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blue · cool

#dfe4ed

a pale, soft blue · cool · closest name: Alice Blue

Token name suggestion: Frost Harbour

RGB
223, 228, 237
HSL
219°, 28%, 90%
CMYK
6, 4, 0, 7
Luminance
0.7729

#dfe4ed is a pale soft blue, 219° on the wheel and 86/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (16.46:1). As text it scores 1.28:1 on white — use #5C76A4 instead. Nearest name is Alice Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(219 28% 90%)rgb(223 228 237)Base step 200AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfe4ed is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfe4ed
Hue
219°
blue
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
90%
pale
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
89%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7729
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
16.46:1
Closest name
Alice Blue
ΔE2000 4.5
Chroma
5.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.918
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 26.3
Web-safe
#CCCCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue219° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness90%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfe4ed.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red20%
Green72%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#dfe4ed
HEX (8-digit)#dfe4edff
RGBrgb(223, 228, 237)
RGBArgba(223, 228, 237, 1)
HSLhsl(219, 28%, 90%)
HSV / HSBhsv(219, 6%, 93%)
HWBhwb(219 87% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 4%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(90.5 -0.0 -5.0)
LCHlch(90.5 5.0 269.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.918 0.013 262.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(73.46, 77.29, 91.15)
Decimal14673133
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.894 0.929)
Web-safe#CCCCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfe4ed;
background-color: #dfe4ed;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfe4ed;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfe4ed] bg-[#dfe4ed]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfe4ed;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.894, blue: 0.929)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.894, blue: 0.929, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFE4ED</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFE4ED)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFE4ED)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(237, 228, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 228, 237)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 228, 237)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 228, 237)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.8941f, 0.9294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,228,237}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfe4ed 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfe4ed 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E3B52, #D8DEE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfe4ed 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: #ECEFF3;
  --brand-200: #dfe4ed;
  --brand-300: #B7C2D7;
  --brand-400: #93A4C2;
  --brand-500: #6F86AE;
  --brand-600: #58719D;
  --brand-700: #495E83;
  --brand-800: #3B4B68;
  --brand-900: #2D394D;
  --brand-950: #1C2330;
  --brand: #dfe4ed;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CBD3E2;
  --brand-hover: #C8D1E0;
  --brand-pressed: #B1BDD3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D8DEE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#ECEFF3',
        200: '#dfe4ed',
        300: '#B7C2D7',
        400: '#93A4C2',
        500: '#6F86AE',
        600: '#58719D',
        700: '#495E83',
        800: '#3B4B68',
        900: '#2D394D',
        950: '#1C2330',
        DEFAULT: '#dfe4ed',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #ECEFF3,
  '200': #dfe4ed,
  '300': #B7C2D7,
  '400': #93A4C2,
  '500': #6F86AE,
  '600': #58719D,
  '700': #495E83,
  '800': #3B4B68,
  '900': #2D394D,
  '950': #1C2330,
);
$brand-base: #dfe4ed;
$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": "#ECEFF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#dfe4ed", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B7C2D7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#93A4C2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6F86AE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#58719D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#495E83", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3B4B68", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2D394D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C2330", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfe4ed · 16.46:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.28:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.46:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfe4ed as text scores 1.28:1 on white and 16.46:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2E3B52 at 8.83:1.

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
#5C76A4 · 4.58:1
AA on white−40% L
#5C76A4
The quick fox
#445779 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−53% L
#445779
The quick fox
#dfe4ed · 16.46:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfe4ed
The quick fox
#dfe4ed · 16.46:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfe4ed

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8094B8 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
#dfe4ed on white: 1.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfe4ed on black: 16.46:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfe4ed as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfe4ed.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.28:1AaAa
Slate 501.22:1AaAa
Slate 1001.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.04:1AaAa
Slate 3001.16:1AaAa
Slate 4002.01:1AaAa
Slate 5003.73:1AaAa
Slate 6005.94:1AaAa
Slate 7008.12:1AaAa
Slate 80011.46:1AaAa
Slate 90013.99:1AaAa
Black16.46:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E1E4ED
deuteranopia · #E0E3ED
tritanopia · #DCE6E7

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. #dfe4ed 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
#ECEFF3
#dfe4ed
#B7C2D7
#93A4C2
#6F86AE
#58719D
#495E83
#3B4B68
#2D394D
#1C2330
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1C2330Text 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 0.003 262.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 262.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.008 262.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.010 262.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.012 262.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.013 262.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.013 262.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.013 262.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.011 262.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.009 262.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.007 262.4);
}

Colors that work with #dfe4ed

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#F5F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CBD3E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#536A93
Captions on the surface
Accent#875E45
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E3B52
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#C8D1E0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B1BDD3
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F4F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E3E8F2
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 #dfe4ed

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 #2E3B52
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8094B8

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
  • Weight10/100
  • 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#EDE8DF
Analogous left#DFEBED
Analogous right#E1DFED
Split-complement 1#EDE1DF
Split-complement 2#EBEDDF
Triadic 1#EDDFE4
Triadic 2#E4EDDF
Tetradic#EDDFEB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°219°

#dfe4ed sits at 219°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green89.4%
Blue92.9%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
228
0xe4
B · 0–255
237
0xed

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.9%
Magenta3.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.1%

Total ink coverage is 17%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfe4ed text on a black background

contrast 16.46:1

Card sample

#dfe4ed text on a white background

contrast 1.28:1

Card sample

#dfe4ed on grey

1.16:1

#dfe4ed on its own surface

1.19:1

#dfe4ed on its dark surface

13.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfe4ed;
Background color
Panel with #dfe4ed background
background-color: #dfe4ed;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfe4ed;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 228, 237, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 228, 237, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfe4ed;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfe4ed, #E3DFED);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfe4ed, #E7DFED);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfe4ed;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfe4ed;
caret-color: #dfe4ed;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfe4ed;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfe4ed;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfe4ed 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfe4ed 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(223, 228, 237, 0.5)
rgb(223 228 237 / 50%)
#dfe4ed80
hsl(219 28% 90% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfe4ed 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfe4ed1a#FCFCFD
20%#dfe4ed33#F9FAFB
40%#dfe4ed66#F2F4F8
60%#dfe4ed99#ECEFF4
80%#dfe4edcc#E5E9F1

Gradients from #dfe4ed

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, #F2F4F8, #dfe4ed 45%, #2E3B52);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfe4ed, #D4CBE2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfe4ed, #EDE8DF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F7F9 0%, #dfe4ed 45%, #2E3B52 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FFFFFF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F4F3F8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E3B52 0%, transparent 65%), #dfe4ed;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfe4ed

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.

#dfe4ed 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 16.46:1.

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.

#dfe4ed, answered

What color is #dfe4ed?

#dfe4ed is a pale soft blue, closest to Alice Blue (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 219° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 90% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #dfe4ed?

rgb(223, 228, 237) — 223 red, 228 green and 237 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 89.4% / 92.9% by channel.

What is #dfe4ed in HSL and HSV?

hsl(219, 28%, 90%) and hsv(219, 6%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfe4ed a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7729 and perceived brightness is 89%, so black text on it reaches 16.46:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfe4ed?

Black. It scores 16.46:1 against #dfe4ed, versus 1.28:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfe4ed accessible on a white background?

#dfe4ed on white scores 1.28:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5C76A4 to reach 4.5:1, or #445779 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfe4ed?

#EDE8DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EDE1DF and #EBEDDF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfe4ed?

For interface work: #F5F7F9 as the surface, #CBD3E2 for borders, #536A93 for secondary text, #875E45 as an accent and #2E3B52 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DFEBED and #E1DFED stays calm, while #EDE8DF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfe4ed in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 4%, 0%, 7%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfe4ed 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 #DFDFED; nudged cooler, #DFE5EE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfe4ed?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 26.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfe4ed as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfe4ed in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfe4ed] or text-[#dfe4ed], 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 #dfe4ed with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 228, 237, 0.5), or #dfe4ed80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFF2F6; over black, #707277.

Is #dfe4ed a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCFF, ΔE2000 14.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfe4ed 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 #dfe4ed?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2F4F8, #dfe4ed 45%, #2E3B52). For more colour, a short hue run to #D4CBE2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfe4ed in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfe4ed at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.