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Light blue

#ADD8E6

Light blue is the hex color #ADD8E6, with RGB values 173, 216, 230. It is a CSS color keyword, so browsers render it from the name alone, and its value is fixed by the CSS Color Module.

BlueCSS keyword

Quick colors, then fill the screen

Or a gradient

Or let it move

#ADD8E6rgb(173, 216, 230) · hsl(195, 53%, 79%)

Light blue color codes

Every value for #ADD8E6, ready to paste. Click any code to copy it.

Channel values for #ADD8E6 in each number base
ChannelDecimalShareHexOctalBinary
Red17367.84%AD25510101101
Green21684.71%D833011011000
Blue23090.2%E634611100110

The nearest web-safe color is #99CCFF, from the 216-color palette browsers agreed on before displays could be trusted with more.

About light blue

A blue leaning cyan at 195 degrees, and lighter than skyblue, 79 percent against 73. Common across large backgrounds because it stays quiet at that size, where a saturated blue would not.

Family
Blue, 3rd lightest of 23 blues
Web-safe
is the nearest

Shades, tints and tones

Every step is generated from #ADD8E6. Click a swatch to copy its hex.

Shades of light blue

A shade is the base color with black mixed in. Shades read as deeper and more dramatic, and they are what you reach for when a color needs to recede or carry weight.

Tints of light blue

A tint is the base color with white mixed in. Tints turn pastel as they lighten, which makes them useful for backgrounds and for anything that has to sit behind text.

Tones of light blue

A tone is the base color with gray mixed in. Tones lose the shout without losing the hue, and they are usually what separates a considered palette from a loud one.

The light blue scale

The same color as the 50 to 950 ladder every CSS framework uses, with #ADD8E6 at 500. Click a step to copy its hex, or take the whole scale as variables for a design system.

Color schemes built on light blue

Harmonies are positions on the color wheel rather than matters of taste, which is why they keep working across very different designs.

Complementary

Two colors from opposite sides of the wheel. They make each other look more vivid, which is why the pairing is used for anything that needs to stand out.

Analogous

Three neighbors on the wheel. Nothing competes, so the result reads calm and settled, closer to how color behaves in nature.

Split complementary

The base plus the two colors either side of its complement. It keeps most of the contrast while being much easier to balance.

Triadic

Three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Strong and lively, and usually best with one dominant color and two accents.

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs, forming a rectangle on the wheel. The richest scheme available, and the hardest to keep from shouting.

Monochromatic

One hue at different lightness levels. Effortlessly cohesive, and the safest way to build a palette around a brand color.

Colors close to #ADD8E6

Near neighbors, for when this color is almost right. Each one shifts hue, saturation or lightness by a small step.

Light blue color palettes

Five-color palettes built around #ADD8E6, each following a different scheme. Click any swatch to copy it, or open the generator to build your own.

Analogous

Complementary

Triadic

Monochromatic

Open the palette generator to lock the colors you like and regenerate the rest.

Contrast and readability

Whether light blue works as text, and what to put on top of it when it is the background. Ratios follow WCAG 2.1, where 4.5 is the bar for body text and 3 for large text.

Light blue text on white background

1.53:1 · Poor

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

  • Body AA
  • Body AAA
  • Large AA
  • Large AAA

Light blue text on black background

13.74:1 · Excellent

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

  • Body AA
  • Body AAA
  • Large AA
  • Large AAA

Used the other way round, #ADD8E6 as a background takes #000000 text. That is the higher-contrast of the two, and it is what the tool picks automatically for any chrome sitting on your color.

Light blue reads better on a black background of the two. Contrast is a property of the pair, not of one color, so a color that fails here can still be perfectly usable against a different partner.

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The blue family

Light blue sits in the blue family. Every named blue in the library, with light blue first.

SwatchNameHexRGBHSL
Light blue is a CSS keyword is the color on this page#ADD8E6173, 216, 230195, 53%, 79%
Blue is a CSS keyword#0000FF0, 0, 255240, 100%, 50%
Navy is a CSS keyword#0000800, 0, 128240, 100%, 25%
Royal blue is a CSS keyword#4169E165, 105, 225225, 73%, 57%
Sky blue is a CSS keyword#87CEEB135, 206, 235197, 71%, 73%
Baby blue#89CFF0137, 207, 240199, 77%, 74%
Cobalt#0047AB0, 71, 171215, 100%, 34%
Indigo is a CSS keyword#4B008275, 0, 130275, 100%, 25%
Periwinkle#CCCCFF204, 204, 255240, 100%, 90%
Powder blue is a CSS keyword#B0E0E6176, 224, 230187, 52%, 80%
Steel blue is a CSS keyword#4682B470, 130, 180207, 44%, 49%
Midnight blue is a CSS keyword#19197025, 25, 112240, 64%, 27%
Denim#1560BD21, 96, 189213, 80%, 41%
Cerulean#2A52BE42, 82, 190224, 64%, 45%
Dodger blue is a CSS keyword#1E90FF30, 144, 255210, 100%, 56%
Prussian blue#0031530, 49, 83205, 100%, 16%
Dark blue is a CSS keyword#00008B0, 0, 139240, 100%, 27%
Cornflower blue is a CSS keyword#6495ED100, 149, 237219, 79%, 66%
Deep sky blue is a CSS keyword#00BFFF0, 191, 255195, 100%, 50%
Light sky blue is a CSS keyword#87CEFA135, 206, 250203, 92%, 75%
Slate blue is a CSS keyword#6A5ACD106, 90, 205248, 53%, 58%
Medium slate blue is a CSS keyword#7B68EE123, 104, 238249, 80%, 67%
Dark slate blue is a CSS keyword#483D8B72, 61, 139248, 39%, 39%