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blue · cool

#bfb6fd

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

Token name suggestion: Frost Denim

RGB
191, 182, 253
HSL
248°, 95%, 85%
CMYK
25, 28, 0, 1
Luminance
0.5162

#bfb6fd is a pale electric blue, 248° on the wheel and 79/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.32:1). As text it scores 1.85:1 on white — use #715DFB instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(248 95% 85%)rgb(191 182 253)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bfb6fd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bfb6fd
Hue
248°
blue
Saturation
95%
electric
Lightness
85%
pale
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5162
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
79/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.32:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
38.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.809
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 23.2
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue248° of 360°
Saturation95%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bfb6fd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool79% 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
Red21%
Green65%
Blue14%

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

Every format

HEX#bfb6fd
HEX (8-digit)#bfb6fdff
RGBrgb(191, 182, 253)
RGBArgba(191, 182, 253, 1)
HSLhsl(248, 95%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(248, 28%, 99%)
HWBhwb(248 71% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 28%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(77.0 17.9 -33.9)
LCHlch(77.0 38.4 297.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.809 0.100 289.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(55.94, 51.62, 99.93)
Decimal12564221
Display P3color(display-p3 0.749 0.714 0.992)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bfb6fd;
background-color: #bfb6fd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bfb6fd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bfb6fd] bg-[#bfb6fd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bfb6fd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.749, green: 0.714, blue: 0.992)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.749, green: 0.714, blue: 0.992, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BFB6FD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBFB6FD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBFB6FD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 182, 191)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(191, 182, 253)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(191, 182, 253)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 191, 182, 253)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7490f, 0.7137f, 0.9922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{191,182,253}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bfb6fd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bfb6fd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#13037C, #D6D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bfb6fd 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: #F3F1FD;
  --brand-100: #E7E4FB;
  --brand-200: #bfb6fd;
  --brand-300: #9F92FC;
  --brand-400: #6F5BFB;
  --brand-500: #3F25F9;
  --brand-600: #2406EE;
  --brand-700: #1E05C7;
  --brand-800: #18049F;
  --brand-900: #150873;
  --brand-950: #0D0548;
  --brand: #bfb6fd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C5C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #A193FC;
  --brand-pressed: #8271FB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161424;
    --brand-ink: #D6D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F1FD',
        100: '#E7E4FB',
        200: '#bfb6fd',
        300: '#9F92FC',
        400: '#6F5BFB',
        500: '#3F25F9',
        600: '#2406EE',
        700: '#1E05C7',
        800: '#18049F',
        900: '#150873',
        950: '#0D0548',
        DEFAULT: '#bfb6fd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F1FD,
  '100': #E7E4FB,
  '200': #bfb6fd,
  '300': #9F92FC,
  '400': #6F5BFB,
  '500': #3F25F9,
  '600': #2406EE,
  '700': #1E05C7,
  '800': #18049F,
  '900': #150873,
  '950': #0D0548,
);
$brand-base: #bfb6fd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F1FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7E4FB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#bfb6fd", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9F92FC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6F5BFB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3F25F9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2406EE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1E05C7", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#18049F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#150873", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0D0548", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bfb6fd · 11.32:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.85:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bfb6fd as text scores 1.85:1 on white and 11.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #13037C at 8.50:1.

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
#715DFB · 4.51:1
AA on white−18% L
#715DFB
The quick fox
#452BF9 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−28% L
#452BF9
The quick fox
#bfb6fd · 11.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bfb6fd
The quick fox
#bfb6fd · 11.32:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bfb6fd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9384FC 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
#bfb6fd on white: 1.85:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bfb6fd on black: 11.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bfb6fd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bfb6fd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.85:1AaAa
Slate 501.77:1AaAa
Slate 1001.69:1AaAa
Slate 2001.50:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.57:1AaAa
Slate 6004.09:1AaAa
Slate 7005.58:1AaAa
Slate 8007.89:1AaAa
Slate 9009.63:1AaAa
Black11.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A4C0FF
deuteranopia · #A4BDFB
tritanopia · #B2C2CF

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. #bfb6fd 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.

#F3F1FD
#E7E4FB
#bfb6fd
#9F92FC
#6F5BFB
#3F25F9
#2406EE
#1E05C7
#18049F
#150873
#0D0548
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F1FDDarkest = 950 · #0D0548Text step on white = 400
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 0.025 289.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.040 289.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.060 289.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.078 289.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.092 289.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.100 289.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.100 289.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.094 289.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.084 289.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.070 289.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.055 289.8);
}

Colors that work with #bfb6fd

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#C5C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#554B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CCB000
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#13037C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9E6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161424
Dark-mode background
Hover#A193FC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8271FB
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CFC8FF
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 #bfb6fd

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 #13037C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9384FC

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
  • Weight15/100
  • 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#F4FDB6
Analogous left#B6D1FD
Analogous right#E3B6FD
Split-complement 1#FDE3B6
Split-complement 2#D1FDB6
Triadic 1#FDBFB6
Triadic 2#B6FDBF
Tetradic#FDB6D1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°248°

#bfb6fd sits at 248°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.9%
Green71.4%
Blue99.2%
R · 0–255
191
0xbf
G · 0–255
182
0xb6
B · 0–255
253
0xfd

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.5%
Magenta28.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bfb6fd text on a black background

contrast 11.32:1

Card sample

#bfb6fd text on a white background

contrast 1.85:1

Card sample

#bfb6fd on grey

1.69:1

#bfb6fd on its own surface

1.70:1

#bfb6fd on its dark surface

9.77:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bfb6fd;
Background color
Panel with #bfb6fd background
background-color: #bfb6fd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bfb6fd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(191, 182, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(191, 182, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bfb6fd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bfb6fd, #EEB6FD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bfb6fd, #FDB6FA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bfb6fd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bfb6fd;
caret-color: #bfb6fd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bfb6fd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9E6FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bfb6fd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bfb6fd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bfb6fd 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(191, 182, 253, 0.5)
rgb(191 182 253 / 50%)
#bfb6fd80
hsl(248 95% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bfb6fd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bfb6fd1a#F9F8FF
20%#bfb6fd33#F2F0FF
40%#bfb6fd66#E5E2FE
60%#bfb6fd99#D9D3FE
80%#bfb6fdcc#CCC5FD

Gradients from #bfb6fd

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, #EEEBFE, #bfb6fd 45%, #13037C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bfb6fd, #F098FC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bfb6fd, #F4FDB6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F0FF 0%, #bfb6fd 45%, #13037C 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%, #E8F2FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F2D4FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #13037C 0%, transparent 65%), #bfb6fd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bfb6fd

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.

#bfb6fd 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 11.32:1.

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.

#bfb6fd, answered

What color is #bfb6fd?

#bfb6fd is a pale electric blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 248° on the hue wheel with 95% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #bfb6fd?

rgb(191, 182, 253) — 191 red, 182 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 74.9% / 71.4% / 99.2% by channel.

What is #bfb6fd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(248, 95%, 85%) and hsv(248, 28%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bfb6fd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5162 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bfb6fd?

Black. It scores 11.32:1 against #bfb6fd, versus 1.85:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bfb6fd accessible on a white background?

#bfb6fd on white scores 1.85:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #715DFB to reach 4.5:1, or #452BF9 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bfb6fd?

#F4FDB6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FDE3B6 and #D1FDB6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bfb6fd?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C5C0ED for borders, #554B9B for secondary text, #CCB000 as an accent and #13037C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6D1FD and #E3B6FD stays calm, while #F4FDB6 is the loudest partner.

What is #bfb6fd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 28%, 0%, 1%). 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 #bfb6fd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 79 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D9B6FD; nudged cooler, #B5C7FE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bfb6fd?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 23.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bfb6fd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bfb6fd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bfb6fd] or text-[#bfb6fd], 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 #bfb6fd with 50% opacity?

rgba(191, 182, 253, 0.5), or #bfb6fd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DFDBFE; over black, #605B7F.

Is #bfb6fd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 6.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bfb6fd 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 #bfb6fd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEEBFE, #bfb6fd 45%, #13037C). For more colour, a short hue run to #F098FC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bfb6fd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bfb6fd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.