CSS named color

Sky Blue #87CEEB

The CSS keyword skyblue is #87CEEB. It is a light muted blue in the blue family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.815, chroma 0.082 and hue 225.8°.

Relative luminance: 0.5529
OKLCH L · C · h: 0.815 · 0.082 · 225.8
Best text: Black 12.05:1
Hue family: Blue

Inspect this color Check contrast

#87CEEB color codes

HEX: #87CEEB
RGB: rgb(135, 206, 235)
HSL: hsl(197, 71%, 73%)
OKLCH: oklch(0.815 0.082 225.8)
OKLab: oklab(0.815 -0.057 -0.059)
CIELAB (D65): L* 79.21, a* -14.84, b* -21.28
XYZ (D65): X 47.05, Y 55.29, Z 86.77
CMYK (naive): cmyk(43%, 12%, 0%, 8%)

CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.

Legibility

Contrast: is #87CEEB accessible?

Black text on it reaches 12.05:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 1.74:1.

WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.

Open the Contrast System

Black text on it

12.05:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA passes
- APCA Lc +72
White text on it

1.74:1
- AA fails
- AA large fails
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc −35
As text on black

12.05:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA passes
- APCA Lc −71
As text on white

1.74:1
- AA fails
- AA large fails
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc +31

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

For text on white

#377E99 4.55:1

Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.81 to 0.56 reaches 4.55:1 on white, keeping the hue.

Compare both in the Contrast System
For text on black

#87CEEB 12.05:1

It already reaches 12.05:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #87CEEB live

Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.

The studio needs JavaScript.

Scale

Shades and tints of #87CEEB

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #87CEEB sits at step 300.

50#E8F8FF

White
1.08
Black
19.30
100#D1F1FF

White
1.18
Black
17.73
200#A4E2FC

White
1.41
Black
14.86
300This color#87CEEB

White
1.74
Black
12.05
400#67ACC8

White
2.52
Black
8.31
500#4A90AC

White
3.57
Black
5.87
600#317893

White
4.95
Black
4.23
700#17617A

White
6.93
Black
3.02
800#00475C

White
10.21
Black
2.05
900#002E3D

White
14.40
Black
1.45
950#001923

White
18.05
Black
1.16

Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.

Gamut

How vivid #87CEEB can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.123; #87CEEB uses 66% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.134 there: 8% more.

sRGB
Display P3
Rec. 2020
Dominant wavelength

OKLCH chroma: 0.082
sRGB edge: 0.123
Display P3 edge: 0.134
Rec. 2020 edge: 0.135
Dominant wavelength: 484 nm
Excitation purity: 27%
Chromaticity: x 0.2488, y 0.2924

This color#87CEEB
Most vivid in sRGB#5AD3FF
Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.815 0.134 225.8)

On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.

Use the wider color where screens show it

.accent {
  color: #87ceeb;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.4528 0.8191 1); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #87CEEB

Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.

White #FFFFFF

sRGB50%#C3E7F5
OKLab50%#C5E7F5
OKLCH50%#C5E7F5

Black #000000

sRGB50%#446776
OKLab50%#314E5B
OKLCH50%#314E5B

Its complement #F0B296

sRGB50%#BCC0C1
OKLab50%#C2C2C2
OKLCH50%#D7B3E7

In CSS

/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #87ceeb, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #87ceeb 50%, white);

In use

#87CEEB in an interface

A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.

Light page

Button labelText, 4.5:112.05:1 Passes
Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.74:1 Fails
Large headingLarge text, 3:11.74:1 Fails
Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.74:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #377E99 4.55:1

Dark page

Button labelText, 4.5:112.05:1 Passes
Link and body-size textText, 4.5:110.75:1 Passes
Large headingLarge text, 3:110.75:1 Passes
Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:110.75:1 Passes

Color vision

How #87CEEB looks with color blindness

Achromatopsia changes it most, ΔE2000 18.0; tritanopia changes it least, 13.1.

Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.

Simulate a whole page What each type sees

Protanopia

No working red (long-wavelength) cones

#BECBED ΔE2000 15.8

Distinct

Reads as pale grayish blue
Deuteranopia

No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

#AFBFEB ΔE2000 15.5

Distinct

Reads as light muted blue
Tritanopia

No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

#5DD7D7 ΔE2000 13.1

Distinct

Reads as light soft cyan
Achromatopsia

No cone color vision; lightness only

#C4C4C4 ΔE2000 18.0

Distinct

Reads as light gray

Pairing check

Checked against its complement, #F0B296. Their lightness contrast is only 1.04:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.

Vision	The pair	ΔE2000	Verdict
Normal vision	#87CEEB · #F0B296	39.9	Stays distinct
Protanopia	#BECBED · #C2B894	29.3	Stays distinct
Deuteranopia	#AFBFEB · #D0C596	34.8	Stays distinct
Tritanopia	#5DD7D7 · #FFA8AB	48.9	Stays distinct
Achromatopsia	#C4C4C4 · #C0C0C0	1.0	Easily confused

Harmony

Color harmonies for #87CEEB

Its complement is #F0B296, a light muted orange, on the warm side of the wheel.

Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.

Open the Harmony Studio

Base#87CEEB
Complement#F0B296

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

−30°#7FD3D3
Base#87CEEB
+30°#A0C5F7

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio

Base#87CEEB
+120°#EAADCE
+240°#C9C688

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio

Base#87CEEB
+150°#F3ADB1
+210°#E1BC86

Split-complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

Code

Design tokens

Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-skyblue: #87ceeb;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        skyblue: '#87ceeb',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  --color-skyblue: oklch(0.815 0.082 225.8);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "skyblue": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.5294, 0.8078, 0.9216],
        "hex": "#87ceeb"
      },
      "$description": "CSS named color skyblue"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let skyblue = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.529, green: 0.808, blue: 0.922, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Skyblue = Color(0xFF87CEEB)
}

Matches

The nearest match in each system

The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.

Tools

Open #87CEEB in the tools

Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.

Sky Blue #87CEEB

#87CEEB color codes

Contrast: is #87CEEB accessible?

Black text on it

White text on it

As text on black

As text on white

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

Adjust #87CEEB live

Shades and tints of #87CEEB

How vivid #87CEEB can get

Mixing #87CEEB

#87CEEB in an interface

How #87CEEB looks with color blindness

Protanopia

Deuteranopia

Tritanopia

Achromatopsia

Pairing check

Color harmonies for #87CEEB

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split-complementary

Design tokens

CSS custom property

Tailwind config

Tailwind v4 theme

Design token (W3C DTCG)

SwiftUI color

Jetpack Compose color

The nearest match in each system

Similar colors

Open #87CEEB in the tools