Light Blue Color Codes
Light Blue is a light, muted cyan with the hex code #ADD8E6, RGB values of 173, 216, 230 and an HSL value of hsl(195, 53%, 79%).
| HEX | #ADD8E6 |
|---|---|
| RGB | 173, 216, 230 |
| HSL | hsl(195, 53%, 79%) |
| HSV | 195°, 25%, 90% |
| CMYK | 25%, 6%, 0%, 10% |
| LAB | 83.81, -10.89, -11.48 |
| CIELCHuv | 83.81, 27.51, 215.93° |
- Nearest Pantone
- PMS 291 C ΔE 4.9 · approximate
- Nearest CSS name
-
lightblueΔE 0.0
Source CSS Color Module Level 4 keyword 'LightBlue'
Light Blue Color Hex Code
The Light Blue color hex code is #ADD8E6. Those six digits are three pairs, AD for red, D8 for green and E6 for blue, which is the same triplet a browser reads from the CSS value below.
#ADD8E6
Light Blue Color RGB Code
The Light Blue RGB code is rgb(173, 216, 230). Blue carries the most light at 230 of 255, which is what puts this color where it sits on the wheel.
rgb(173, 216, 230)
Light Blue Color HSV Code
The Light Blue HSV code is 195°, 25%, 90%. Read it as a hue of 195 degrees, 25% saturation and 90% value, which is the form most color pickers use because moving one number changes one thing.
195°, 25%, 90%
Light Blue Color CIELChuv Code
The Light Blue CIELCHuv code is 83.81, 27.51, 215.93°. Unlike hex or RGB this one is perceptual: lightness 84 means light to the eye rather than to the screen, and chroma 28 is how far it sits from grey.
83.81, 27.51, 215.93°
Tonal scale
What are Light Blue Color Palettes?
A shade mixes toward black, a tint toward white, a tone toward grey. Every step keeps the hue and is copy-ready.
Shades, toward black
Tints, toward white
Tones, toward grey
Palettes
What are Light Blue Color Palette Codes?
Each of these is a hue rotation from #ADD8E6. They are generated, not curated, so they are exact.
Complementary
The opposite hue is #E6BBAD, a light, muted red-orange. Complements carry the strongest contrast of any two-color scheme, so this pair suits a call to action better than a background. Neither is especially saturated, so this pairing stays calm enough for large areas of both.
Analogous
Its two neighbours are #ADE6D8 and #ADBCE6. Because they overlap heavily in hue, nothing in the group competes, and the eye reads the whole set as a single color with variation.
Triadic
#E6ADD8 and #D8E6AD complete an even 120 degree split. Three fully independent hues, so one has to lead: keep this base dominant and let the other two appear in small quantities.
Split-complementary
Instead of the direct complement, this takes the two hues either side of it: #E6ADBC and #E6D8AD. Almost the same contrast, without the edge shimmer a true complementary pair produces at high saturation.
Tetradic
Two complementary pairs forming a rectangle: this base with #E6BBAD, and #D8ADE6 with #BCE6AD. The richest of the five and the hardest to balance, so treat the darkest of the four as the lead and hold the other three well back.
Accessibility
Contrast checker: is Light Blue accessible?
Measured against white and against black, with a separate verdict for each element type. Small text, large text and UI components have different thresholds, so one pass or fail for the whole color would be wrong roughly a third of the time.
White background
1.53:11.53
contrast ratio on white background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Fails | Fails |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Fails | Fails |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Fails | n/a |
Black background
13.74:113.74
contrast ratio on black background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Passes | Passes |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Passes | Passes |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Passes | n/a |
At 1.53:1 against white, Light Blue is a fill color rather than a text color. Use it for surfaces, borders and large display type, and set the copy in ink. Text placed on it should be black, which gives 13.74:1.
Color vision
How Light Blue looks with color blindness
Around 300 million people see color differently from the way it is specified. Each card shows the actual color beside how it appears, and how common that form of vision is.
Protanopia
About 1% of men#C1C2E3
Light Blue shifts noticeably here. ΔE 18.4
No working red cones. Reds darken sharply and drift toward the same muddy olive as green.
Deuteranopia
About 1% of men#BFBBE2
Light Blue shifts noticeably here. ΔE 22.3
No working green cones. With the milder deuteranomaly at nearer 6% of men, this is by far the most common form, and the one worth designing around.
Tritanopia
About 1 in 10,000#AFE0DF
Light Blue shifts slightly here. ΔE 8.7
No working blue cones. Blues shift toward green and yellows toward pink. Rare, and unlike the others it is not sex-linked, so it affects men and women equally.
Achromatopsia
About 1 in 30,000#D1D1D1
Light Blue shifts noticeably here. ΔE 15.8
No color vision at all. Also a fair proxy for how the color survives a greyscale print or a failing screen.
To a deuteranope, the most common form, Light Blue reads as #BFBBE2. That is a shift of ΔE 22.3, so it is a different color to roughly one man in sixteen. Blues survive red-green deficiency well, which is why so much interface design leans on them. The form to watch here is tritanopia, though at roughly 1 in 10,000 it affects far fewer people. The widest shift is under deuteranopia, at ΔE 22.3. The rule this leads to needs no simulator: never let color be the only thing carrying a message. Add a label, an icon, or a clear difference in lightness, and the problem disappears for everyone.
Snippets
Using Light Blue in code
:root {
--light-blue: #ADD8E6;
}
.example {
color: var(--light-blue);
}// tailwind.config.js
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'light-blue': '#ADD8E6',
},
},
}// SwiftUI takes 0–1 components, not 0–255.
let lightBlue = Color(
red: 0.678,
green: 0.847,
blue: 0.902
)<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="light_blue">#ADD8E6</color>// Flutter wants ARGB: FF for full opacity, then the hex.
const lightBlue = Color(0xFFADD8E6);