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blue · cool

#bdb7df

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Sapphire

RGB
189, 183, 223
HSL
249°, 39%, 80%
CMYK
15, 18, 0, 13
Luminance
0.5001

#bdb7df is a light soft blue, 249° on the wheel and 78/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.00:1). As text it scores 1.91:1 on white — use #7669BD instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(249 39% 80%)rgb(189 183 223)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bdb7df is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bdb7df
Hue
249°
blue
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
80%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5001
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
78/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.00:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 8.6
Chroma
21.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.797
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 25.8
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue249° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness80%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bdb7df.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool78% 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
Red22%
Green68%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#bdb7df
HEX (8-digit)#bdb7dfff
RGBrgb(189, 183, 223)
RGBArgba(189, 183, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(249, 39%, 80%)
HSV / HSBhsv(249, 18%, 87%)
HWBhwb(249 72% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 18%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(76.1 10.0 -19.2)
LCHlch(76.1 21.7 297.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.797 0.056 291.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.24, 50.01, 76.75)
Decimal12433375
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.718 0.875)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bdb7df;
background-color: #bdb7df;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bdb7df;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bdb7df] bg-[#bdb7df]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bdb7df;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.718, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.741, green: 0.718, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BDB7DF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBDB7DF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDB7DF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 183, 189)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(189, 183, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(189, 183, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 189, 183, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7412f, 0.7176f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{189,183,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bdb7df 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bdb7df 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2F2758, #D8D5EC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bdb7df 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: #F6F5FA;
  --brand-100: #ECEBF4;
  --brand-200: #D6D3E9;
  --brand-300: #bdb7df;
  --brand-400: #948ACB;
  --brand-500: #7164BA;
  --brand-600: #594BAA;
  --brand-700: #4B3F8D;
  --brand-800: #3C3271;
  --brand-900: #2E2853;
  --brand-950: #1D1934;
  --brand: #bdb7df;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #CBC6E6;
  --brand-hover: #A69ED4;
  --brand-pressed: #9086C9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161424;
    --brand-ink: #D8D5EC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F5FA',
        100: '#ECEBF4',
        200: '#D6D3E9',
        300: '#bdb7df',
        400: '#948ACB',
        500: '#7164BA',
        600: '#594BAA',
        700: '#4B3F8D',
        800: '#3C3271',
        900: '#2E2853',
        950: '#1D1934',
        DEFAULT: '#bdb7df',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F5FA,
  '100': #ECEBF4,
  '200': #D6D3E9,
  '300': #bdb7df,
  '400': #948ACB,
  '500': #7164BA,
  '600': #594BAA,
  '700': #4B3F8D,
  '800': #3C3271,
  '900': #2E2853,
  '950': #1D1934,
);
$brand-base: #bdb7df;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6D3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bdb7df", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#948ACB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7164BA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#594BAA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4B3F8D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3C3271", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2E2853", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D1934", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bdb7df · 11.00:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.91:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.00:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bdb7df as text scores 1.91:1 on white and 11.00:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2F2758 at 7.09:1.

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
#7669BD · 4.64:1
AA on white−22% L
#7669BD
The quick fox
#594BA8 · 7.01:1
AAA on white−32% L
#594BA8
The quick fox
#bdb7df · 11.00:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bdb7df
The quick fox
#bdb7df · 11.00:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bdb7df

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #968DCC 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
#bdb7df on white: 1.91:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bdb7df on black: 11.00:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bdb7df as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bdb7df.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.91:1AaAa
Slate 501.82:1AaAa
Slate 1001.74:1AaAa
Slate 2001.55:1AaAa
Slate 3001.29:1AaAa
Slate 4001.34:1AaAa
Slate 5002.49:1AaAa
Slate 6003.97:1AaAa
Slate 7005.43:1AaAa
Slate 8007.66:1AaAa
Slate 9009.35:1AaAa
Black11.00:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AEBCE1
deuteranopia · #AFBBDE
tritanopia · #B6BDC4

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. #bdb7df 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.

#F6F5FA
#ECEBF4
#D6D3E9
#bdb7df
#948ACB
#7164BA
#594BAA
#4B3F8D
#3C3271
#2E2853
#1D1934
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F5FADarkest = 950 · #1D1934Text 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 0.014 291.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 291.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 291.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 291.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 291.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.056 291.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.056 291.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.053 291.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.047 291.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 291.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 291.9);
}

Colors that work with #bdb7df

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#F5F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBC6E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#574B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#91893B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F2758
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFEDF7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A69ED4
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9086C9
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C7C1E9
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 #bdb7df

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 #2F2758
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #968DCC

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
  • Weight20/100
  • 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#D9DFB7
Analogous left#B7C5DF
Analogous right#D1B7DF
Split-complement 1#DFD1B7
Split-complement 2#C5DFB7
Triadic 1#DFBDB7
Triadic 2#B7DFBD
Tetradic#DFB7C5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°249°

#bdb7df sits at 249°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green71.8%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
189
0xbd
G · 0–255
183
0xb7
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.2%
Magenta17.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 46%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bdb7df text on a black background

contrast 11.00:1

Card sample

#bdb7df text on a white background

contrast 1.91:1

Card sample

#bdb7df on grey

1.74:1

#bdb7df on its own surface

1.75:1

#bdb7df on its dark surface

9.49:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bdb7df;
Background color
Panel with #bdb7df background
background-color: #bdb7df;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bdb7df;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 183, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 183, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bdb7df;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bdb7df, #D8B7DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdb7df, #DFB7DC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bdb7df;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bdb7df;
caret-color: #bdb7df;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bdb7df;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFEDF7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bdb7df;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bdb7df 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bdb7df 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(189, 183, 223, 0.5)
rgb(189 183 223 / 50%)
#bdb7df80
hsl(249 39% 80% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bdb7df 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bdb7df1a#F8F8FC
20%#bdb7df33#F2F1F9
40%#bdb7df66#E5E2F2
60%#bdb7df99#D7D4EC
80%#bdb7dfcc#CAC5E5

Gradients from #bdb7df

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, #E4E1F2, #bdb7df 45%, #2F2758);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bdb7df, #D0A2D6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdb7df, #D9DFB7);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F4FA 0%, #bdb7df 45%, #2F2758 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F4FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DAE3EF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E1CCE8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2F2758 0%, transparent 65%), #bdb7df;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bdb7df

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.

#bdb7df 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 11.00:1.

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.

#bdb7df, answered

What color is #bdb7df?

#bdb7df is a light soft blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 249° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bdb7df?

rgb(189, 183, 223) — 189 red, 183 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 71.8% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #bdb7df in HSL and HSV?

hsl(249, 39%, 80%) and hsv(249, 18%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bdb7df a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5001 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.00:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bdb7df?

Black. It scores 11.00:1 against #bdb7df, versus 1.91:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bdb7df accessible on a white background?

#bdb7df on white scores 1.91:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7669BD to reach 4.5:1, or #594BA8 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bdb7df?

#D9DFB7 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DFD1B7 and #C5DFB7, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bdb7df?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #CBC6E6 for borders, #574B9B for secondary text, #91893B as an accent and #2F2758 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B7C5DF and #D1B7DF stays calm, while #D9DFB7 is the loudest partner.

What is #bdb7df in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 18%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bdb7df warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 78 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CCB7DF; nudged cooler, #B6BFE0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bdb7df?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 25.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bdb7df as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bdb7df in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bdb7df] or text-[#bdb7df], 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 #bdb7df with 50% opacity?

rgba(189, 183, 223, 0.5), or #bdb7df80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEDBEF; over black, #5F5C70.

Is #bdb7df a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 16.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bdb7df 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 #bdb7df?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E4E1F2, #bdb7df 45%, #2F2758). For more colour, a short hue run to #D0A2D6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bdb7df in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bdb7df at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.