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blue · cool

#ccc9dc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cobalt

RGB
204, 201, 220
HSL
250°, 21%, 83%
CMYK
7, 9, 0, 14
Luminance
0.5978

#ccc9dc is a light soft blue, 250° on the wheel and 67/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.96:1). As text it scores 1.62:1 on white — use #776FA2 instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(250 21% 83%)rgb(204 201 220)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ccc9dc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ccc9dc
Hue
250°
blue
Saturation
21%
soft
Lightness
83%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5978
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
67/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.96:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
10.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.844
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 28.2
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue250° of 360°
Saturation21%
Lightness83%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ccc9dc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool67% 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#ccc9dc
HEX (8-digit)#ccc9dcff
RGBrgb(204, 201, 220)
RGBArgba(204, 201, 220, 1)
HSLhsl(250, 21%, 83%)
HSV / HSBhsv(249, 9%, 86%)
HWBhwb(250 79% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 9%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(81.7 4.6 -9.0)
LCHlch(81.7 10.2 297.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.844 0.026 293.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.70, 59.78, 76.14)
Decimal13421020
Display P3color(display-p3 0.800 0.788 0.863)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ccc9dc;
background-color: #ccc9dc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ccc9dc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ccc9dc] bg-[#ccc9dc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ccc9dc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.800, green: 0.788, blue: 0.863)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.800, green: 0.788, blue: 0.863, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CCC9DC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCCC9DC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCCC9DC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(220, 201, 204)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(204, 201, 220)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(204, 201, 220)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 204, 201, 220)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8000f, 0.7882f, 0.8627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{204,201,220}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ccc9dc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ccc9dc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#36324D, #DCDAE7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ccc9dc 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: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EEEDF2;
  --brand-200: #ccc9dc;
  --brand-300: #BFBBD3;
  --brand-400: #9F99BD;
  --brand-500: #7E77A7;
  --brand-600: #696094;
  --brand-700: #57507C;
  --brand-800: #464063;
  --brand-900: #353149;
  --brand-950: #211F2E;
  --brand: #ccc9dc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F6F9;
  --brand-border: #D0CEDF;
  --brand-hover: #B7B3CE;
  --brand-pressed: #A39EC0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181622;
    --brand-ink: #DCDAE7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F6F9',
        100: '#EEEDF2',
        200: '#ccc9dc',
        300: '#BFBBD3',
        400: '#9F99BD',
        500: '#7E77A7',
        600: '#696094',
        700: '#57507C',
        800: '#464063',
        900: '#353149',
        950: '#211F2E',
        DEFAULT: '#ccc9dc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F6F9,
  '100': #EEEDF2,
  '200': #ccc9dc,
  '300': #BFBBD3,
  '400': #9F99BD,
  '500': #7E77A7,
  '600': #696094,
  '700': #57507C,
  '800': #464063,
  '900': #353149,
  '950': #211F2E,
);
$brand-base: #ccc9dc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ccc9dc", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BFBBD3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9F99BD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7E77A7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#696094", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#57507C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#464063", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#353149", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#211F2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ccc9dc · 12.96:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.62:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.96:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ccc9dc as text scores 1.62:1 on white and 12.96:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #36324D at 7.53:1.

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
#776FA2 · 4.59:1
AA on white−29% L
#776FA2
The quick fox
#5A5380 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−41% L
#5A5380
The quick fox
#ccc9dc · 12.96:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ccc9dc
The quick fox
#ccc9dc · 12.96:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ccc9dc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #948EB6 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
#ccc9dc on white: 1.62:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ccc9dc on black: 12.96:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ccc9dc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ccc9dc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.62:1AaAa
Slate 501.55:1AaAa
Slate 1001.48:1AaAa
Slate 2001.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5002.94:1AaAa
Slate 6004.67:1AaAa
Slate 7006.39:1AaAa
Slate 8009.02:1AaAa
Slate 90011.01:1AaAa
Black12.96:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C5CBDD
deuteranopia · #C5CBDB
tritanopia · #C9CCCF

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. #ccc9dc 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.

#F6F6F9
#EEEDF2
#ccc9dc
#BFBBD3
#9F99BD
#7E77A7
#696094
#57507C
#464063
#353149
#211F2E
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F6F9Darkest = 950 · #211F2EText 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 0.007 293.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.011 293.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 293.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.021 293.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.024 293.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.026 293.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.026 293.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.025 293.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.022 293.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 293.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.015 293.1);
}

Colors that work with #ccc9dc

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#D0CEDF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#625A8B
Captions on the surface
Accent#807C4C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#36324D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F0F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181622
Dark-mode background
Hover#B7B3CE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A39EC0
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D5D2E7
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 #ccc9dc

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 #36324D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #948EB6

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#D9DCC9
Analogous left#C9CFDC
Analogous right#D5C9DC
Split-complement 1#DCD5C9
Split-complement 2#CFDCC9
Triadic 1#DCCCC9
Triadic 2#C9DCCC
Tetradic#DCC9CF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°250°

#ccc9dc sits at 250°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.0%
Green78.8%
Blue86.3%
R · 0–255
204
0xcc
G · 0–255
201
0xc9
B · 0–255
220
0xdc

CMYK percentages

Cyan7.3%
Magenta8.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 30%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ccc9dc text on a black background

contrast 12.96:1

Card sample

#ccc9dc text on a white background

contrast 1.62:1

Card sample

#ccc9dc on grey

1.48:1

#ccc9dc on its own surface

1.50:1

#ccc9dc on its dark surface

11.01:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ccc9dc;
Background color
Panel with #ccc9dc background
background-color: #ccc9dc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ccc9dc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(204, 201, 220, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(204, 201, 220, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ccc9dc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ccc9dc, #D9C9DC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ccc9dc, #DCC9DA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ccc9dc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ccc9dc;
caret-color: #ccc9dc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ccc9dc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F0F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ccc9dc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ccc9dc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ccc9dc 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(204, 201, 220, 0.5)
rgb(204 201 220 / 50%)
#ccc9dc80
hsl(250 21% 83% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ccc9dc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ccc9dc1a#FAFAFC
20%#ccc9dc33#F5F4F8
40%#ccc9dc66#EBE9F1
60%#ccc9dc99#E0DFEA
80%#ccc9dccc#D6D4E3

Gradients from #ccc9dc

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, #EFEEF4, #ccc9dc 45%, #36324D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ccc9dc, #CDB6D0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ccc9dc, #D9DCC9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F6F9 0%, #ccc9dc 45%, #36324D 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%, #E8EBF0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5DBE8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #36324D 0%, transparent 65%), #ccc9dc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ccc9dc

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.

#ccc9dc 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 12.96:1.

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.

#ccc9dc, answered

What color is #ccc9dc?

#ccc9dc is a light soft blue, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 250° on the hue wheel with 21% saturation and 83% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #ccc9dc?

rgb(204, 201, 220) — 204 red, 201 green and 220 blue out of 255, or 80% / 78.8% / 86.3% by channel.

What is #ccc9dc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(250, 21%, 83%) and hsv(249, 9%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ccc9dc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5978 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 12.96:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ccc9dc?

Black. It scores 12.96:1 against #ccc9dc, versus 1.62:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ccc9dc accessible on a white background?

#ccc9dc on white scores 1.62:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #776FA2 to reach 4.5:1, or #5A5380 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ccc9dc?

#D9DCC9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCD5C9 and #CFDCC9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ccc9dc?

For interface work: #F6F6F9 as the surface, #D0CEDF for borders, #625A8B for secondary text, #807C4C as an accent and #36324D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C9CFDC and #D5C9DC stays calm, while #D9DCC9 is the loudest partner.

What is #ccc9dc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 9%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ccc9dc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 67 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D3C9DC; nudged cooler, #C8CCDD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ccc9dc?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 28.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ccc9dc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ccc9dc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ccc9dc] or text-[#ccc9dc], 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 #ccc9dc with 50% opacity?

rgba(204, 201, 220, 0.5), or #ccc9dc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6E4EE; over black, #66656E.

Is #ccc9dc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 9.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ccc9dc 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 #ccc9dc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFEEF4, #ccc9dc 45%, #36324D). For more colour, a short hue run to #CDB6D0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ccc9dc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ccc9dc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.