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blue · cool

#baade2

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Cobalt

RGB
186, 173, 226
HSL
255°, 48%, 78%
CMYK
18, 24, 0, 11
Luminance
0.4582

#baade2 is a light vivid blue, 255° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.16:1). As text it scores 2.07:1 on white — use #7E65C9 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is purple.

hsl(255 48% 78%)rgb(186 173 226)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #baade2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#baade2
Hue
255°
blue
Saturation
48%
vivid
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4582
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
10.16:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 10.6
Chroma
29.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.777
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
purple
500 · ΔE 23.7
Web-safe
#CC99CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue255° 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 #baade2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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
Red23%
Green65%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#baade2
HEX (8-digit)#baade2ff
RGBrgb(186, 173, 226)
RGBArgba(186, 173, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(255, 48%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(255, 23%, 89%)
HWBhwb(255 68% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 24%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(73.4 15.2 -24.9)
LCHlch(73.4 29.2 301.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.777 0.076 295.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.92, 45.82, 78.20)
Decimal12234210
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.678 0.886)
Web-safe#CC99CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #baade2;
background-color: #baade2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #baade2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#baade2] bg-[#baade2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #baade2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.678, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.678, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BAADE2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBAADE2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBAADE2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 173, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 173, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 173, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 173, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.6784f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,173,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #baade2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #baade2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#30215E, #D9D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #baade2 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: #F6F5FA;
  --brand-100: #EDEAF5;
  --brand-200: #D7D0EC;
  --brand-300: #baade2;
  --brand-400: #9683D3;
  --brand-500: #7459C4;
  --brand-600: #5D40B5;
  --brand-700: #4D3597;
  --brand-800: #3E2B79;
  --brand-900: #302258;
  --brand-950: #1E1537;
  --brand: #baade2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CCC3EA;
  --brand-hover: #A493D9;
  --brand-pressed: #8E78CF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181424;
    --brand-ink: #D9D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F5FA',
        100: '#EDEAF5',
        200: '#D7D0EC',
        300: '#baade2',
        400: '#9683D3',
        500: '#7459C4',
        600: '#5D40B5',
        700: '#4D3597',
        800: '#3E2B79',
        900: '#302258',
        950: '#1E1537',
        DEFAULT: '#baade2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F5FA,
  '100': #EDEAF5,
  '200': #D7D0EC,
  '300': #baade2,
  '400': #9683D3,
  '500': #7459C4,
  '600': #5D40B5,
  '700': #4D3597,
  '800': #3E2B79,
  '900': #302258,
  '950': #1E1537,
);
$brand-base: #baade2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D7D0EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#baade2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9683D3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7459C4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5D40B5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4D3597", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3E2B79", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#302258", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1E1537", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #baade2 · 10.16:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.07:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.16:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #baade2 as text scores 2.07:1 on white and 10.16:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #30215E at 6.75:1.

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
#7E65C9 · 4.57:1
AA on white−19% L
#7E65C9
The quick fox
#5F42B9 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−29% L
#5F42B9
The quick fox
#baade2 · 10.16:1
AA on blackalready passes
#baade2
The quick fox
#baade2 · 10.16:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#baade2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9A87D5 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
#baade2 on white: 2.07:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#baade2 on black: 10.16:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #baade2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #baade2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.07:1AaAa
Slate 501.97:1AaAa
Slate 1001.89:1AaAa
Slate 2001.68:1AaAa
Slate 3001.39:1AaAa
Slate 4001.24:1AaAa
Slate 5002.30:1AaAa
Slate 6003.67:1AaAa
Slate 7005.01:1AaAa
Slate 8007.08:1AaAa
Slate 9008.64:1AaAa
Black10.16:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A1B5E4
deuteranopia · #A3B4E0
tritanopia · #B3B5BF

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. #baade2 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.

#F6F5FA
#EDEAF5
#D7D0EC
#baade2
#9683D3
#7459C4
#5D40B5
#4D3597
#3E2B79
#302258
#1E1537
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F5FADarkest = 950 · #1E1537Text 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 0.019 295.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 295.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.045 295.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.059 295.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.070 295.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.076 295.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.076 295.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.071 295.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.064 295.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.053 295.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.042 295.8);
}

Colors that work with #baade2

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#F6F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CCC3EA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5E4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9A9A32
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#30215E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFECF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A493D9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E78CF
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C4B7EC
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 #baade2

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 #30215E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9A87D5

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#D5E2AD
Analogous left#ADBAE2
Analogous right#D4ADE2
Split-complement 1#E2D4AD
Split-complement 2#BAE2AD
Triadic 1#E2BAAD
Triadic 2#ADE2BA
Tetradic#E2ADBA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°255°

#baade2 sits at 255°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green67.8%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.7%
Magenta23.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#baade2 text on a black background

contrast 10.16:1

Card sample

#baade2 text on a white background

contrast 2.07:1

Card sample

#baade2 on grey

1.89:1

#baade2 on its own surface

1.89:1

#baade2 on its dark surface

8.73:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #baade2;
Background color
Panel with #baade2 background
background-color: #baade2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #baade2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 173, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 173, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #baade2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #baade2, #DDADE2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #baade2, #E2ADD9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #baade2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #baade2;
caret-color: #baade2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #baade2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFECF8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #baade2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#baade2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #baade2 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(186, 173, 226, 0.5)
rgb(186 173 226 / 50%)
#baade280
hsl(255 48% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #baade2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#baade21a#F8F7FC
20%#baade233#F1EFF9
40%#baade266#E3DEF3
60%#baade299#D6CEEE
80%#baade2cc#C8BDE8

Gradients from #baade2

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, #E0DAF2, #baade2 45%, #30215E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #baade2, #DA96DA);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #baade2, #D5E2AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3F1FA 0%, #baade2 45%, #30215E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D3DCEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E3C3EA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #30215E 0%, transparent 65%), #baade2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #baade2

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.

#baade2 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 10.16:1.

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.

#baade2, answered

What color is #baade2?

#baade2 is a light vivid blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 10.6). It sits at 255° on the hue wheel with 48% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #baade2?

rgb(186, 173, 226) — 186 red, 173 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 67.8% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #baade2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(255, 48%, 78%) and hsv(255, 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 #baade2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4582 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.16:1.

Should I use black or white text on #baade2?

Black. It scores 10.16:1 against #baade2, versus 2.07:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #baade2 accessible on a white background?

#baade2 on white scores 2.07:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7E65C9 to reach 4.5:1, or #5F42B9 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #baade2?

#D5E2AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E2D4AD and #BAE2AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #baade2?

For interface work: #F6F4FA as the surface, #CCC3EA for borders, #5E4B9B for secondary text, #9A9A32 as an accent and #30215E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADBAE2 and #D4ADE2 stays calm, while #D5E2AD is the loudest partner.

What is #baade2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 24%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #baade2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDADE2; nudged cooler, #ACB3E3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #baade2?

The purple family — its 500 step is #a855f7, ΔE2000 23.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #baade2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #baade2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#baade2] or text-[#baade2], 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 #baade2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 173, 226, 0.5), or #baade280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDD6F1; over black, #5D5771.

Is #baade2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC99CC, ΔE2000 10.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #baade2 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 #baade2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0DAF2, #baade2 45%, #30215E). For more colour, a short hue run to #DA96DA keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #baade2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #baade2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.