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blue · cool

#bbcef3

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Denim

RGB
187, 206, 243
HSL
220°, 70%, 84%
CMYK
23, 15, 0, 5
Luminance
0.6118

#bbcef3 is a light vivid blue, 220° on the wheel and 95/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.24:1). As text it scores 1.59:1 on white — use #3970DC instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(220 70% 84%)rgb(187 206 243)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbcef3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbcef3
Hue
220°
blue
Saturation
70%
vivid
Lightness
84%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6118
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.24:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 4.6
Chroma
20.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.849
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 20.9
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue220° of 360°
Saturation70%
Lightness84%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbcef3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% 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
Red17%
Green72%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#bbcef3
HEX (8-digit)#bbcef3ff
RGBrgb(187, 206, 243)
RGBArgba(187, 206, 243, 1)
HSLhsl(220, 70%, 84%)
HSV / HSBhsv(220, 23%, 95%)
HWBhwb(220 73% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(23%, 15%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(82.5 1.4 -20.3)
LCHlch(82.5 20.4 274.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.849 0.056 263.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.74, 61.18, 93.49)
Decimal12308211
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.808 0.953)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbcef3;
background-color: #bbcef3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbcef3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbcef3] bg-[#bbcef3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbcef3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.808, blue: 0.953)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.808, blue: 0.953, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBCEF3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBCEF3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBCEF3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(243, 206, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 206, 243)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 206, 243)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 206, 243)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.8078f, 0.9529f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,206,243}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbcef3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbcef3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#13316C, #D3DCEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbcef3 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: #F3F6FC;
  --brand-100: #E7EDF8;
  --brand-200: #bbcef3;
  --brand-300: #A0BAEE;
  --brand-400: #7098E6;
  --brand-500: #4076DD;
  --brand-600: #255FD0;
  --brand-700: #1F4FAD;
  --brand-800: #183F8B;
  --brand-900: #163165;
  --brand-950: #0E1E3F;
  --brand: #bbcef3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C0CFED;
  --brand-hover: #9DB8EE;
  --brand-pressed: #7EA2E8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D3DCEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F6FC',
        100: '#E7EDF8',
        200: '#bbcef3',
        300: '#A0BAEE',
        400: '#7098E6',
        500: '#4076DD',
        600: '#255FD0',
        700: '#1F4FAD',
        800: '#183F8B',
        900: '#163165',
        950: '#0E1E3F',
        DEFAULT: '#bbcef3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F6FC,
  '100': #E7EDF8,
  '200': #bbcef3,
  '300': #A0BAEE,
  '400': #7098E6,
  '500': #4076DD,
  '600': #255FD0,
  '700': #1F4FAD,
  '800': #183F8B,
  '900': #163165,
  '950': #0E1E3F,
);
$brand-base: #bbcef3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F6FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7EDF8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#bbcef3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A0BAEE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7098E6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#4076DD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#255FD0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1F4FAD", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#183F8B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#163165", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E1E3F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbcef3 · 13.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbcef3 as text scores 1.59:1 on white and 13.24:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #13316C at 7.86:1.

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
#3970DC · 4.64:1
AA on white−30% L
#3970DC
The quick fox
#2052B3 · 7.19:1
AAA on white−43% L
#2052B3
The quick fox
#bbcef3 · 13.24:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbcef3
The quick fox
#bbcef3 · 13.24:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbcef3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6993E4 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
#bbcef3 on white: 1.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbcef3 on black: 13.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbcef3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbcef3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.59:1AaAa
Slate 501.52:1AaAa
Slate 1001.45:1AaAa
Slate 2001.29:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.62:1AaAa
Slate 5003.00:1AaAa
Slate 6004.78:1AaAa
Slate 7006.53:1AaAa
Slate 8009.22:1AaAa
Slate 90011.25:1AaAa
Black13.24:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C2D0F5
deuteranopia · #BDCBF2
tritanopia · #ADD5DA

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. #bbcef3 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.

#F3F6FC
#E7EDF8
#bbcef3
#A0BAEE
#7098E6
#4076DD
#255FD0
#1F4FAD
#183F8B
#163165
#0E1E3F
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F6FCDarkest = 950 · #0E1E3FText 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 0.014 263.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 263.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 263.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 263.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.051 263.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.056 263.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.056 263.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 263.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.047 263.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 263.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 263.7);
}

Colors that work with #bbcef3

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0CFED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B669B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B35919
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#13316C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9EFFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#9DB8EE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7EA2E8
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C9DAF9
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 #bbcef3

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 #13316C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6993E4

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
  • Weight16/100
  • 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#F3E0BB
Analogous left#BBEAF3
Analogous right#C4BBF3
Split-complement 1#F3C4BB
Split-complement 2#EAF3BB
Triadic 1#F3BBCE
Triadic 2#CEF3BB
Tetradic#F3BBEA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°220°

#bbcef3 sits at 220°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green80.8%
Blue95.3%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
206
0xce
B · 0–255
243
0xf3

CMYK percentages

Cyan23.0%
Magenta15.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.7%

Total ink coverage is 43%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbcef3 text on a black background

contrast 13.24:1

Card sample

#bbcef3 text on a white background

contrast 1.59:1

Card sample

#bbcef3 on grey

1.45:1

#bbcef3 on its own surface

1.47:1

#bbcef3 on its dark surface

11.08:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbcef3;
Background color
Panel with #bbcef3 background
background-color: #bbcef3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbcef3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 206, 243, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 206, 243, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbcef3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbcef3, #CDBBF3);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbcef3, #DBBBF3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbcef3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbcef3;
caret-color: #bbcef3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbcef3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9EFFB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbcef3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbcef3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbcef3 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, 206, 243, 0.5)
rgb(187 206 243 / 50%)
#bbcef380
hsl(220 70% 84% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbcef3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbcef31a#F8FAFE
20%#bbcef333#F1F5FD
40%#bbcef366#E4EBFA
60%#bbcef399#D6E2F8
80%#bbcef3cc#C9D8F5

Gradients from #bbcef3

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, #EEF3FC, #bbcef3 45%, #13316C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbcef3, #C1A1EE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbcef3, #F3E0BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F6FD 0%, #bbcef3 45%, #13316C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E6F9FB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #DDD5F8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #13316C 0%, transparent 65%), #bbcef3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbcef3

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.

#bbcef3 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 13.24:1.

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.

#bbcef3, answered

What color is #bbcef3?

#bbcef3 is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 4.6). It sits at 220° on the hue wheel with 70% saturation and 84% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bbcef3?

rgb(187, 206, 243) — 187 red, 206 green and 243 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 80.8% / 95.3% by channel.

What is #bbcef3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(220, 70%, 84%) and hsv(220, 23%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbcef3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6118 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbcef3?

Black. It scores 13.24:1 against #bbcef3, versus 1.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbcef3 accessible on a white background?

#bbcef3 on white scores 1.59:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3970DC to reach 4.5:1, or #2052B3 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbcef3?

#F3E0BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F3C4BB and #EAF3BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbcef3?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C0CFED for borders, #4B669B for secondary text, #B35919 as an accent and #13316C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BBEAF3 and #C4BBF3 stays calm, while #F3E0BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbcef3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(23%, 15%, 0%, 5%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbcef3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCBBF3; nudged cooler, #BAD4F4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbcef3?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 20.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbcef3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbcef3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbcef3] or text-[#bbcef3], 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 #bbcef3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 206, 243, 0.5), or #bbcef380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDE7F9; over black, #5E677A.

Is #bbcef3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 6.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbcef3 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 #bbcef3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF3FC, #bbcef3 45%, #13316C). For more colour, a short hue run to #C1A1EE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbcef3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbcef3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.