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blue · cool

#babcd7

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Harbour

RGB
186, 188, 215
HSL
236°, 27%, 79%
CMYK
14, 13, 0, 16
Luminance
0.5131

#babcd7 is a light soft blue, 236° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.26:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #6C71AA instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(236 27% 79%)rgb(186 188 215)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #babcd7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#babcd7
Hue
236°
blue
Saturation
27%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
84%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5131
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.26:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 7.8
Chroma
14.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.802
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 25.1
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue236° of 360°
Saturation27%
Lightness79%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #babcd7.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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
Red20%
Green70%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#babcd7
HEX (8-digit)#babcd7ff
RGBrgb(186, 188, 215)
RGBArgba(186, 188, 215, 1)
HSLhsl(236, 27%, 79%)
HSV / HSBhsv(236, 13%, 84%)
HWBhwb(236 73% 16%)
CMYKcmyk(14%, 13%, 0%, 16%)
LABlab(76.9 4.7 -13.7)
LCHlch(76.9 14.5 288.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.802 0.038 282.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.50, 51.31, 71.52)
Decimal12238039
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.737 0.843)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #babcd7;
background-color: #babcd7;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #babcd7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#babcd7] bg-[#babcd7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #babcd7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.737, blue: 0.843)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.737, blue: 0.843, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BABCD7</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBABCD7)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBABCD7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(215, 188, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 188, 215)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 188, 215)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 188, 215)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.7373f, 0.8431f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,188,215}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #babcd7 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #babcd7 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2F3151, #D8D9E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #babcd7 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEDF3;
  --brand-200: #D6D7E6;
  --brand-300: #babcd7;
  --brand-400: #9498C1;
  --brand-500: #7175AD;
  --brand-600: #5A5E9B;
  --brand-700: #4B4F81;
  --brand-800: #3C3F67;
  --brand-900: #2E304C;
  --brand-950: #1D1E30;
  --brand: #babcd7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F6F9;
  --brand-border: #CBCDE1;
  --brand-hover: #A3A6CA;
  --brand-pressed: #8D90BD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #151624;
    --brand-ink: #D8D9E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#EDEDF3',
        200: '#D6D7E6',
        300: '#babcd7',
        400: '#9498C1',
        500: '#7175AD',
        600: '#5A5E9B',
        700: '#4B4F81',
        800: '#3C3F67',
        900: '#2E304C',
        950: '#1D1E30',
        DEFAULT: '#babcd7',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #EDEDF3,
  '200': #D6D7E6,
  '300': #babcd7,
  '400': #9498C1,
  '500': #7175AD,
  '600': #5A5E9B,
  '700': #4B4F81,
  '800': #3C3F67,
  '900': #2E304C,
  '950': #1D1E30,
);
$brand-base: #babcd7;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEDF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6D7E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#babcd7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9498C1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7175AD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5A5E9B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4B4F81", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3C3F67", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2E304C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D1E30", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #babcd7 · 11.26:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.26:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #babcd7 as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.26:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2F3151 at 6.71:1.

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
#6C71AA · 4.59:1
AA on white−24% L
#6C71AA
The quick fox
#50548A · 7.06:1
AAA on white−36% L
#50548A
The quick fox
#babcd7 · 11.26:1
AA on blackalready passes
#babcd7
The quick fox
#babcd7 · 11.26:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#babcd7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8D90BD 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
#babcd7 on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#babcd7 on black: 11.26:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #babcd7 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #babcd7.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.78:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.26:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.55:1AaAa
Slate 6004.06:1AaAa
Slate 7005.55:1AaAa
Slate 8007.85:1AaAa
Slate 9009.57:1AaAa
Black11.26:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B5BFD8
deuteranopia · #B4BDD6
tritanopia · #B4C0C5

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. #babcd7 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.

#F6F6F9
#EDEDF3
#D6D7E6
#babcd7
#9498C1
#7175AD
#5A5E9B
#4B4F81
#3C3F67
#2E304C
#1D1E30
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1D1E30Text 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 0.009 282.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 282.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 282.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 282.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 282.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.038 282.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.038 282.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 282.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 282.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 282.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 282.1);
}

Colors that work with #babcd7

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#F5F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#CBCDE1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#545891
Captions on the surface
Accent#857047
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F3151
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEFF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151624
Dark-mode background
Hover#A3A6CA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8D90BD
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C2C5E3
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 #babcd7

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 #2F3151
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8D90BD

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
  • 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#D7D5BA
Analogous left#BACAD7
Analogous right#C6BAD7
Split-complement 1#D7C6BA
Split-complement 2#CAD7BA
Triadic 1#D7BABC
Triadic 2#BCD7BA
Tetradic#D7BACA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°236°

#babcd7 sits at 236°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green73.7%
Blue84.3%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
215
0xd7

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.5%
Magenta12.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.7%

Total ink coverage is 42%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#babcd7 text on a black background

contrast 11.26:1

Card sample

#babcd7 text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#babcd7 on grey

1.70:1

#babcd7 on its own surface

1.73:1

#babcd7 on its dark surface

9.61:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #babcd7;
Background color
Panel with #babcd7 background
background-color: #babcd7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #babcd7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 188, 215, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 188, 215, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #babcd7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #babcd7, #CBBAD7);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #babcd7, #D3BAD7);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #babcd7;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #babcd7;
caret-color: #babcd7;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #babcd7;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEFF6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #babcd7;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#babcd7 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #babcd7 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, 188, 215, 0.5)
rgb(186 188 215 / 50%)
#babcd780
hsl(236 27% 79% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #babcd7 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#babcd71a#F8F8FB
20%#babcd733#F1F2F7
40%#babcd766#E3E4EF
60%#babcd799#D6D7E7
80%#babcd7cc#C8C9DF

Gradients from #babcd7

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, #E1E2ED, #babcd7 45%, #2F3151);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #babcd7, #C0A7CC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #babcd7, #D7D5BA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F4F9 0%, #babcd7 45%, #2F3151 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DAE4EA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D8CDE2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2F3151 0%, transparent 65%), #babcd7;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #babcd7

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.

#babcd7 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 11.26:1.

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.

#babcd7, answered

What color is #babcd7?

#babcd7 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 7.8). It sits at 236° on the hue wheel with 27% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #babcd7?

rgb(186, 188, 215) — 186 red, 188 green and 215 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 73.7% / 84.3% by channel.

What is #babcd7 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(236, 27%, 79%) and hsv(236, 13%, 84%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #babcd7 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5131 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.26:1.

Should I use black or white text on #babcd7?

Black. It scores 11.26:1 against #babcd7, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #babcd7 accessible on a white background?

#babcd7 on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6C71AA to reach 4.5:1, or #50548A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #babcd7?

#D7D5BA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D7C6BA and #CAD7BA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #babcd7?

For interface work: #F5F6F9 as the surface, #CBCDE1 for borders, #545891 for secondary text, #857047 as an accent and #2F3151 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BACAD7 and #C6BAD7 stays calm, while #D7D5BA is the loudest partner.

What is #babcd7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(14%, 13%, 0%, 16%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #babcd7 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C3BAD7; nudged cooler, #B9C6D8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #babcd7?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 25.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #babcd7 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #babcd7 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#babcd7] or text-[#babcd7], 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 #babcd7 with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 188, 215, 0.5), or #babcd780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDDEEB; over black, #5D5E6C.

Is #babcd7 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 12 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #babcd7 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 #babcd7?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E1E2ED, #babcd7 45%, #2F3151). For more colour, a short hue run to #C0A7CC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #babcd7 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #babcd7 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.