Sky Blue Color Codes
Sky Blue is a light, saturated azure blue with the hex code #87CEEB, RGB values of 135, 206, 235 and an HSL value of hsl(197, 71%, 73%).
| HEX | #87CEEB |
|---|---|
| RGB | 135, 206, 235 |
| HSL | hsl(197, 71%, 73%) |
| HSV | 197°, 43%, 92% |
| CMYK | 43%, 12%, 0%, 8% |
| LAB | 79.21, -14.84, -21.28 |
| CIELCHuv | 79.21, 45.77, 223.47° |
- Nearest Pantone
- PMS 297 C ΔE 2.9 · approximate
- Nearest CSS name
-
skyblueΔE 0.0
Source CSS Color Module Level 4 keyword 'SkyBlue'
Sky Blue Color Hex Code
The Sky Blue color hex code is #87CEEB. Those six digits are three pairs, 87 for red, CE for green and EB for blue, which is the same triplet a browser reads from the CSS value below.
#87CEEB
Sky Blue Color RGB Code
The Sky Blue RGB code is rgb(135, 206, 235). Blue carries the most light at 235 of 255, which is what puts this color where it sits on the wheel.
rgb(135, 206, 235)
Sky Blue Color HSV Code
The Sky Blue HSV code is 197°, 43%, 92%. Read it as a hue of 197 degrees, 43% saturation and 92% value, which is the form most color pickers use because moving one number changes one thing.
197°, 43%, 92%
Sky Blue Color CIELChuv Code
The Sky Blue CIELCHuv code is 79.21, 45.77, 223.47°. Unlike hex or RGB this one is perceptual: lightness 79 means light to the eye rather than to the screen, and chroma 46 is how far it sits from grey.
79.21, 45.77, 223.47°
Tonal scale
What are Sky 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 Sky Blue Color Palette Codes?
Each of these is a hue rotation from #87CEEB. They are generated, not curated, so they are exact.
Complementary
The opposite hue is #EBA487, a light, saturated red-orange. Complements carry the strongest contrast of any two-color scheme, so this pair suits a call to action better than a background. Both are saturated, so give the complement much less area than the base or the two will fight.
Analogous
Its two neighbours are #87EBD6 and #879CEB. 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
#EB87CE and #CEEB87 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: #EB879C and #EBD687. 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 #EBA487, and #D687EB with #9CEB87. 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 Sky 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
1.74:11.74
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
12.06:112.06
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 1.74:1 against white, Sky 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 12.06:1.
Color vision
How Sky 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#ABABE4
Sky Blue changes substantially here. ΔE 29.0
No working red cones. Reds darken sharply and drift toward the same muddy olive as green.
Deuteranopia
About 1% of men#A6A1E3
Sky Blue changes substantially here. ΔE 34.5
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#8CDFDE
Sky Blue shifts noticeably here. ΔE 17.9
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#C4C4C4
Sky Blue changes substantially here. ΔE 25.9
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, Sky Blue reads as #A6A1E3. That is a shift of ΔE 34.5, 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 34.5. 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 Sky Blue in code
:root {
--sky-blue: #87CEEB;
}
.example {
color: var(--sky-blue);
}// tailwind.config.js
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'sky-blue': '#87CEEB',
},
},
}// SwiftUI takes 0–1 components, not 0–255.
let skyBlue = Color(
red: 0.529,
green: 0.808,
blue: 0.922
)<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="sky_blue">#87CEEB</color>// Flutter wants ARGB: FF for full opacity, then the hex.
const skyBlue = Color(0xFF87CEEB);