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blue · cool

#cbc9da

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Cobalt

RGB
203, 201, 218
HSL
247°, 19%, 82%
CMYK
7, 8, 0, 15
Luminance
0.5953

#cbc9da is a light soft blue, 247° on the wheel and 66/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.91:1). As text it scores 1.63:1 on white — use #77719E instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(247 19% 82%)rgb(203 201 218)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbc9da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbc9da
Hue
247°
blue
Saturation
19%
soft
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5953
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
66/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.91:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
9.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.843
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 28
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue247° of 360°
Saturation19%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbc9da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool66% 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%
Green70%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cbc9da
HEX (8-digit)#cbc9daff
RGBrgb(203, 201, 218)
RGBArgba(203, 201, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(247, 19%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(247, 8%, 85%)
HWBhwb(247 79% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 8%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(81.6 3.9 -8.2)
LCHlch(81.6 9.1 295.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.843 0.024 291.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.17, 59.53, 74.74)
Decimal13355482
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.788 0.855)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbc9da;
background-color: #cbc9da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbc9da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbc9da] bg-[#cbc9da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbc9da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.788, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.788, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBC9DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBC9DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBC9DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 201, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 201, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 201, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 201, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.7882f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,201,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbc9da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbc9da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#37344C, #DCDBE6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbc9da 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: #F6F6F8;
  --brand-100: #EEEDF2;
  --brand-200: #DAD8E3;
  --brand-300: #cbc9da;
  --brand-400: #9F9BBB;
  --brand-500: #7F7AA4;
  --brand-600: #696491;
  --brand-700: #575379;
  --brand-800: #464261;
  --brand-900: #353348;
  --brand-950: #21202D;
  --brand: #cbc9da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D0CFDE;
  --brand-hover: #B7B4CC;
  --brand-pressed: #A29FBD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181721;
    --brand-ink: #DCDBE6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F8',
        100: '#EEEDF2',
        200: '#DAD8E3',
        300: '#cbc9da',
        400: '#9F9BBB',
        500: '#7F7AA4',
        600: '#696491',
        700: '#575379',
        800: '#464261',
        900: '#353348',
        950: '#21202D',
        DEFAULT: '#cbc9da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F8,
  '100': #EEEDF2,
  '200': #DAD8E3,
  '300': #cbc9da,
  '400': #9F9BBB,
  '500': #7F7AA4,
  '600': #696491,
  '700': #575379,
  '800': #464261,
  '900': #353348,
  '950': #21202D,
);
$brand-base: #cbc9da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DAD8E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cbc9da", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9F9BBB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7F7AA4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#696491", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#575379", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#464261", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#353348", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#21202D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbc9da · 12.91:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.63:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.91:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbc9da as text scores 1.63:1 on white and 12.91:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #37344C at 7.34:1.

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
#77719E · 4.53:1
AA on white−29% L
#77719E
The quick fox
#58537A · 7.16:1
AAA on white−42% L
#58537A
The quick fox
#cbc9da · 12.91:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbc9da
The quick fox
#cbc9da · 12.91:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbc9da

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9490B3 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
#cbc9da on white: 1.63:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbc9da on black: 12.91:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbc9da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbc9da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.63:1AaAa
Slate 501.56:1AaAa
Slate 1001.49:1AaAa
Slate 2001.32:1AaAa
Slate 3001.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5002.92:1AaAa
Slate 6004.66:1AaAa
Slate 7006.36:1AaAa
Slate 8008.99:1AaAa
Slate 90010.97:1AaAa
Black12.91:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C6CBDB
deuteranopia · #C6CAD9
tritanopia · #C8CBCE

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. #cbc9da 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.

#F6F6F8
#EEEDF2
#DAD8E3
#cbc9da
#9F9BBB
#7F7AA4
#696491
#575379
#464261
#353348
#21202D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F8Darkest = 950 · #21202DText 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 0.006 291.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.009 291.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.014 291.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.018 291.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.022 291.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.024 291.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.024 291.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.022 291.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.020 291.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.016 291.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.013 291.3);
}

Colors that work with #cbc9da

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#F6F6F9
Tinted page background
Border#D0CFDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#625D88
Captions on the surface
Accent#7E774E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#37344C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F0F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181721
Dark-mode background
Hover#B7B4CC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A29FBD
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D4D2E6
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 #cbc9da

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 #37344C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9490B3

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
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#D8DAC9
Analogous left#C9D0DA
Analogous right#D4C9DA
Split-complement 1#DAD4C9
Split-complement 2#D0DAC9
Triadic 1#DACBC9
Triadic 2#C9DACB
Tetradic#DAC9D0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°247°

#cbc9da sits at 247°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green78.8%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
201
0xc9
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.9%
Magenta7.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 29%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbc9da text on a black background

contrast 12.91:1

Card sample

#cbc9da text on a white background

contrast 1.63:1

Card sample

#cbc9da on grey

1.49:1

#cbc9da on its own surface

1.51:1

#cbc9da on its dark surface

10.91:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbc9da;
Background color
Panel with #cbc9da background
background-color: #cbc9da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbc9da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 201, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 201, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbc9da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbc9da, #D6C9DA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbc9da, #DAC9DA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbc9da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbc9da;
caret-color: #cbc9da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbc9da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F0F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbc9da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbc9da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbc9da 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(203, 201, 218, 0.5)
rgb(203 201 218 / 50%)
#cbc9da80
hsl(247 19% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbc9da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbc9da1a#FAFAFB
20%#cbc9da33#F5F4F8
40%#cbc9da66#EAE9F0
60%#cbc9da99#E0DFE9
80%#cbc9dacc#D5D4E1

Gradients from #cbc9da

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, #EEEDF3, #cbc9da 45%, #37344C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbc9da, #CBB7CE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbc9da, #D8DAC9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F6F9 0%, #cbc9da 45%, #37344C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F6F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E7EBEF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E3DBE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #37344C 0%, transparent 65%), #cbc9da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbc9da

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.

#cbc9da 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 12.91:1.

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.

#cbc9da, answered

What color is #cbc9da?

#cbc9da is a light soft blue, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 247° on the hue wheel with 19% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cbc9da?

rgb(203, 201, 218) — 203 red, 201 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 78.8% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #cbc9da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(247, 19%, 82%) and hsv(247, 8%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbc9da a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5953 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 12.91:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbc9da?

Black. It scores 12.91:1 against #cbc9da, versus 1.63:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbc9da accessible on a white background?

#cbc9da on white scores 1.63:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #77719E to reach 4.5:1, or #58537A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbc9da?

#D8DAC9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DAD4C9 and #D0DAC9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbc9da?

For interface work: #F6F6F9 as the surface, #D0CFDE for borders, #625D88 for secondary text, #7E774E as an accent and #37344C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C9D0DA and #D4C9DA stays calm, while #D8DAC9 is the loudest partner.

What is #cbc9da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 8%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbc9da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 66 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D1C9DA; nudged cooler, #C8CDDB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbc9da?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 28 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbc9da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbc9da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbc9da] or text-[#cbc9da], 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 #cbc9da with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 201, 218, 0.5), or #cbc9da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5E4ED; over black, #66656D.

Is #cbc9da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 8.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbc9da 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 #cbc9da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEEDF3, #cbc9da 45%, #37344C). For more colour, a short hue run to #CBB7CE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbc9da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbc9da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.