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blue · cool

#bbc0fb

a pale, electric blue · cool · closest name: Light Steel Blue

Token name suggestion: Mist Harbour

RGB
187, 192, 251
HSL
235°, 89%, 86%
CMYK
26, 24, 0, 2
Luminance
0.5523

#bbc0fb is a pale electric blue, 235° on the wheel and 86/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.05:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #5662F5 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(235 89% 86%)rgb(187 192 251)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbc0fb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbc0fb
Hue
235°
blue
Saturation
89%
electric
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5523
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.05:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.5
Chroma
31.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.824
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 23
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue235° of 360°
Saturation89%
Lightness86%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbc0fb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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%
Green68%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#bbc0fb
HEX (8-digit)#bbc0fbff
RGBrgb(187, 192, 251)
RGBArgba(187, 192, 251, 1)
HSLhsl(235, 89%, 86%)
HSV / HSBhsv(235, 25%, 98%)
HWBhwb(235 73% 2%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 24%, 0%, 2%)
LABlab(79.2 10.8 -29.6)
LCHlch(79.2 31.5 290.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.824 0.083 280.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.75, 55.23, 98.92)
Decimal12304635
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.753 0.984)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbc0fb;
background-color: #bbc0fb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbc0fb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbc0fb] bg-[#bbc0fb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbc0fb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.753, blue: 0.984)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.753, blue: 0.984, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBC0FB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBC0FB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBC0FB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(251, 192, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 192, 251)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 192, 251)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 192, 251)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.7529f, 0.9843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,192,251}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbc0fb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbc0fb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#071078, #D3D5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbc0fb 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: #F2F3FD;
  --brand-100: #E5E7FB;
  --brand-200: #bbc0fb;
  --brand-300: #959DF9;
  --brand-400: #606CF6;
  --brand-500: #2B3BF3;
  --brand-600: #0E1FE7;
  --brand-700: #0B1AC1;
  --brand-800: #09149A;
  --brand-900: #0B136F;
  --brand-950: #070C46;
  --brand: #bbc0fb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C0C3ED;
  --brand-hover: #99A1F9;
  --brand-pressed: #7882F7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141524;
    --brand-ink: #D3D5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2F3FD',
        100: '#E5E7FB',
        200: '#bbc0fb',
        300: '#959DF9',
        400: '#606CF6',
        500: '#2B3BF3',
        600: '#0E1FE7',
        700: '#0B1AC1',
        800: '#09149A',
        900: '#0B136F',
        950: '#070C46',
        DEFAULT: '#bbc0fb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2F3FD,
  '100': #E5E7FB,
  '200': #bbc0fb,
  '300': #959DF9,
  '400': #606CF6,
  '500': #2B3BF3,
  '600': #0E1FE7,
  '700': #0B1AC1,
  '800': #09149A,
  '900': #0B136F,
  '950': #070C46,
);
$brand-base: #bbc0fb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2F3FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E5E7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#bbc0fb", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#959DF9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#606CF6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2B3BF3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0E1FE7", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0B1AC1", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#09149A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0B136F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#070C46", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbc0fb · 12.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbc0fb as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.05:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #071078 at 8.89:1.

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
#5662F5 · 4.71:1
AA on white−21% L
#5662F5
The quick fox
#2636F2 · 7.26:1
AAA on white−31% L
#2636F2
The quick fox
#bbc0fb · 12.05:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbc0fb
The quick fox
#bbc0fb · 12.05:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbc0fb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #818BF8 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
#bbc0fb on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbc0fb on black: 12.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbc0fb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbc0fb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.74:1AaAa
Slate 501.67:1AaAa
Slate 1001.59:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.47:1AaAa
Slate 5002.73:1AaAa
Slate 6004.35:1AaAa
Slate 7005.94:1AaAa
Slate 8008.39:1AaAa
Slate 90010.24:1AaAa
Black12.05:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0C6FE
deuteranopia · #ADC2F9
tritanopia · #ACCBD4

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. #bbc0fb is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2F3FD
#E5E7FB
#bbc0fb
#959DF9
#606CF6
#2B3BF3
#0E1FE7
#0B1AC1
#09149A
#0B136F
#070C46
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F2F3FDDarkest = 950 · #070C46Text 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 0.021 280.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 280.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.050 280.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.065 280.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.076 280.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.083 280.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.083 280.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.078 280.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.070 280.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.058 280.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.046 280.6);
}

Colors that work with #bbc0fb

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C3ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B519B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C48808
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#071078
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7E9FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141524
Dark-mode background
Hover#99A1F9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7882F7
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CCD0FF
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 #bbc0fb

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 #071078
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #818BF8

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight14/100
  • 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#FBF6BB
Analogous left#BBE0FB
Analogous right#D6BBFB
Split-complement 1#FBD6BB
Split-complement 2#E0FBBB
Triadic 1#FBBBC0
Triadic 2#C0FBBB
Tetradic#FBBBE0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°235°

#bbc0fb sits at 235°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green75.3%
Blue98.4%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
192
0xc0
B · 0–255
251
0xfb

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.5%
Magenta23.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.6%

Total ink coverage is 51%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbc0fb text on a black background

contrast 12.05:1

Card sample

#bbc0fb text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

#bbc0fb on grey

1.59:1

#bbc0fb on its own surface

1.60:1

#bbc0fb on its dark surface

10.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbc0fb;
Background color
Panel with #bbc0fb background
background-color: #bbc0fb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbc0fb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 192, 251, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 192, 251, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbc0fb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbc0fb, #E1BBFB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbc0fb, #F1BBFB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbc0fb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbc0fb;
caret-color: #bbc0fb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbc0fb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E7E9FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbc0fb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbc0fb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbc0fb 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(187, 192, 251, 0.5)
rgb(187 192 251 / 50%)
#bbc0fb80
hsl(235 89% 86% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbc0fb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbc0fb1a#F8F9FF
20%#bbc0fb33#F1F2FE
40%#bbc0fb66#E4E6FD
60%#bbc0fb99#D6D9FD
80%#bbc0fbcc#C9CDFC

Gradients from #bbc0fb

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, #ECEDFE, #bbc0fb 45%, #071078);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbc0fb, #DB9EF9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbc0fb, #FBF6BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F1F2FE 0%, #bbc0fb 45%, #071078 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EBF8FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EBD8FD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #071078 0%, transparent 65%), #bbc0fb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbc0fb

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.

#bbc0fb 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 12.05:1.

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.

#bbc0fb, answered

What color is #bbc0fb?

#bbc0fb is a pale electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.5). It sits at 235° on the hue wheel with 89% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bbc0fb?

rgb(187, 192, 251) — 187 red, 192 green and 251 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 75.3% / 98.4% by channel.

What is #bbc0fb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(235, 89%, 86%) and hsv(235, 25%, 98%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbc0fb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5523 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbc0fb?

Black. It scores 12.05:1 against #bbc0fb, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbc0fb accessible on a white background?

#bbc0fb on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5662F5 to reach 4.5:1, or #2636F2 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbc0fb?

#FBF6BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FBD6BB and #E0FBBB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbc0fb?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C0C3ED for borders, #4B519B for secondary text, #C48808 as an accent and #071078 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BBE0FB and #D6BBFB stays calm, while #FBF6BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbc0fb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 24%, 0%, 2%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #bbc0fb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CEBBFB; nudged cooler, #BAD3FC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbc0fb?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 23 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbc0fb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbc0fb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbc0fb] or text-[#bbc0fb], 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 #bbc0fb with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 192, 251, 0.5), or #bbc0fb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDE0FD; over black, #5E607E.

Is #bbc0fb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbc0fb 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 #bbc0fb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ECEDFE, #bbc0fb 45%, #071078). For more colour, a short hue run to #DB9EF9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbc0fb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbc0fb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.