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blue · cool

#cdc6ec

a pale, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Whisper Denim

RGB
205, 198, 236
HSL
251°, 50%, 85%
CMYK
13, 16, 0, 8
Luminance
0.5942

#cdc6ec is a pale vivid blue, 251° on the wheel and 77/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.88:1). As text it scores 1.63:1 on white — use #7966CC instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(251 50% 85%)rgb(205 198 236)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdc6ec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdc6ec
Hue
251°
blue
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
85%
pale
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5942
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
77/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.88:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 7.5
Chroma
20.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.844
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 29
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue251° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdc6ec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool77% 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%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#cdc6ec
HEX (8-digit)#cdc6ecff
RGBrgb(205, 198, 236)
RGBArgba(205, 198, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(251, 50%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(251, 16%, 93%)
HWBhwb(251 78% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 16%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(81.5 9.8 -17.9)
LCHlch(81.5 20.4 298.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.844 0.053 293.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(60.51, 59.42, 87.62)
Decimal13485804
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.776 0.925)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdc6ec;
background-color: #cdc6ec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdc6ec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdc6ec] bg-[#cdc6ec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdc6ec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.776, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.776, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDC6EC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDC6EC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDC6EC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 198, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 198, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 198, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 198, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.7765f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,198,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdc6ec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdc6ec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2C2060, #D8D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdc6ec 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: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-100: #ECEAF6;
  --brand-200: #cdc6ec;
  --brand-300: #B5ABE3;
  --brand-400: #9081D5;
  --brand-500: #6B57C7;
  --brand-600: #543DB8;
  --brand-700: #463399;
  --brand-800: #38297A;
  --brand-900: #2B2159;
  --brand-950: #1B1538;
  --brand: #cdc6ec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C9C2EB;
  --brand-hover: #B6ABE3;
  --brand-pressed: #9E90DA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171424;
    --brand-ink: #D8D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F4FA',
        100: '#ECEAF6',
        200: '#cdc6ec',
        300: '#B5ABE3',
        400: '#9081D5',
        500: '#6B57C7',
        600: '#543DB8',
        700: '#463399',
        800: '#38297A',
        900: '#2B2159',
        950: '#1B1538',
        DEFAULT: '#cdc6ec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F4FA,
  '100': #ECEAF6,
  '200': #cdc6ec,
  '300': #B5ABE3,
  '400': #9081D5,
  '500': #6B57C7,
  '600': #543DB8,
  '700': #463399,
  '800': #38297A,
  '900': #2B2159,
  '950': #1B1538,
);
$brand-base: #cdc6ec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F4FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEAF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#cdc6ec", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B5ABE3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9081D5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6B57C7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#543DB8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#463399", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#38297A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2B2159", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B1538", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdc6ec · 12.88:1
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 · 12.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdc6ec as text scores 1.63:1 on white and 12.88:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2C2060 at 8.69:1.

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
#7966CC · 4.58:1
AA on white−25% L
#7966CC
The quick fox
#5840BF · 7.24:1
AAA on white−35% L
#5840BF
The quick fox
#cdc6ec · 12.88:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdc6ec
The quick fox
#cdc6ec · 12.88:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdc6ec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9789D8 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
#cdc6ec on white: 1.63:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdc6ec on black: 12.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdc6ec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdc6ec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.63:1AaAa
Slate 501.56:1AaAa
Slate 1001.49:1AaAa
Slate 2001.32:1AaAa
Slate 3001.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.57:1AaAa
Slate 5002.92:1AaAa
Slate 6004.65:1AaAa
Slate 7006.35:1AaAa
Slate 8008.98:1AaAa
Slate 90010.95:1AaAa
Black12.88:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BECBEE
deuteranopia · #BFCAEB
tritanopia · #C7CCD3

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. #cdc6ec 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.

#F5F4FA
#ECEAF6
#cdc6ec
#B5ABE3
#9081D5
#6B57C7
#543DB8
#463399
#38297A
#2B2159
#1B1538
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F5F4FADarkest = 950 · #1B1538Text 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 0.013 293.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.021 293.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.032 293.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.041 293.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.049 293.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.053 293.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.053 293.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.050 293.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.044 293.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.037 293.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.029 293.7);
}

Colors that work with #cdc6ec

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#C9C2EB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#594B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9E962E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C2060
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEECF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171424
Dark-mode background
Hover#B6ABE3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9E90DA
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9D3F4
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 #cdc6ec

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 #2C2060
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9789D8

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
  • 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#E5ECC6
Analogous left#C6D2EC
Analogous right#E0C6EC
Split-complement 1#ECE0C6
Split-complement 2#D2ECC6
Triadic 1#ECCDC6
Triadic 2#C6ECCD
Tetradic#ECC6D2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°251°

#cdc6ec sits at 251°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green77.6%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
198
0xc6
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.1%
Magenta16.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdc6ec text on a black background

contrast 12.88:1

Card sample

#cdc6ec text on a white background

contrast 1.63:1

Card sample

#cdc6ec on grey

1.49:1

#cdc6ec on its own surface

1.49:1

#cdc6ec on its dark surface

11.09:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdc6ec;
Background color
Panel with #cdc6ec background
background-color: #cdc6ec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdc6ec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 198, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 198, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdc6ec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdc6ec, #E6C6EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdc6ec, #ECC6E8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdc6ec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdc6ec;
caret-color: #cdc6ec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdc6ec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEECF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdc6ec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdc6ec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdc6ec 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(205, 198, 236, 0.5)
rgb(205 198 236 / 50%)
#cdc6ec80
hsl(251 50% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdc6ec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdc6ec1a#FAF9FD
20%#cdc6ec33#F5F4FB
40%#cdc6ec66#EBE8F7
60%#cdc6ec99#E1DDF4
80%#cdc6eccc#D7D1F0

Gradients from #cdc6ec

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, #F2F0FA, #cdc6ec 45%, #2C2060);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdc6ec, #E1AFE4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdc6ec, #E5ECC6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F4FB 0%, #cdc6ec 45%, #2C2060 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%, #ECF1F9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EEDDF4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C2060 0%, transparent 65%), #cdc6ec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdc6ec

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.

#cdc6ec 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 12.88:1.

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.

#cdc6ec, answered

What color is #cdc6ec?

#cdc6ec is a pale vivid blue, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 251° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdc6ec?

rgb(205, 198, 236) — 205 red, 198 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 77.6% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #cdc6ec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(251, 50%, 85%) and hsv(251, 16%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdc6ec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5942 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 12.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdc6ec?

Black. It scores 12.88:1 against #cdc6ec, versus 1.63:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdc6ec accessible on a white background?

#cdc6ec on white scores 1.63:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7966CC to reach 4.5:1, or #5840BF for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdc6ec?

#E5ECC6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECE0C6 and #D2ECC6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdc6ec?

For interface work: #F5F4FA as the surface, #C9C2EB for borders, #594B9B for secondary text, #9E962E as an accent and #2C2060 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C6D2EC and #E0C6EC stays calm, while #E5ECC6 is the loudest partner.

What is #cdc6ec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 16%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdc6ec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 77 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DBC6EC; nudged cooler, #C5CCED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdc6ec?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 29 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdc6ec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdc6ec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdc6ec] or text-[#cdc6ec], 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 #cdc6ec with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 198, 236, 0.5), or #cdc6ec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6E3F6; over black, #676376.

Is #cdc6ec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdc6ec 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 #cdc6ec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2F0FA, #cdc6ec 45%, #2C2060). For more colour, a short hue run to #E1AFE4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdc6ec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdc6ec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.