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#B5BBD9 Color

#B5BBD9 is rgb(181, 187, 217) in RGB, hsl(230, 32%, 78%) in HSL, and about cmyk(17%, 14%, 0%, 15%) in CMYK. It has no registered color name of its own — the closest is Light Steel Blue (#B0C4DE), clearly related but distinguishable side by side at ΔE 5.76. Black text is the more readable choice on this background.

#B5BBD9
HEX#B5BBD9
RGBrgb(181, 187, 217)
HSLhsl(230, 32%, 78%)
HSVhsv(230, 17%, 85%)
CMYKcmyk(17%, 14%, 0%, 15%)
OKLCHoklch(79.7% 0.043 276.5)
LABlab(76.14% 2.44 -15.87)
LCHlch(76.14% 16.05 278.73)

What #B5BBD9 Is Called

Most hex codes have no name: there are 16.7 million of them and a few thousand registered names. These are the named colors nearest to #B5BBD9, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Light Steel Blue#B0C4DEΔE 5.76Wild Blue Yonder#A2ADD0ΔE 6.4Periwinkle (Crayola)#C3CDE6ΔE 6.84Light Periwinkle#C5CBE1ΔE 7.1Soap#CEC8EFΔE 8.44Lavender Gray#C4C3D0ΔE 9.95

Browse the full index of named colors A-Z or every blue in the library.

#B5BBD9 Channel Values

How #B5BBD9 breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

ModelChannelsNotes
RGBR 181 · G 187 · B 2178-bit channels as sent to the display
HSLH 230° · S 32% · L 78%Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSVH 230° · S 17% · V 85%Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYKC 17% · M 14% · Y 0% · K 15%Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance1.9:1 vs white · 11.07:1 vs blackWCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #B5BBD9 background. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; AAA requires 7:1. Contrast is one check, not a full accessibility review.

Fails AAWhite text1.9:1AA normal AA large AAA normal
TextBlack text11.07:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #B5BBD9 in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #B5BBD9

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #B5BBD9; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base
#B5BBD9
Complementary
#D9D3B5
Analogous
#B5CDD9
Analogous
#C1B5D9
Triadic
#D9B5BB
Triadic
#BBD9B5
Split comp.
#D9C1B5
Split comp.
#CDD9B5

Tints & Shades of #B5BBD9

Lighter tints and darker shades built by moving the lightness channel while holding hue and saturation, which is what you want for hover states, backgrounds, and text variants.

Tints

#BFC4DE
#C9CDE3
#D3D7E8
#DADDEC
#E4E6F1
#EEF0F6

Shades

#9099C6
#6E7AB4
#505C9B
#3E4879
#2B3254
#1A1E32

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #B5BBD9.

How #B5BBD9 Looks with Color Vision Deficiency

Simulated with the Viénot, Brettel & Mollon LMS projection model. Anomalous types are rendered as partial versions of the matching dichromacy, which is an approximation rather than a per-person clinical model.

Typical#B5BBD9
Protanopia#BABAD9
Protanomaly#B8BAD9
Deuteranopia#B9B9D9
Deuteranomaly#B7BAD9
Tritanopia#B1BFBF
Tritanomaly#B2BDCA
Achromatopsia#BCBCBC

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #B5BBD9 in Code

Copy-ready declarations for the places this color usually ends up.

CSS custom property--color-b5bbd9: #B5BBD9;
CSS backgroundbackground-color: #B5BBD9;
Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-b5bbd9': '#B5BBD9' }
SwiftUIColor(red: 0.710, green: 0.733, blue: 0.851)
Android XML<color name="color_b5bbd9">#B5BBD9</color>
SVG fillfill="#B5BBD9"

More Blue Colors

#B5BBD9 sits in the blue family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

000024fafaff00002ef9fafb000033f8fafc000038f8f8ff000042f5faff000047f5f5ff002147007dfa0f52ba1c39bb2a3439372aac4e3cc364609a7abdff979aaab8dbffd6d6ff

#B5BBD9 Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #B5BBD9?

#B5BBD9 is a light blue — rgb(181, 187, 217) in RGB and hsl(230, 32%, 78%) in HSL. It carries no registered color name of its own; the closest named color is Light Steel Blue (#B0C4DE), which is clearly related but distinguishable side by side at a CIE76 distance of 5.76.

What is the RGB value of #B5BBD9?

#B5BBD9 is rgb(181, 187, 217) — red 181, green 187, and blue 217 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #B5BBD9?

#B5BBD9 converts to approximately cmyk(17%, 14%, 0%, 15%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #B5BBD9 be black or white?

Black text is the more readable choice. #B5BBD9 scores 1.9:1 against white and 11.07:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #B5BBD9 as a CSS color keyword?

No. #B5BBD9 is not one of the CSS color keywords, so it has to be written as a hex, rgb() or hsl() value. The closest keyword is lightsteelblue (#B0C4DE) at a CIE76 distance of 5.76, which is clearly related but distinguishable side by side.

Open #B5BBD9 in a Tool

Hex to RGBHex to HSLHex to CMYKHex to OKLCHHex to PantoneBuild a paletteMake a gradient

Keep exploring: every blue in the color library, the guide to shades of blue, or the full color library.