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blue · cool

#bac5cd

a light, soft blue · cool · closest name: Silver

Token name suggestion: Linen Cobalt

RGB
186, 197, 205
HSL
205°, 16%, 77%
CMYK
9, 4, 0, 20
Luminance
0.5478

#bac5cd is a light soft blue, 205° on the wheel and 72/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.96:1). As text it scores 1.76:1 on white — use #627787 instead. Nearest name is Silver, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(205 16% 77%)rgb(186 197 205)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bac5cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bac5cd
Hue
205°
blue
Saturation
16%
soft
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5478
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
72/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.96:1
Closest name
Silver
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
5.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.817
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 19.9
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue205° of 360°
Saturation16%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bac5cd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool72% 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
Red19%
Green73%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#bac5cd
HEX (8-digit)#bac5cdff
RGBrgb(186, 197, 205)
RGBArgba(186, 197, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(205, 16%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(205, 9%, 80%)
HWBhwb(205 73% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(9%, 4%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(78.9 -2.2 -5.3)
LCHlch(78.9 5.7 247.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.817 0.017 239.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.23, 54.78, 65.62)
Decimal12240333
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.773 0.804)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bac5cd;
background-color: #bac5cd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bac5cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bac5cd] bg-[#bac5cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bac5cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.773, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.773, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BAC5CD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBAC5CD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBAC5CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 197, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 197, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 197, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 197, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.7725f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,197,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bac5cd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bac5cd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#36414A, #DCE1E5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bac5cd 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: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D9DFE3;
  --brand-300: #bac5cd;
  --brand-400: #9DADB8;
  --brand-500: #7D92A1;
  --brand-600: #677D8E;
  --brand-700: #566976;
  --brand-800: #45545F;
  --brand-900: #343F46;
  --brand-950: #21272C;
  --brand: #bac5cd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-border: #D0D7DD;
  --brand-hover: #A5B4BE;
  --brand-pressed: #91A2AF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181D21;
    --brand-ink: #DCE1E5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F8',
        100: '#EEF0F2',
        200: '#D9DFE3',
        300: '#bac5cd',
        400: '#9DADB8',
        500: '#7D92A1',
        600: '#677D8E',
        700: '#566976',
        800: '#45545F',
        900: '#343F46',
        950: '#21272C',
        DEFAULT: '#bac5cd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F8,
  '100': #EEF0F2,
  '200': #D9DFE3,
  '300': #bac5cd,
  '400': #9DADB8,
  '500': #7D92A1,
  '600': #677D8E,
  '700': #566976,
  '800': #45545F,
  '900': #343F46,
  '950': #21272C,
);
$brand-base: #bac5cd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9DFE3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bac5cd", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9DADB8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7D92A1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#677D8E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#566976", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#45545F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#343F46", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#21272C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bac5cd · 11.96:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.76:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.96:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bac5cd as text scores 1.76:1 on white and 11.96:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #36414A at 5.94:1.

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
#627787 · 4.66:1
AA on white−31% L
#627787
The quick fox
#4A5B67 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−42% L
#4A5B67
The quick fox
#bac5cd · 11.96:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bac5cd
The quick fox
#bac5cd · 11.96:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bac5cd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8296A4 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
#bac5cd on white: 1.76:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bac5cd on black: 11.96:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bac5cd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bac5cd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.76:1AaAa
Slate 501.68:1AaAa
Slate 1001.60:1AaAa
Slate 2001.42:1AaAa
Slate 3001.18:1AaAa
Slate 4001.46:1AaAa
Slate 5002.71:1AaAa
Slate 6004.31:1AaAa
Slate 7005.90:1AaAa
Slate 8008.33:1AaAa
Slate 90010.16:1AaAa
Black11.96:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C2C5CD
deuteranopia · #BFC2CD
tritanopia · #B5C7C7

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. #bac5cd 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.

#F6F7F8
#EEF0F2
#D9DFE3
#bac5cd
#9DADB8
#7D92A1
#677D8E
#566976
#45545F
#343F46
#21272C
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F8Darkest = 950 · #21272CText 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 0.004 239.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.007 239.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.010 239.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.013 239.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.015 239.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.017 239.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.017 239.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.016 239.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.014 239.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.012 239.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.009 239.2);
}

Colors that work with #bac5cd

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#F6F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#D0D7DD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#607685
Captions on the surface
Accent#7A5952
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#36414A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F3F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181D21
Dark-mode background
Hover#A5B4BE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#91A2AF
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C1D0DB
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 #bac5cd

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 #36414A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8296A4

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#CDC2BA
Analogous left#BACDCC
Analogous right#BABCCD
Split-complement 1#CDBABC
Split-complement 2#CDCCBA
Triadic 1#CDBAC5
Triadic 2#C5CDBA
Tetradic#CCBACD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°205°

#bac5cd sits at 205°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green77.3%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
197
0xc5
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan9.3%
Magenta3.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 33%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bac5cd text on a black background

contrast 11.96:1

Card sample

#bac5cd text on a white background

contrast 1.76:1

Card sample

#bac5cd on grey

1.60:1

#bac5cd on its own surface

1.65:1

#bac5cd on its dark surface

9.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bac5cd;
Background color
Panel with #bac5cd background
background-color: #bac5cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bac5cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 197, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 197, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bac5cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bac5cd, #BCBACD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bac5cd, #C1BACD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bac5cd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bac5cd;
caret-color: #bac5cd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bac5cd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F3F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bac5cd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bac5cd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bac5cd 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, 197, 205, 0.5)
rgb(186 197 205 / 50%)
#bac5cd80
hsl(205 16% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bac5cd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bac5cd1a#F8F9FA
20%#bac5cd33#F1F3F5
40%#bac5cd66#E3E8EB
60%#bac5cd99#D6DCE1
80%#bac5cdcc#C8D1D7

Gradients from #bac5cd

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, #DEE3E7, #bac5cd 45%, #36414A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bac5cd, #ACA8C0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bac5cd, #CDC2BA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EFF2F4 0%, #bac5cd 45%, #36414A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D8E3E1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CCCCDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #36414A 0%, transparent 65%), #bac5cd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bac5cd

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.

#bac5cd 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 11.96:1.

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.

#bac5cd, answered

What color is #bac5cd?

#bac5cd is a light soft blue, closest to Silver (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 205° on the hue wheel with 16% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bac5cd?

rgb(186, 197, 205) — 186 red, 197 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 77.3% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #bac5cd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(205, 16%, 77%) and hsv(205, 9%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bac5cd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5478 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.96:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bac5cd?

Black. It scores 11.96:1 against #bac5cd, versus 1.76:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bac5cd accessible on a white background?

#bac5cd on white scores 1.76:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #627787 to reach 4.5:1, or #4A5B67 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bac5cd?

#CDC2BA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CDBABC and #CDCCBA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bac5cd?

For interface work: #F6F8F9 as the surface, #D0D7DD for borders, #607685 for secondary text, #7A5952 as an accent and #36414A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BACDCC and #BABCCD stays calm, while #CDC2BA is the loudest partner.

What is #bac5cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(9%, 4%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bac5cd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 72 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BACCCD; nudged cooler, #AAB6C4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bac5cd?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 19.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bac5cd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bac5cd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bac5cd] or text-[#bac5cd], 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 #bac5cd with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 197, 205, 0.5), or #bac5cd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDE2E6; over black, #5D6367.

Is #bac5cd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 5.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bac5cd 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 #bac5cd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DEE3E7, #bac5cd 45%, #36414A). For more colour, a short hue run to #ACA8C0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bac5cd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bac5cd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.