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blue · cool

#f4f9fe

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

Token name suggestion: Chalk Cobalt

RGB
244, 249, 254
HSL
210°, 83%, 98%
CMYK
4, 2, 0, 0
Luminance
0.9414

#f4f9fe is a pale electric blue, 210° on the wheel and 100/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (19.83:1). As text it scores 1.06:1 on white — use #1374D5 instead. Nearest name is Alice Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(210 83% 98%)rgb(244 249 254)Base step 50AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f4f9fe is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f4f9fe
Hue
210°
blue
Saturation
83%
electric
Lightness
98%
pale
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
97%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.9414
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
100/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
19.83:1
Closest name
Alice Blue
ΔE2000 1.4
Chroma
3.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.980
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 28.5
Web-safe
#FFFFFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue210° of 360°
Saturation83%
Lightness98%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #f4f9fe.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool100% 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#f4f9fe
HEX (8-digit)#f4f9feff
RGBrgb(244, 249, 254)
RGBArgba(244, 249, 254, 1)
HSLhsl(210, 83%, 98%)
HSV / HSBhsv(210, 4%, 100%)
HWBhwb(210 96% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 2%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(97.7 -0.7 -3.0)
LCHlch(97.7 3.1 256.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.980 0.009 247.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(89.07, 94.14, 107.23)
Decimal16054782
Display P3color(display-p3 0.957 0.976 0.996)
Web-safe#FFFFFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #f4f9fe;
background-color: #f4f9fe;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #f4f9fe;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f4f9fe] bg-[#f4f9fe]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f4f9fe;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.957, green: 0.976, blue: 0.996)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.957, green: 0.976, blue: 0.996, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#F4F9FE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFF4F9FE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF4F9FE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(254, 249, 244)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(244, 249, 254)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(244, 249, 254)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 244, 249, 254)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9569f, 0.9765f, 0.9961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{244,249,254}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #f4f9fe 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #f4f9fe 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0B4075, #D3E0EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #f4f9fe 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: #f4f9fe;
  --brand-100: #E6F0FA;
  --brand-200: #C6DEF6;
  --brand-300: #98C7F6;
  --brand-400: #65ABF1;
  --brand-500: #318FEC;
  --brand-600: #147AE0;
  --brand-700: #1166BB;
  --brand-800: #0E5296;
  --brand-900: #0E3D6C;
  --brand-950: #092644;
  --brand: #f4f9fe;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D6ED;
  --brand-hover: #D3E7FB;
  --brand-pressed: #B2D5F8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141C24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E0EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#f4f9fe',
        100: '#E6F0FA',
        200: '#C6DEF6',
        300: '#98C7F6',
        400: '#65ABF1',
        500: '#318FEC',
        600: '#147AE0',
        700: '#1166BB',
        800: '#0E5296',
        900: '#0E3D6C',
        950: '#092644',
        DEFAULT: '#f4f9fe',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #f4f9fe,
  '100': #E6F0FA,
  '200': #C6DEF6,
  '300': #98C7F6,
  '400': #65ABF1,
  '500': #318FEC,
  '600': #147AE0,
  '700': #1166BB,
  '800': #0E5296,
  '900': #0E3D6C,
  '950': #092644,
);
$brand-base: #f4f9fe;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#f4f9fe", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F0FA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C6DEF6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#98C7F6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#65ABF1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#318FEC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#147AE0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1166BB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0E5296", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0E3D6C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#092644", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #f4f9fe · 19.83:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.06:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 19.83:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #f4f9fe as text scores 1.06:1 on white and 19.83:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0B4075 at 9.89:1.

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
#1374D5 · 4.68:1
AA on white−52% L
#1374D5
The quick fox
#0F58A2 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−63% L
#0F58A2
The quick fox
#f4f9fe · 19.83:1
AA on blackalready passes
#f4f9fe
The quick fox
#f4f9fe · 19.83:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#f4f9fe

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #4298EE 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
#f4f9fe on white: 1.06:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f4f9fe on black: 19.83:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #f4f9fe as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #f4f9fe.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.06:1AaAa
Slate 501.01:1AaAa
Slate 1001.03:1AaAa
Slate 2001.16:1AaAa
Slate 3001.40:1AaAa
Slate 4002.42:1AaAa
Slate 5004.49:1AaAa
Slate 6007.15:1AaAa
Slate 7009.78:1AaAa
Slate 80013.81:1AaAa
Slate 90016.86:1AaAa
Black19.83:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #F7F9FE
deuteranopia · #F6F8FE
tritanopia · #F2FAFB

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. #f4f9fe is pinned to step 50; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#f4f9fe
#E6F0FA
#C6DEF6
#98C7F6
#65ABF1
#318FEC
#147AE0
#1166BB
#0E5296
#0E3D6C
#092644
Base = 50Lightest = 50 · #f4f9feDarkest = 950 · #092644Text step on white = 700
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 0.002 247.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.003 247.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.005 247.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.007 247.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.008 247.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.009 247.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.009 247.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.008 247.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.007 247.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.006 247.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.005 247.9);
}

Colors that work with #f4f9fe

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D6ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B739B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BB3311
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0B4075
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F2FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141C24
Dark-mode background
Hover#D3E7FB
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B2D5F8
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F5F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D8EBFE
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 #f4f9fe

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 #0B4075
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #4298EE

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight2/100
  • 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#FEF9F4
Analogous left#F4FEFE
Analogous right#F4F4FE
Split-complement 1#FEF4F4
Split-complement 2#FEFEF4
Triadic 1#FEF4F9
Triadic 2#F9FEF4
Tetradic#FEF4FE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°210°

#f4f9fe sits at 210°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red95.7%
Green97.6%
Blue99.6%
R · 0–255
244
0xf4
G · 0–255
249
0xf9
B · 0–255
254
0xfe

CMYK percentages

Cyan3.9%
Magenta2.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 6%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#f4f9fe text on a black background

contrast 19.83:1

Card sample

#f4f9fe text on a white background

contrast 1.06:1

Card sample

#f4f9fe on grey

1.03:1

#f4f9fe on its own surface

1.02:1

#f4f9fe on its dark surface

16.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f4f9fe;
Background color
Panel with #f4f9fe background
background-color: #f4f9fe;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f4f9fe;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(244, 249, 254, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(244, 249, 254, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f4f9fe;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f4f9fe, #F5F4FE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f4f9fe, #F8F4FE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #f4f9fe;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #f4f9fe;
caret-color: #f4f9fe;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #f4f9fe;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8F2FD;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #f4f9fe;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#f4f9fe 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #f4f9fe 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(244, 249, 254, 0.5)
rgb(244 249 254 / 50%)
#f4f9fe80
hsl(210 83% 98% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #f4f9fe 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#f4f9fe1a#FEFEFF
20%#f4f9fe33#FDFEFF
40%#f4f9fe66#FBFDFF
60%#f4f9fe99#F8FBFE
80%#f4f9fecc#F6FAFE

Gradients from #f4f9fe

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, #ECF5FD, #f4f9fe 45%, #0B4075);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #f4f9fe, #E1D8FB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f4f9fe, #FEF9F4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F1F7FE 0%, #f4f9fe 45%, #0B4075 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #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%, #FFFFFF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0B4075 0%, transparent 65%), #f4f9fe;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f4f9fe

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.

#f4f9fe 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

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

On screens

Very light values are indistinguishable from white on a dim phone screen outdoors. Give it a border if the boundary matters.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 19.83:1.

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.

#f4f9fe, answered

What color is #f4f9fe?

#f4f9fe is a pale electric blue, closest to Alice Blue (ΔE2000 1.4). It sits at 210° on the hue wheel with 83% saturation and 98% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #f4f9fe?

rgb(244, 249, 254) — 244 red, 249 green and 254 blue out of 255, or 95.7% / 97.6% / 99.6% by channel.

What is #f4f9fe in HSL and HSV?

hsl(210, 83%, 98%) and hsv(210, 4%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #f4f9fe a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.9414 and perceived brightness is 97%, so black text on it reaches 19.83:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f4f9fe?

Black. It scores 19.83:1 against #f4f9fe, versus 1.06:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #f4f9fe accessible on a white background?

#f4f9fe on white scores 1.06:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1374D5 to reach 4.5:1, or #0F58A2 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #f4f9fe?

#FEF9F4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FEF4F4 and #FEFEF4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f4f9fe?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D6ED for borders, #4B739B for secondary text, #BB3311 as an accent and #0B4075 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F4FEFE and #F4F4FE stays calm, while #FEF9F4 is the loudest partner.

What is #f4f9fe in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 2%, 0%, 0%). 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 #f4f9fe warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 100 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F1F3FE; nudged cooler, #DCEBFC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #f4f9fe?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 28.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #f4f9fe as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #f4f9fe in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#f4f9fe] or text-[#f4f9fe], 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 #f4f9fe with 50% opacity?

rgba(244, 249, 254, 0.5), or #f4f9fe80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FAFCFF; over black, #7A7D7F.

Is #f4f9fe a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFFFFF, ΔE2000 3.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #f4f9fe 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 #f4f9fe?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ECF5FD, #f4f9fe 45%, #0B4075). For more colour, a short hue run to #E1D8FB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #f4f9fe in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #f4f9fe at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.