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#bbc7d7

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

RGB
187, 199, 215
HSL
214°, 26%, 79%
CMYK
13, 7, 0, 16
Luminance
0.5632

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbc7d7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbc7d7
Hue
214°
blue
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
84%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5632
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
85/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.26:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 3.9
Where it sits
Hue214° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness79%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool85% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#bbc7d7
RGBrgb(187, 199, 215)
HSLhsl(214, 26%, 79%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 7%, 0%, 16%)
LABlab(79.8 -0.9 -9.4)
LCHlch(79.8 9.4 264.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.825 0.026 255.6)
Decimal12306391
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.780 0.843)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bbc7d7;
background-color: #bbc7d7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbc7d7] bg-[#bbc7d7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbc7d7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.780, blue: 0.843)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bbc7d7")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBC7D7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(215, 199, 187)

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 #bbc7d7 · 12.26:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.71:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.26:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbc7d7 as text scores 1.71:1 on white and 12.26:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bbc7d7 on white: 1.71:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbc7d7 on black: 12.26:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C2C7D8
deuteranopia · #BFC5D7
tritanopia · #B4CACC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bbc7d7 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.

#F6F7F9
#EDEFF3
#D6DDE5
#bbc7d7
#95A8C1
#728BAC
#5B769A
#4C6280
#3C4F67
#2F3B4C
#1D252F
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1D252F
:root {
  --brand-50: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEFF3;
  --brand-200: #D6DDE5;
  --brand-300: #bbc7d7;
  --brand-400: #95A8C1;
  --brand-500: #728BAC;
  --brand-600: #5B769A;
  --brand-700: #4C6280;
  --brand-800: #3C4F67;
  --brand-900: #2F3B4C;
  --brand-950: #1D252F;
  --brand: #bbc7d7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bbc7d7

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#F5F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CCD5E1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#556E90
Captions on the surface
Accent#845B48
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F3D50
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF2F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151B23
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #bbc7d7

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

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#D7CBBB
Analogous left#BBD5D7
Analogous right#BDBBD7
Split-complement 1#D7BDBB
Split-complement 2#D5D7BB
Triadic 1#D7BBC7
Triadic 2#C7D7BB
Tetradic#D7BBD5

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green78.0%
Blue84.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.0%
Magenta7.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.7%

Color previews

#bbc7d7 text on a black background

contrast 12.26:1

Card sample

#bbc7d7 text on a white background

contrast 1.71:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbc7d7;
Background color
Panel with #bbc7d7 background
background-color: #bbc7d7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbc7d7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 199, 215, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 199, 215, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbc7d7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbc7d7, #C2BBD7);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbc7d7

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#bbc7d7 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.

#bbc7d7, answered

What color is #bbc7d7?

#bbc7d7 is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 214° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bbc7d7?

rgb(187, 199, 215) — 187 red, 199 green and 215 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 78% / 84.3% by channel.

Is #bbc7d7 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5632 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.26:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbc7d7?

Black. It scores 12.26:1 against #bbc7d7, versus 1.71:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bbc7d7?

#D7CBBB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D7BDBB and #D5D7BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbc7d7?

For interface work: #F5F7F9 as the surface, #CCD5E1 for borders, #556E90 for secondary text, #845B48 as an accent and #2F3D50 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BBD5D7 and #BDBBD7 stays calm, while #D7CBBB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbc7d7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 7%, 0%, 16%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbc7d7 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 85 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BBBDD7; nudged cooler, #AABBCF.

Work with #bbc7d7 in the Color Lab