Skip to content
blue · cool

#b5ade2

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Drift Cobalt

RGB
181, 173, 226
HSL
249°, 48%, 78%
CMYK
20, 24, 0, 11
Luminance
0.4520

#b5ade2 is a light vivid blue, 249° on the wheel and 78/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.04:1). As text it scores 2.09:1 on white — use #7465C9 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(249 48% 78%)rgb(181 173 226)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b5ade2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b5ade2
Hue
249°
blue
Saturation
48%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4520
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
78/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
10.04:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 11.5
Chroma
29.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.773
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 23
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue249° of 360°
Saturation48%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b5ade2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool78% 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
Red22%
Green66%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#b5ade2
HEX (8-digit)#b5ade2ff
RGBrgb(181, 173, 226)
RGBArgba(181, 173, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(249, 48%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(249, 23%, 89%)
HWBhwb(249 68% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(20%, 24%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(73.0 13.7 -25.6)
LCHlch(73.0 29.0 298.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.773 0.075 291.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.72, 45.20, 78.15)
Decimal11906530
Display P3color(display-p3 0.710 0.678 0.886)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b5ade2;
background-color: #b5ade2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b5ade2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b5ade2] bg-[#b5ade2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b5ade2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.710, green: 0.678, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.710, green: 0.678, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B5ADE2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB5ADE2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB5ADE2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 173, 181)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(181, 173, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(181, 173, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 181, 173, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7098f, 0.6784f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{181,173,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b5ade2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b5ade2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2B215E, #D7D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b5ade2 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: #F5F5FA;
  --brand-100: #ECEAF5;
  --brand-200: #D4D0EC;
  --brand-300: #b5ade2;
  --brand-400: #8F83D3;
  --brand-500: #6A59C4;
  --brand-600: #5240B5;
  --brand-700: #443597;
  --brand-800: #362B79;
  --brand-900: #2A2258;
  --brand-950: #1B1537;
  --brand: #b5ade2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C9C3EA;
  --brand-hover: #9D93D9;
  --brand-pressed: #8578CF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161424;
    --brand-ink: #D7D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F5FA',
        100: '#ECEAF5',
        200: '#D4D0EC',
        300: '#b5ade2',
        400: '#8F83D3',
        500: '#6A59C4',
        600: '#5240B5',
        700: '#443597',
        800: '#362B79',
        900: '#2A2258',
        950: '#1B1537',
        DEFAULT: '#b5ade2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F5FA,
  '100': #ECEAF5,
  '200': #D4D0EC,
  '300': #b5ade2,
  '400': #8F83D3,
  '500': #6A59C4,
  '600': #5240B5,
  '700': #443597,
  '800': #362B79,
  '900': #2A2258,
  '950': #1B1537,
);
$brand-base: #b5ade2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4D0EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#b5ade2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8F83D3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6A59C4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5240B5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#443597", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#362B79", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A2258", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B1537", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b5ade2 · 10.04:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.09:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.04:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b5ade2 as text scores 2.09:1 on white and 10.04:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2B215E at 6.78:1.

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
#7465C9 · 4.72:1
AA on white−19% L
#7465C9
The quick fox
#5643BD · 7.16:1
AAA on white−28% L
#5643BD
The quick fox
#b5ade2 · 10.04:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b5ade2
The quick fox
#b5ade2 · 10.04:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b5ade2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #968BD6 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
#b5ade2 on white: 2.09:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b5ade2 on black: 10.04:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b5ade2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b5ade2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.09:1AaAa
Slate 502.00:1AaAa
Slate 1001.91:1AaAa
Slate 2001.70:1AaAa
Slate 3001.41:1AaAa
Slate 4001.23:1AaAa
Slate 5002.28:1AaAa
Slate 6003.62:1AaAa
Slate 7004.95:1AaAa
Slate 8006.99:1AaAa
Slate 9008.54:1AaAa
Black10.04:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A1B4E4
deuteranopia · #A1B2E1
tritanopia · #ACB6BF

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. #b5ade2 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.

#F5F5FA
#ECEAF5
#D4D0EC
#b5ade2
#8F83D3
#6A59C4
#5240B5
#443597
#362B79
#2A2258
#1B1537
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5F5FADarkest = 950 · #1B1537Text step on white = 500
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 0.019 291.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 291.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.045 291.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.059 291.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.069 291.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.075 291.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.075 291.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.071 291.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.063 291.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.053 291.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.041 291.4);
}

Colors that work with #b5ade2

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#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9C3EA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#574B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9A8F32
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B215E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEECF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161424
Dark-mode background
Hover#9D93D9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8578CF
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BFB7EC
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 #b5ade2

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 #2B215E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #968BD6

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#DAE2AD
Analogous left#ADBFE2
Analogous right#CFADE2
Split-complement 1#E2CFAD
Split-complement 2#BFE2AD
Triadic 1#E2B5AD
Triadic 2#ADE2B5
Tetradic#E2ADBF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°249°

#b5ade2 sits at 249°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.0%
Green67.8%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
181
0xb5
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan19.9%
Magenta23.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 55%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b5ade2 text on a black background

contrast 10.04:1

Card sample

#b5ade2 text on a white background

contrast 2.09:1

Card sample

#b5ade2 on grey

1.91:1

#b5ade2 on its own surface

1.91:1

#b5ade2 on its dark surface

8.66:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b5ade2;
Background color
Panel with #b5ade2 background
background-color: #b5ade2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b5ade2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(181, 173, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(181, 173, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b5ade2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b5ade2, #D8ADE2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5ade2, #E2ADDE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b5ade2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b5ade2;
caret-color: #b5ade2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b5ade2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEECF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b5ade2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b5ade2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b5ade2 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(181, 173, 226, 0.5)
rgb(181 173 226 / 50%)
#b5ade280
hsl(249 48% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b5ade2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b5ade21a#F8F7FC
20%#b5ade233#F0EFF9
40%#b5ade266#E1DEF3
60%#b5ade299#D3CEEE
80%#b5ade2cc#C4BDE8

Gradients from #b5ade2

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, #DEDAF2, #b5ade2 45%, #2B215E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b5ade2, #D396DA);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5ade2, #DAE2AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F1FA 0%, #b5ade2 45%, #2B215E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D3DFEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E0C3EA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2B215E 0%, transparent 65%), #b5ade2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b5ade2

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.

#b5ade2 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 10.04:1.

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.

#b5ade2, answered

What color is #b5ade2?

#b5ade2 is a light vivid blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 11.5). It sits at 249° on the hue wheel with 48% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #b5ade2?

rgb(181, 173, 226) — 181 red, 173 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 71% / 67.8% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #b5ade2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(249, 48%, 78%) and hsv(249, 23%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b5ade2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4520 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.04:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b5ade2?

Black. It scores 10.04:1 against #b5ade2, versus 2.09:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b5ade2 accessible on a white background?

#b5ade2 on white scores 2.09:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7465C9 to reach 4.5:1, or #5643BD for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b5ade2?

#DAE2AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E2CFAD and #BFE2AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b5ade2?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C9C3EA for borders, #574B9B for secondary text, #9A8F32 as an accent and #2B215E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADBFE2 and #CFADE2 stays calm, while #DAE2AD is the loudest partner.

What is #b5ade2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(20%, 24%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b5ade2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 78 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C8ADE2; nudged cooler, #ACB8E3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b5ade2?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 23 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b5ade2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b5ade2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b5ade2] or text-[#b5ade2], 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 #b5ade2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(181, 173, 226, 0.5), or #b5ade280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DAD6F1; over black, #5B5771.

Is #b5ade2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 11.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b5ade2 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 #b5ade2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DEDAF2, #b5ade2 45%, #2B215E). For more colour, a short hue run to #D396DA keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b5ade2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b5ade2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.