6;
  --brand-500: #6A83B4;
  --brand-600: #526EA3;
  --brand-700: #455B87;
  --brand-800: #37496C;
  --brand-900: #2B3750;
  --brand-950: #1B2332;
  --brand: #b2bfd8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C9D2E4;
  --brand-hover: #9AABCC;
  --brand-pressed: #8398C0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D6DDEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F7F9',
        100: '#ECEEF4',
        200: '#D4DBE7',
        300: '#b2bfd8',
        400: '#8FA2C6',
        500: '#6A83B4',
        600: '#526EA3',
        700: '#455B87',
        800: '#37496C',
        900: '#2B3750',
        950: '#1B2332',
        DEFAULT: '#b2bfd8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F7F9,
  '100': #ECEEF4,
  '200': #D4DBE7,
  '300': #b2bfd8,
  '400': #8FA2C6,
  '500': #6A83B4,
  '600': #526EA3,
  '700': #455B87,
  '800': #37496C,
  '900': #2B3750,
  '950': #1B2332,
);
$brand-base: #b2bfd8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4DBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b2bfd8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8FA2C6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6A83B4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#526EA3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#455B87", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#37496C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2B3750", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2332", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b2bfd8 · 11.34:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.85:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b2bfd8 as text scores 1.85:1 on white and 11.34:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2B3955 at 6.23:1.

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
#5A76AC · 4.54:1
AA on white−26% L
#5A76AC
The quick fox
#425882 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−39% L
#425882
The quick fox
#b2bfd8 · 11.34:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b2bfd8
The quick fox
#b2bfd8 · 11.34:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b2bfd8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7F95BE 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
#b2bfd8 on white: 1.85:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b2bfd8 on black: 11.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b2bfd8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b2bfd8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.85:1AaAa
Slate 501.77:1AaAa
Slate 1001.69:1AaAa
Slate 2001.50:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.57:1AaAa
Slate 6004.09:1AaAa
Slate 7005.59:1AaAa
Slate 8007.90:1AaAa
Slate 9009.64:1AaAa
Black11.34:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7C0D9
deuteranopia · #B4BDD7
tritanopia · #A9C4C7

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. #b2bfd8 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.

#F5F7F9
#ECEEF4
#D4DBE7
#b2bfd8
#8FA2C6
#6A83B4
#526EA3
#455B87
#37496C
#2B3750
#1B2332
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2332Text 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 0.010 263.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 263.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 263.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 263.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 263.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.038 263.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.038 263.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 263.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 263.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 263.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 263.6);
}

Colors that work with #b2bfd8

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#C9D2E4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4D6798
Captions on the surface
Accent#8B5F41
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B3955
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#9AABCC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8398C0
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BBC9E4
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 #b2bfd8

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 #2B3955
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7F95BE

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 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
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#D8CBB2
Analogous left#B2D2D8
Analogous right#B8B2D8
Split-complement 1#D8B8B2
Split-complement 2#D2D8B2
Triadic 1#D8B2BF
Triadic 2#BFD8B2
Tetradic#D8B2D2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°220°

#b2bfd8 sits at 220°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.8%
Green74.9%
Blue84.7%
R · 0–255
178
0xb2
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
216
0xd8

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.6%
Magenta11.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.3%

Total ink coverage is 45%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b2bfd8 text on a black background

contrast 11.34:1

Card sample

#b2bfd8 text on a white background

contrast 1.85:1

Card sample

#b2bfd8 on grey

1.69:1

#b2bfd8 on its own surface

1.73:1

#b2bfd8 on its dark surface

9.49:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b2bfd8;
Background color
Panel with #b2bfd8 background
background-color: #b2bfd8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b2bfd8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(178, 191, 216, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(178, 191, 216, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b2bfd8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b2bfd8, #BEB2D8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b2bfd8, #C8B2D8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b2bfd8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b2bfd8;
caret-color: #b2bfd8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b2bfd8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b2bfd8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b2bfd8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b2bfd8 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(178, 191, 216, 0.5)
rgb(178 191 216 / 50%)
#b2bfd880
hsl(220 33% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b2bfd8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b2bfd81a#F7F9FB
20%#b2bfd833#F0F2F7
40%#b2bfd866#E0E5EF
60%#b2bfd899#D1D9E8
80%#b2bfd8cc#C1CCE0

Gradients from #b2bfd8

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, #DBE1ED, #b2bfd8 45%, #2B3955);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b2bfd8, #B19ECE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b2bfd8, #D8CBB2);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EFF2F7 0%, #b2bfd8 45%, #2B3955 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%, #D4E8E9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CDC6E2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2B3955 0%, transparent 65%), #b2bfd8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b2bfd8

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.

#b2bfd8 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 11.34:1.

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.

#b2bfd8, answered

What color is #b2bfd8?

#b2bfd8 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 2.8). It sits at 220° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b2bfd8?

rgb(178, 191, 216) — 178 red, 191 green and 216 blue out of 255, or 69.8% / 74.9% / 84.7% by channel.

What is #b2bfd8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(220, 33%, 77%) and hsv(219, 18%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b2bfd8 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5168 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b2bfd8?

Black. It scores 11.34:1 against #b2bfd8, versus 1.85:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b2bfd8 accessible on a white background?

#b2bfd8 on white scores 1.85:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5A76AC to reach 4.5:1, or #425882 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b2bfd8?

#D8CBB2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D8B8B2 and #D2D8B2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b2bfd8?

For interface work: #F5F7FA as the surface, #C9D2E4 for borders, #4D6798 for secondary text, #8B5F41 as an accent and #2B3955 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B2D2D8 and #B8B2D8 stays calm, while #D8CBB2 is the loudest partner.

What is #b2bfd8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 12%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b2bfd8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B3B2D8; nudged cooler, #B1C3D9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b2bfd8?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 20.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b2bfd8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b2bfd8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b2bfd8] or text-[#b2bfd8], 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 #b2bfd8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(178, 191, 216, 0.5), or #b2bfd880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9DFEC; over black, #59606C.

Is #b2bfd8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 17.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b2bfd8 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 #b2bfd8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBE1ED, #b2bfd8 45%, #2B3955). For more colour, a short hue run to #B19ECE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b2bfd8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b2bfd8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.