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blue · cool

#dcdfe8

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

Token name suggestion: Whisper Sapphire

RGB
220, 223, 232
HSL
225°, 21%, 89%
CMYK
5, 4, 0, 9
Luminance
0.7382

#dcdfe8 is a pale soft blue, 225° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.76:1). As text it scores 1.33:1 on white — use #67749B instead. Nearest name is Gainsboro, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(225 21% 89%)rgb(220 223 232)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcdfe8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcdfe8
Hue
225°
blue
Saturation
21%
soft
Lightness
89%
pale
Brightness
91%
HSV value
Perceived
88%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7382
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
15.76:1
Closest name
Gainsboro
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
4.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.904
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 27
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue225° of 360°
Saturation21%
Lightness89%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dcdfe8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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%
Green71%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#dcdfe8
HEX (8-digit)#dcdfe8ff
RGBrgb(220, 223, 232)
RGBArgba(220, 223, 232, 1)
HSLhsl(225, 21%, 89%)
HSV / HSBhsv(225, 5%, 91%)
HWBhwb(225 86% 9%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 4%, 0%, 9%)
LABlab(88.8 0.7 -4.7)
LCHlch(88.8 4.8 277.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.904 0.013 271.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(70.47, 73.82, 86.86)
Decimal14475240
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.875 0.910)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dcdfe8;
background-color: #dcdfe8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dcdfe8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcdfe8] bg-[#dcdfe8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcdfe8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.875, blue: 0.910)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.875, blue: 0.910, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCDFE8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCDFE8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCDFE8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(232, 223, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 223, 232)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 223, 232)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 223, 232)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.8745f, 0.9098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,223,232}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dcdfe8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dcdfe8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#33394D, #DADDE7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dcdfe8 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: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #EDEEF2;
  --brand-200: #dcdfe8;
  --brand-300: #BBC1D3;
  --brand-400: #99A2BC;
  --brand-500: #7883A6;
  --brand-600: #616E94;
  --brand-700: #515B7B;
  --brand-800: #414962;
  --brand-900: #323749;
  --brand-950: #1F232E;
  --brand: #dcdfe8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CED2DF;
  --brand-hover: #C6CBDA;
  --brand-pressed: #B1B8CC;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #161922;
    --brand-ink: #DADDE7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#EDEEF2',
        200: '#dcdfe8',
        300: '#BBC1D3',
        400: '#99A2BC',
        500: '#7883A6',
        600: '#616E94',
        700: '#515B7B',
        800: '#414962',
        900: '#323749',
        950: '#1F232E',
        DEFAULT: '#dcdfe8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #EDEEF2,
  '200': #dcdfe8,
  '300': #BBC1D3,
  '400': #99A2BC,
  '500': #7883A6,
  '600': #616E94,
  '700': #515B7B,
  '800': #414962,
  '900': #323749,
  '950': #1F232E,
);
$brand-base: #dcdfe8;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDEEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#dcdfe8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BBC1D3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#99A2BC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7883A6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#616E94", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#515B7B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#414962", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#323749", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F232E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dcdfe8 · 15.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.33:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcdfe8 as text scores 1.33:1 on white and 15.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #33394D at 8.60:1.

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
#67749B · 4.62:1
AA on white−38% L
#67749B
The quick fox
#4E5877 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−50% L
#4E5877
The quick fox
#dcdfe8 · 15.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dcdfe8
The quick fox
#dcdfe8 · 15.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dcdfe8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8993B1 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
#dcdfe8 on white: 1.33:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcdfe8 on black: 15.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcdfe8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcdfe8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.33:1AaAa
Slate 501.27:1AaAa
Slate 1001.22:1AaAa
Slate 2001.08:1AaAa
Slate 3001.11:1AaAa
Slate 4001.92:1AaAa
Slate 5003.57:1AaAa
Slate 6005.69:1AaAa
Slate 7007.77:1AaAa
Slate 80010.98:1AaAa
Slate 90013.40:1AaAa
Black15.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DDE0E8
deuteranopia · #DCDFE8
tritanopia · #DAE1E2

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. #dcdfe8 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.

#F6F7F9
#EDEEF2
#dcdfe8
#BBC1D3
#99A2BC
#7883A6
#616E94
#515B7B
#414962
#323749
#1F232E
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1F232EText 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 0.003 271.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 271.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.008 271.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.010 271.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.012 271.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.013 271.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.013 271.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.012 271.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.011 271.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.009 271.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.007 271.3);
}

Colors that work with #dcdfe8

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#F6F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CED2DF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5B678B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7F664D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#33394D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F1F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#161922
Dark-mode background
Hover#C6CBDA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B1B8CC
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E4E7F1
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 #dcdfe8

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 #33394D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8993B1

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
  • Weight11/100
  • 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#E8E5DC
Analogous left#DCE5E8
Analogous right#DFDCE8
Split-complement 1#E8DFDC
Split-complement 2#E5E8DC
Triadic 1#E8DCDF
Triadic 2#DFE8DC
Tetradic#E8DCE5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°225°

#dcdfe8 sits at 225°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green87.5%
Blue91.0%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
223
0xdf
B · 0–255
232
0xe8

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.2%
Magenta3.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)9.0%

Total ink coverage is 18%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dcdfe8 text on a black background

contrast 15.76:1

Card sample

#dcdfe8 text on a white background

contrast 1.33:1

Card sample

#dcdfe8 on grey

1.22:1

#dcdfe8 on its own surface

1.24:1

#dcdfe8 on its dark surface

13.18:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcdfe8;
Background color
Panel with #dcdfe8 background
background-color: #dcdfe8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcdfe8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 223, 232, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 223, 232, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcdfe8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcdfe8, #E1DCE8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcdfe8, #E4DCE8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dcdfe8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dcdfe8;
caret-color: #dcdfe8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dcdfe8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F1F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dcdfe8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dcdfe8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcdfe8 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(220, 223, 232, 0.5)
rgb(220 223 232 / 50%)
#dcdfe880
hsl(225 21% 89% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcdfe8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dcdfe81a#FCFCFD
20%#dcdfe833#F8F9FA
40%#dcdfe866#F1F2F6
60%#dcdfe899#EAECF1
80%#dcdfe8cc#E3E5ED

Gradients from #dcdfe8

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, #F3F4F7, #dcdfe8 45%, #33394D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcdfe8, #D3C9DC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcdfe8, #E8E5DC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F7F9 0%, #dcdfe8 45%, #33394D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FBFCFC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F0EEF4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #33394D 0%, transparent 65%), #dcdfe8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcdfe8

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.

#dcdfe8 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 15.76:1.

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.

#dcdfe8, answered

What color is #dcdfe8?

#dcdfe8 is a pale soft blue, closest to Gainsboro (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 225° on the hue wheel with 21% saturation and 89% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dcdfe8?

rgb(220, 223, 232) — 220 red, 223 green and 232 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 87.5% / 91% by channel.

What is #dcdfe8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(225, 21%, 89%) and hsv(225, 5%, 91%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dcdfe8 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7382 and perceived brightness is 88%, so black text on it reaches 15.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcdfe8?

Black. It scores 15.76:1 against #dcdfe8, versus 1.33:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dcdfe8 accessible on a white background?

#dcdfe8 on white scores 1.33:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #67749B to reach 4.5:1, or #4E5877 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dcdfe8?

#E8E5DC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E8DFDC and #E5E8DC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcdfe8?

For interface work: #F6F7F9 as the surface, #CED2DF for borders, #5B678B for secondary text, #7F664D as an accent and #33394D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DCE5E8 and #DFDCE8 stays calm, while #E8E5DC is the loudest partner.

What is #dcdfe8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 4%, 0%, 9%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dcdfe8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDDCE8; nudged cooler, #DBE1E9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dcdfe8?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 27 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dcdfe8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dcdfe8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dcdfe8] or text-[#dcdfe8], 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 #dcdfe8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 223, 232, 0.5), or #dcdfe880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEEFF4; over black, #6E7074.

Is #dcdfe8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 14 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dcdfe8 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 #dcdfe8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F3F4F7, #dcdfe8 45%, #33394D). For more colour, a short hue run to #D3C9DC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dcdfe8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dcdfe8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.