CSS named color

Powder Blue #B0E0E6

The CSS keyword powderblue is #B0E0E6. It is a pale muted cyan in the cyan family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.875, chroma 0.050 and hue 205.7°.

Relative luminance
0.6825
OKLCH L · C · h
0.875 · 0.050 · 205.7
Best text
Black 14.65:1
Hue family
Cyan

#B0E0E6 color codes

HEX
#B0E0E6
RGB
rgb(176, 224, 230)
HSL
hsl(187, 52%, 80%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.875 0.050 205.7)
OKLab
oklab(0.875 -0.045 -0.022)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 86.13, a* -14.09, b* -8.01
XYZ (D65)
X 58.84, Y 68.25, Z 84.92
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(23%, 3%, 0%, 10%)

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 #B0E0E6 accessible?

Black text on it reaches 14.65:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 1.43:1.

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

    14.65:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +82
  • White text on it

    1.43:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −23

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.43:1

  • As text on black

    14.65:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −82
  • As text on white

    1.43:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +20

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.43:1

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #507D83 4.56:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.88 to 0.56 reaches 4.56:1 on white, keeping the hue.

  • For text on black

    #B0E0E6 14.65:1

    It already reaches 14.65:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #B0E0E6 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 #B0E0E6

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #B0E0E6 sits at step 200.

  1. 50#DFFBFF
    White
    1.08
    Black
    19.38
  2. 100#CCF4F9
    White
    1.17
    Black
    17.87
  3. 200This color#B0E0E6
    White
    1.43
    Black
    14.65
  4. 300#9BC7CD
    White
    1.83
    Black
    11.44
  5. 400#7DABB0
    White
    2.52
    Black
    8.32
  6. 500#628F95
    White
    3.57
    Black
    5.88
  7. 600#4B777D
    White
    4.95
    Black
    4.23
  8. 700#356065
    White
    6.97
    Black
    3.01
  9. 800#1E474C
    White
    10.18
    Black
    2.06
  10. 900#082F33
    White
    14.33
    Black
    1.46
  11. 950#001A1E
    White
    18.00
    Black
    1.16

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

Gamut

How vivid #B0E0E6 can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.129; #B0E0E6 uses 39% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.139 there: 8% more.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.050
sRGB edge
0.129
Display P3 edge
0.139
Rec. 2020 edge
0.140
Dominant wavelength
489 nm
Excitation purity
13%
Chromaticity
x 0.2775, y 0.3219
  • This color#B0E0E6
  • Most vivid in sRGB#53EEFF
  • Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.875 0.139 205.7)

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

Use the wider color where screens show it
.accent {
  color: #b0e0e6;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.4739 0.9259 1); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #B0E0E6

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%#D8F0F3
  • OKLab50%#D8F0F3
  • OKLCH50%#D8F0F3

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#587073
  • OKLab50%#425659
  • OKLCH50%#425659

Its complement #F6CAC5

  • sRGB50%#D3D5D6
  • OKLab50%#D6D6D6
  • OKLCH50%#D4DBB5
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #b0e0e6, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #b0e0e6 50%, white);

In use

#B0E0E6 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, 4.5:114.65:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.43:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:11.43:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.43:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #507D83 4.56:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:114.65:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:113.06:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:113.06:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:113.06:1 Passes

Color vision

How #B0E0E6 looks with color blindness

Deuteranopia changes it most, ΔE2000 16.3; tritanopia changes it least, 5.6.

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

    #D8DCE6 ΔE2000 14.8

    Distinct

    Reads as light gray

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #CFD4E6 ΔE2000 16.3

    Distinct

    Reads as pale grayish blue

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #9FE4E2 ΔE2000 5.6

    Noticeable

    Reads as pale muted cyan

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #D7D7D7 ΔE2000 14.9

    Distinct

    Reads as light gray

Pairing check

Checked against its complement, #F6CAC5. Their lightness contrast is only 1.03:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.

VisionThe pairΔE2000Verdict
Normal vision#B0E0E6 · #F6CAC538.4Stays distinct
Protanopia#D8DCE6 · #D2CFC510.5Stays distinct
Deuteranopia#CFD4E6 · #DDD7C516.8Stays distinct
Tritanopia#9FE4E2 · #FFC5C941.2Stays distinct
Achromatopsia#D7D7D7 · #D4D4D40.7Easily confused

Harmony

Color harmonies for #B0E0E6

Its complement is #F6CAC5, a pale muted red, 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#B0E0E6
  • Complement#F6CAC5

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio
  • −30°#B4E1D4
  • Base#B0E0E6
  • +30°#B7DCF3
  • Base#B0E0E6
  • +120°#E8CBE8
  • +240°#E5D4B1
  • Base#B0E0E6
  • +150°#F2C9D7
  • +210°#F1CEB7

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-powderblue: #b0e0e6;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        powderblue: '#b0e0e6',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  --color-powderblue: oklch(0.875 0.050 205.7);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "powderblue": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.6902, 0.8784, 0.902],
        "hex": "#b0e0e6"
      },
      "$description": "CSS named color powderblue"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let powderblue = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.690, green: 0.878, blue: 0.902, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Powderblue = Color(0xFFB0E0E6)
}

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 #B0E0E6 in the tools

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