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blue · cool

#d4dbec

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

Token name suggestion: Whisper Sapphire

RGB
212, 219, 236
HSL
223°, 39%, 88%
CMYK
10, 7, 0, 8
Luminance
0.7072

#d4dbec is a pale soft blue, 223° on the wheel and 93/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.14:1). As text it scores 1.39:1 on white — use #5873B5 instead. Nearest name is Lavender, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(223 39% 88%)rgb(212 219 236)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #d4dbec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#d4dbec
Hue
223°
blue
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
88%
pale
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7072
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
15.14:1
Closest name
Lavender
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
9.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.891
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 25.5
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue223° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness88%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #d4dbec.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% 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
Red20%
Green72%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#d4dbec
HEX (8-digit)#d4dbecff
RGBrgb(212, 219, 236)
RGBArgba(212, 219, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(223, 39%, 88%)
HSV / HSBhsv(223, 10%, 93%)
HWBhwb(223 83% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(10%, 7%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(87.3 0.9 -9.1)
LCHlch(87.3 9.2 275.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.891 0.025 267.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(67.62, 70.72, 89.43)
Decimal13949932
Display P3color(display-p3 0.831 0.859 0.925)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #d4dbec;
background-color: #d4dbec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #d4dbec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#d4dbec] bg-[#d4dbec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #d4dbec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.831, green: 0.859, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.831, green: 0.859, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#D4DBEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFD4DBEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFD4DBEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 219, 212)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(212, 219, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(212, 219, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 212, 219, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8314f, 0.8588f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{212,219,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #d4dbec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #d4dbec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#273558, #D5DBEC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #d4dbec 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: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-100: #EBEEF4;
  --brand-200: #d4dbec;
  --brand-300: #B1BEDD;
  --brand-400: #8A9DCB;
  --brand-500: #637DBA;
  --brand-600: #4B67AA;
  --brand-700: #3F568D;
  --brand-800: #324471;
  --brand-900: #273453;
  --brand-950: #192134;
  --brand: #d4dbec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C6D0E6;
  --brand-hover: #BBC6E1;
  --brand-pressed: #A2B1D6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D5DBEC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F6FA',
        100: '#EBEEF4',
        200: '#d4dbec',
        300: '#B1BEDD',
        400: '#8A9DCB',
        500: '#637DBA',
        600: '#4B67AA',
        700: '#3F568D',
        800: '#324471',
        900: '#273453',
        950: '#192134',
        DEFAULT: '#d4dbec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F6FA,
  '100': #EBEEF4,
  '200': #d4dbec,
  '300': #B1BEDD,
  '400': #8A9DCB,
  '500': #637DBA,
  '600': #4B67AA,
  '700': #3F568D,
  '800': #324471,
  '900': #273453,
  '950': #192134,
);
$brand-base: #d4dbec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F6FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBEEF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#d4dbec", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B1BEDD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8A9DCB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#637DBA", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4B67AA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3F568D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#324471", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#273453", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#192134", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #d4dbec · 15.14:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.39:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #d4dbec as text scores 1.39:1 on white and 15.14:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #273558 at 8.72:1.

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
#5873B5 · 4.63:1
AA on white−35% L
#5873B5
The quick fox
#405790 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−47% L
#405790
The quick fox
#d4dbec · 15.14:1
AA on blackalready passes
#d4dbec
The quick fox
#d4dbec · 15.14:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#d4dbec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7F94C6 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
#d4dbec on white: 1.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#d4dbec on black: 15.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #d4dbec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #d4dbec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.39:1AaAa
Slate 501.33:1AaAa
Slate 1001.27:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.85:1AaAa
Slate 5003.43:1AaAa
Slate 6005.46:1AaAa
Slate 7007.47:1AaAa
Slate 80010.55:1AaAa
Slate 90012.87:1AaAa
Black15.14:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D6DCED
deuteranopia · #D4DAEC
tritanopia · #CFDEE0

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. #d4dbec 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.

#F5F6FA
#EBEEF4
#d4dbec
#B1BEDD
#8A9DCB
#637DBA
#4B67AA
#3F568D
#324471
#273453
#192134
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F5F6FADarkest = 950 · #192134Text 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 0.006 267.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 267.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.015 267.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.019 267.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.023 267.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.025 267.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.025 267.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.023 267.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.021 267.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.017 267.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.013 267.9);
}

Colors that work with #d4dbec

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6D0E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B629B
Captions on the surface
Accent#91633B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#273558
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF0F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#BBC6E1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A2B1D6
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E0E6F4
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 #d4dbec

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 #273558
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7F94C6

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 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
  • 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#ECE5D4
Analogous left#D4E7EC
Analogous right#D9D4EC
Split-complement 1#ECD9D4
Split-complement 2#E7ECD4
Triadic 1#ECD4DB
Triadic 2#DBECD4
Tetradic#ECD4E7
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°223°

#d4dbec sits at 223°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red83.1%
Green85.9%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
212
0xd4
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan10.2%
Magenta7.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 25%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#d4dbec text on a black background

contrast 15.14:1

Card sample

#d4dbec text on a white background

contrast 1.39:1

Card sample

#d4dbec on grey

1.27:1

#d4dbec on its own surface

1.28:1

#d4dbec on its dark surface

12.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #d4dbec;
Background color
Panel with #d4dbec background
background-color: #d4dbec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #d4dbec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(212, 219, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(212, 219, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #d4dbec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #d4dbec, #DDD4EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d4dbec, #E3D4EC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #d4dbec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #d4dbec;
caret-color: #d4dbec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #d4dbec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF0F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #d4dbec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#d4dbec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #d4dbec 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(212, 219, 236, 0.5)
rgb(212 219 236 / 50%)
#d4dbec80
hsl(223 39% 88% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #d4dbec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#d4dbec1a#FBFBFD
20%#d4dbec33#F6F8FB
40%#d4dbec66#EEF1F7
60%#d4dbec99#E5E9F4
80%#d4dbeccc#DDE2F0

Gradients from #d4dbec

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, #F1F3F9, #d4dbec 45%, #273558);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #d4dbec, #CFBFE3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d4dbec, #ECE5D4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4F6FA 0%, #d4dbec 45%, #273558 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F7FBFC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EDE9F5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #273558 0%, transparent 65%), #d4dbec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #d4dbec

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.

#d4dbec 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 15.14:1.

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.

#d4dbec, answered

What color is #d4dbec?

#d4dbec is a pale soft blue, closest to Lavender (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 223° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 88% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #d4dbec?

rgb(212, 219, 236) — 212 red, 219 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 83.1% / 85.9% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #d4dbec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(223, 39%, 88%) and hsv(223, 10%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #d4dbec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7072 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #d4dbec?

Black. It scores 15.14:1 against #d4dbec, versus 1.39:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #d4dbec accessible on a white background?

#d4dbec on white scores 1.39:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5873B5 to reach 4.5:1, or #405790 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #d4dbec?

#ECE5D4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ECD9D4 and #E7ECD4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #d4dbec?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C6D0E6 for borders, #4B629B for secondary text, #91633B as an accent and #273558 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D4E7EC and #D9D4EC stays calm, while #ECE5D4 is the loudest partner.

What is #d4dbec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(10%, 7%, 0%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #d4dbec warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D6D4EC; nudged cooler, #D3DFED.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #d4dbec?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 25.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #d4dbec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #d4dbec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#d4dbec] or text-[#d4dbec], 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 #d4dbec with 50% opacity?

rgba(212, 219, 236, 0.5), or #d4dbec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EAEDF6; over black, #6A6E76.

Is #d4dbec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 10.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #d4dbec 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 #d4dbec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1F3F9, #d4dbec 45%, #273558). For more colour, a short hue run to #CFBFE3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #d4dbec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #d4dbec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.