Skip to content

#cdfbf9

a pale, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Light Cyan

RGB
205, 251, 249
HSL
177°, 85%, 89%
CMYK
18, 0, 1, 2
Luminance
0.8881

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdfbf9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdfbf9
Hue
177°
cyan
Saturation
85%
electric
Lightness
89%
pale
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
93%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8881
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
18.76:1
Closest name
Light Cyan
ΔE2000 4.3
Where it sits
Hue177° of 360°
Saturation85%
Lightness89%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#cdfbf9
RGBrgb(205, 251, 249)
HSLhsl(177, 85%, 89%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 0%, 1%, 2%)
LABlab(95.5 -15.0 -3.9)
LCHlch(95.5 15.5 194.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.956 0.047 193.1)
Decimal13499385
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.984 0.976)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cdfbf9;
background-color: #cdfbf9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdfbf9] bg-[#cdfbf9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdfbf9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.984, blue: 0.976)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cdfbf9")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDFBF9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(249, 251, 205)

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 #cdfbf9 · 18.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.12:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 18.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdfbf9 as text scores 1.12:1 on white and 18.76:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cdfbf9 on white: 1.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdfbf9 on black: 18.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #F5F6F9
deuteranopia · #ECEFFA
tritanopia · #BFFEFA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cdfbf9 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.

#F2FCFC
#E5FAF9
#cdfbf9
#97F7F3
#63F3EC
#2FEEE6
#12E3DA
#0FBDB5
#0C9791
#0D6D69
#084442
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F2FCFCDarkest = 950 · #084442
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FCFC;
  --brand-100: #E5FAF9;
  --brand-200: #cdfbf9;
  --brand-300: #97F7F3;
  --brand-400: #63F3EC;
  --brand-500: #2FEEE6;
  --brand-600: #12E3DA;
  --brand-700: #0FBDB5;
  --brand-800: #0C9791;
  --brand-900: #0D6D69;
  --brand-950: #084442;
  --brand: #cdfbf9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cdfbf9

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDEB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B97
Captions on the surface
Accent#C10B40
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#097671
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FDFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #cdfbf9

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#FBCDCF
Analogous left#CDFBE2
Analogous right#CDE6FB
Split-complement 1#FBCDE6
Split-complement 2#FBE2CD
Triadic 1#F9CDFB
Triadic 2#FBF9CD
Tetradic#E2CDFB

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green98.4%
Blue97.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.8%
Key (black)1.6%

Color previews

#cdfbf9 text on a black background

contrast 18.76:1

Card sample

#cdfbf9 text on a white background

contrast 1.12:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdfbf9;
Background color
Panel with #cdfbf9 background
background-color: #cdfbf9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdfbf9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 251, 249, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 251, 249, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdfbf9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdfbf9, #CDDEFB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdfbf9

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#cdfbf9 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#cdfbf9, answered

What color is #cdfbf9?

#cdfbf9 is a pale electric cyan, closest to Light Cyan (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 177° on the hue wheel with 85% saturation and 89% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #cdfbf9?

rgb(205, 251, 249) — 205 red, 251 green and 249 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 98.4% / 97.6% by channel.

Is #cdfbf9 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8881 and perceived brightness is 93%, so black text on it reaches 18.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdfbf9?

Black. It scores 18.76:1 against #cdfbf9, versus 1.12:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cdfbf9?

#FBCDCF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FBCDE6 and #FBE2CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdfbf9?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDEB for borders, #4B9B97 for secondary text, #C10B40 as an accent and #097671 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDFBE2 and #CDE6FB stays calm, while #FBCDCF is the loudest partner.

What is #cdfbf9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 0%, 1%, 2%). 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 #cdfbf9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDFBE8; nudged cooler, #CCECFC.

Work with #cdfbf9 in the Color Lab