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blue · cool

#cbddf5

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

Token name suggestion: Frost Cobalt

RGB
203, 221, 245
HSL
214°, 68%, 88%
CMYK
17, 10, 0, 4
Luminance
0.7100

#cbddf5 is a pale vivid blue, 214° on the wheel and 98/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.20:1). As text it scores 1.38:1 on white — use #2D75D6 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(214 68% 88%)rgb(203 221 245)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbddf5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbddf5
Hue
214°
blue
Saturation
68%
vivid
Lightness
88%
pale
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7100
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
15.20:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.1
Chroma
13.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.892
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 22.2
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue214° of 360°
Saturation68%
Lightness88%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbddf5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool98% 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
Red18%
Green73%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#cbddf5
HEX (8-digit)#cbddf5ff
RGBrgb(203, 221, 245)
RGBArgba(203, 221, 245, 1)
HSLhsl(214, 68%, 88%)
HSV / HSBhsv(214, 17%, 96%)
HWBhwb(214 80% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 10%, 0%, 4%)
LABlab(87.5 -1.1 -13.7)
LCHlch(87.5 13.8 265.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.892 0.038 255.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(66.96, 71.00, 96.55)
Decimal13360629
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.867 0.961)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbddf5;
background-color: #cbddf5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbddf5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbddf5] bg-[#cbddf5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbddf5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.867, blue: 0.961)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.867, blue: 0.961, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBDDF5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBDDF5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBDDF5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(245, 221, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 221, 245)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 221, 245)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 221, 245)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.8667f, 0.9608f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,221,245}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbddf5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbddf5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#153A6B, #D3DEEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbddf5 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: #F3F7FB;
  --brand-100: #E8EFF8;
  --brand-200: #cbddf5;
  --brand-300: #A1C1ED;
  --brand-400: #72A3E4;
  --brand-500: #4384DB;
  --brand-600: #286FCD;
  --brand-700: #215CAB;
  --brand-800: #1A4A89;
  --brand-900: #173863;
  --brand-950: #0E233E;
  --brand: #cbddf5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D3ED;
  --brand-hover: #ADC9EF;
  --brand-pressed: #8FB6E9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141B24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DEEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F7FB',
        100: '#E8EFF8',
        200: '#cbddf5',
        300: '#A1C1ED',
        400: '#72A3E4',
        500: '#4384DB',
        600: '#286FCD',
        700: '#215CAB',
        800: '#1A4A89',
        900: '#173863',
        950: '#0E233E',
        DEFAULT: '#cbddf5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F7FB,
  '100': #E8EFF8,
  '200': #cbddf5,
  '300': #A1C1ED,
  '400': #72A3E4,
  '500': #4384DB,
  '600': #286FCD,
  '700': #215CAB,
  '800': #1A4A89,
  '900': #173863,
  '950': #0E233E,
);
$brand-base: #cbddf5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8EFF8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cbddf5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A1C1ED", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#72A3E4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#4384DB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#286FCD", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#215CAB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1A4A89", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#173863", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E233E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbddf5 · 15.20:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.38:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.20:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbddf5 as text scores 1.38:1 on white and 15.20:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #153A6B at 8.22:1.

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
#2D75D6 · 4.54:1
AA on white−37% L
#2D75D6
The quick fox
#1F57A2 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−50% L
#1F57A2
The quick fox
#cbddf5 · 15.20:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbddf5
The quick fox
#cbddf5 · 15.20:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbddf5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6097E0 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
#cbddf5 on white: 1.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbddf5 on black: 15.20:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbddf5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbddf5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.38:1AaAa
Slate 501.32:1AaAa
Slate 1001.26:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.86:1AaAa
Slate 5003.44:1AaAa
Slate 6005.48:1AaAa
Slate 7007.50:1AaAa
Slate 80010.59:1AaAa
Slate 90012.92:1AaAa
Black15.20:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D5DEF6
deuteranopia · #D0D9F4
tritanopia · #C1E2E5

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. #cbddf5 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.

#F3F7FB
#E8EFF8
#cbddf5
#A1C1ED
#72A3E4
#4384DB
#286FCD
#215CAB
#1A4A89
#173863
#0E233E
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F3F7FBDarkest = 950 · #0E233EText 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 0.010 255.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 255.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 255.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 255.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 255.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.038 255.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.038 255.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 255.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 255.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 255.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 255.6);
}

Colors that work with #cbddf5

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D3ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B6D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#AE4C1E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#153A6B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAF1FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141B24
Dark-mode background
Hover#ADC9EF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8FB6E9
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAE8FA
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 #cbddf5

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 #153A6B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6097E0

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight12/100
  • 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#F5E3CB
Analogous left#CBF2F5
Analogous right#CECBF5
Split-complement 1#F5CECB
Split-complement 2#F2F5CB
Triadic 1#F5CBDD
Triadic 2#DDF5CB
Tetradic#F5CBF2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°214°

#cbddf5 sits at 214°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green86.7%
Blue96.1%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
221
0xdd
B · 0–255
245
0xf5

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.1%
Magenta9.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)3.9%

Total ink coverage is 31%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbddf5 text on a black background

contrast 15.20:1

Card sample

#cbddf5 text on a white background

contrast 1.38:1

Card sample

#cbddf5 on grey

1.26:1

#cbddf5 on its own surface

1.28:1

#cbddf5 on its dark surface

12.54:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbddf5;
Background color
Panel with #cbddf5 background
background-color: #cbddf5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbddf5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 221, 245, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 221, 245, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbddf5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbddf5, #D5CBF5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbddf5, #DFCBF5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbddf5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbddf5;
caret-color: #cbddf5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbddf5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAF1FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbddf5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbddf5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbddf5 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, 221, 245, 0.5)
rgb(203 221 245 / 50%)
#cbddf580
hsl(214 68% 88% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbddf5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbddf51a#FAFCFE
20%#cbddf533#F5F8FD
40%#cbddf566#EAF1FB
60%#cbddf599#E0EBF9
80%#cbddf5cc#D5E4F7

Gradients from #cbddf5

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, #EEF4FC, #cbddf5 45%, #153A6B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbddf5, #C5B1F0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbddf5, #F5E3CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2F7FD 0%, #cbddf5 45%, #153A6B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6FDFD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E8E4FA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #153A6B 0%, transparent 65%), #cbddf5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbddf5

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.

#cbddf5 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

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 15.20:1.

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.

#cbddf5, answered

What color is #cbddf5?

#cbddf5 is a pale vivid blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 214° on the hue wheel with 68% saturation and 88% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cbddf5?

rgb(203, 221, 245) — 203 red, 221 green and 245 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 86.7% / 96.1% by channel.

What is #cbddf5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(214, 68%, 88%) and hsv(214, 17%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbddf5 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7100 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.20:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbddf5?

Black. It scores 15.20:1 against #cbddf5, versus 1.38:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbddf5 accessible on a white background?

#cbddf5 on white scores 1.38:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #2D75D6 to reach 4.5:1, or #1F57A2 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbddf5?

#F5E3CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F5CECB and #F2F5CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbddf5?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D3ED for borders, #4B6D9B for secondary text, #AE4C1E as an accent and #153A6B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CBF2F5 and #CECBF5 stays calm, while #F5E3CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cbddf5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(17%, 10%, 0%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbddf5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 98 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBCDF5; nudged cooler, #B5D1F2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbddf5?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 22.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbddf5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbddf5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbddf5] or text-[#cbddf5], 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 #cbddf5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 221, 245, 0.5), or #cbddf580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5EEFA; over black, #666F7B.

Is #cbddf5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 10.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbddf5 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 #cbddf5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EEF4FC, #cbddf5 45%, #153A6B). For more colour, a short hue run to #C5B1F0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbddf5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbddf5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.