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blue · cool

#f8f8ff

a pale, electric blue · cool · “Ghost White”

Token name suggestion: Mist Harbour

RGB
248, 248, 255
HSL
240°, 100%, 99%
CMYK
3, 3, 0, 0
Luminance
0.9431

#f8f8ff is a pale electric blue, 240° on the wheel and 83/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (19.86:1). As text it scores 1.06:1 on white — use #5F5FFF instead. Nearest name is Ghost White, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(240 100% 99%)rgb(248 248 255)Base step 50AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f8f8ff is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f8f8ff
Hue
240°
blue
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
99%
pale
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
98%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.9431
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
19.86:1
Closest name
Ghost White
ΔE2000 0
Chroma
3.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.981
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 32.4
Web-safe
#FFFFFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue240° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness99%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #f8f8ff.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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#f8f8ff
HEX (8-digit)#f8f8ffff
RGBrgb(248, 248, 255)
RGBArgba(248, 248, 255, 1)
HSLhsl(240, 100%, 99%)
HSV / HSBhsv(240, 3%, 100%)
HWBhwb(240 97% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 3%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(97.8 1.3 -3.4)
LCHlch(97.8 3.6 290.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.981 0.009 286.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(90.33, 94.31, 108.03)
Decimal16316671
Display P3color(display-p3 0.973 0.973 1.000)
Web-safe#FFFFFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #f8f8ff;
background-color: #f8f8ff;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #f8f8ff;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f8f8ff] bg-[#f8f8ff]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f8f8ff;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.973, green: 0.973, blue: 1.000)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.973, green: 0.973, blue: 1.000, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#F8F8FF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFF8F8FF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF8F8FF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(255, 248, 248)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(248, 248, 255)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(248, 248, 255)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 248, 248, 255)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9725f, 0.9725f, 1.0000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{248,248,255}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #f8f8ff 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #f8f8ff 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#000080, #D3D3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #f8f8ff 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: #f8f8ff;
  --brand-100: #E3E3FC;
  --brand-200: #C0C0FC;
  --brand-300: #8F8FFF;
  --brand-400: #5757FF;
  --brand-500: #1F1FFF;
  --brand-600: #0000F5;
  --brand-700: #0000CC;
  --brand-800: #0000A3;
  --brand-900: #050576;
  --brand-950: #030349;
  --brand: #f8f8ff;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F4FA;
  --brand-border: #C0C0ED;
  --brand-hover: #D4D4FF;
  --brand-pressed: #B0B0FF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141424;
    --brand-ink: #D3D3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#f8f8ff',
        100: '#E3E3FC',
        200: '#C0C0FC',
        300: '#8F8FFF',
        400: '#5757FF',
        500: '#1F1FFF',
        600: '#0000F5',
        700: '#0000CC',
        800: '#0000A3',
        900: '#050576',
        950: '#030349',
        DEFAULT: '#f8f8ff',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #f8f8ff,
  '100': #E3E3FC,
  '200': #C0C0FC,
  '300': #8F8FFF,
  '400': #5757FF,
  '500': #1F1FFF,
  '600': #0000F5,
  '700': #0000CC,
  '800': #0000A3,
  '900': #050576,
  '950': #030349,
);
$brand-base: #f8f8ff;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#f8f8ff", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E3E3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C0C0FC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#8F8FFF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5757FF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#1F1FFF", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0000F5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0000CC", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0000A3", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#050576", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#030349", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #f8f8ff · 19.86:1
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 · 19.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #f8f8ff as text scores 1.06:1 on white and 19.86:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #000080 at 15.14:1.

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
#5F5FFF · 4.60:1
AA on white−30% L
#5F5FFF
The quick fox
#2C2CFF · 7.21:1
AAA on white−40% L
#2C2CFF
The quick fox
#f8f8ff · 19.86:1
AA on blackalready passes
#f8f8ff
The quick fox
#f8f8ff · 19.86:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#f8f8ff

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8383FF 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
#f8f8ff on white: 1.06:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f8f8ff on black: 19.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #f8f8ff as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #f8f8ff.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.06:1AaAa
Slate 501.01:1AaAa
Slate 1001.04:1AaAa
Slate 2001.17:1AaAa
Slate 3001.40:1AaAa
Slate 4002.43:1AaAa
Slate 5004.50:1AaAa
Slate 6007.17:1AaAa
Slate 7009.79:1AaAa
Slate 80013.84:1AaAa
Slate 90016.89:1AaAa
Black19.86:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #F7F9FF
deuteranopia · #F6F8FF
tritanopia · #F7F9FA

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. #f8f8ff 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.

#f8f8ff
#E3E3FC
#C0C0FC
#8F8FFF
#5757FF
#1F1FFF
#0000F5
#0000CC
#0000A3
#050576
#030349
Base = 50Lightest = 50 · #f8f8ffDarkest = 950 · #030349Text step on white = 400
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 0.002 286.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.004 286.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.006 286.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.007 286.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.009 286.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.009 286.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.009 286.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.009 286.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.008 286.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.007 286.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.005 286.2);
}

Colors that work with #f8f8ff

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#F4F4FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B4B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC9200
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#000080
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E5E5FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141424
Dark-mode background
Hover#D4D4FF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B0B0FF
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F3F7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D6D6FF
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 #f8f8ff

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 #000080
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8383FF

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
  • Weight1/100
  • 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#FFFFF8
Analogous left#F8FBFF
Analogous right#FBF8FF
Split-complement 1#FFFBF8
Split-complement 2#FBFFF8
Triadic 1#FFF8F8
Triadic 2#F8FFF8
Tetradic#FFF8FB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°240°

#f8f8ff sits at 240°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red97.3%
Green97.3%
Blue100.0%
R · 0–255
248
0xf8
G · 0–255
248
0xf8
B · 0–255
255
0xff

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.7%
Magenta2.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.0%

Total ink coverage is 5%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#f8f8ff text on a black background

contrast 19.86:1

Card sample

#f8f8ff text on a white background

contrast 1.06:1

Card sample

#f8f8ff on grey

1.04:1

#f8f8ff on its own surface

1.04:1

#f8f8ff on its dark surface

17.19:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f8f8ff;
Background color
Panel with #f8f8ff background
background-color: #f8f8ff;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f8f8ff;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(248, 248, 255, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(248, 248, 255, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f8f8ff;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f8f8ff, #FDF8FF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f8f8ff, #FEF8FF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #f8f8ff;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #f8f8ff;
caret-color: #f8f8ff;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #f8f8ff;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E5E5FF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #f8f8ff;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#f8f8ff 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #f8f8ff 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(248, 248, 255, 0.5)
rgb(248 248 255 / 50%)
#f8f8ff80
hsl(240 100% 99% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #f8f8ff 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#f8f8ff1a#FEFEFF
20%#f8f8ff33#FEFEFF
40%#f8f8ff66#FCFCFF
60%#f8f8ff99#FBFBFF
80%#f8f8ffcc#F9F9FF

Gradients from #f8f8ff

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, #EBEBFF, #f8f8ff 45%, #000080);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #f8f8ff, #F6D9FF);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f8f8ff, #FFFFF8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0F0FF 0%, #f8f8ff 45%, #000080 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F4FA, #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%, #000080 0%, transparent 65%), #f8f8ff;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f8f8ff

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.

#f8f8ff 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 19.86:1.

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.

#f8f8ff, answered

What color is #f8f8ff?

#f8f8ff is a pale electric blue — the CSS keyword Ghost White. It sits at 240° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 99% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #f8f8ff?

rgb(248, 248, 255) — 248 red, 248 green and 255 blue out of 255, or 97.3% / 97.3% / 100% by channel.

What is #f8f8ff in HSL and HSV?

hsl(240, 100%, 99%) and hsv(240, 3%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #f8f8ff a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.9431 and perceived brightness is 98%, so black text on it reaches 19.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f8f8ff?

Black. It scores 19.86:1 against #f8f8ff, versus 1.06:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #f8f8ff accessible on a white background?

#f8f8ff on white scores 1.06:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5F5FFF to reach 4.5:1, or #2C2CFF for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #f8f8ff?

#FFFFF8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FFFBF8 and #FBFFF8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f8f8ff?

For interface work: #F4F4FA as the surface, #C0C0ED for borders, #4B4B9B for secondary text, #CC9200 as an accent and #000080 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F8FBFF and #FBF8FF stays calm, while #FFFFF8 is the loudest partner.

What is #f8f8ff in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 3%, 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 #f8f8ff warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F5F0FF; nudged cooler, #F0F5FF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #f8f8ff?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 32.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #f8f8ff as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #f8f8ff in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#f8f8ff] or text-[#f8f8ff], 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 #f8f8ff with 50% opacity?

rgba(248, 248, 255, 0.5), or #f8f8ff80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FCFCFF; over black, #7C7C80.

Is #f8f8ff a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFFFFF, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #f8f8ff 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 #f8f8ff?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBEBFF, #f8f8ff 45%, #000080). For more colour, a short hue run to #F6D9FF keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #f8f8ff in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #f8f8ff at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.