#B5BCD9 Color

#B5BCD9 is rgb(181, 188, 217) in RGB, hsl(228, 32%, 78%) in HSL, and about cmyk(17%, 13%, 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 5.18. Black text is the more readable choice on this background.

#B5BCD9

HEX#B5BCD9

RGBrgb(181, 188, 217)

HSLhsl(228, 32%, 78%)

HSVhsv(228, 17%, 85%)

CMYKcmyk(17%, 13%, 0%, 15%)

OKLCHoklch(79.9% 0.042 274.7)

LABlab(76.40% 1.93 -15.48)

LCHlch(76.40% 15.60 277.11)

What #B5BCD9 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 #B5BCD9, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Light Steel Blue#B0C4DEΔE 5.18 Periwinkle (Crayola)#C3CDE6ΔE 6.34 Light Periwinkle#C5CBE1ΔE 6.59 Wild Blue Yonder#A2ADD0ΔE 6.79 Soap#CEC8EFΔE 8.73 Lavender Gray#C4C3D0ΔE 9.5

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

#B5BCD9 Channel Values

How #B5BCD9 breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

Model	Channels	Notes
RGB	R 181 · G 188 · B 217	8-bit channels as sent to the display
HSL	H 228° · S 32% · L 78%	Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSV	H 228° · S 17% · V 85%	Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYK	C 17% · M 13% · Y 0% · K 15%	Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance	1.88:1 vs white · 11.16:1 vs black	WCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #B5BCD9 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 text1.88:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

TextBlack text11.16:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #B5BCD9 in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #B5BCD9

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #B5BCD9; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base

Complementary

Analogous

Analogous

Triadic

Triadic

Split comp.

Split comp.

Tints & Shades of #B5BCD9

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

Shades

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #B5BCD9.

How #B5BCD9 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#B5BCD9

Protanopia#BBBBD9

Protanomaly#B9BBD9

Deuteranopia#BABAD9

Deuteranomaly#B8BBD9

Tritanopia#B1C0C0

Tritanomaly#B2BECA

Achromatopsia#BDBDBD

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #B5BCD9 in Code

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

CSS custom property--color-b5bcd9: #B5BCD9;

CSS backgroundbackground-color: #B5BCD9;

Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-b5bcd9': '#B5BCD9' }

SwiftUIColor(red: 0.710, green: 0.737, blue: 0.851)

Android XML<color name="color_b5bcd9">#B5BCD9</color>

SVG fillfill="#B5BCD9"

More Blue Colors

#B5BCD9 sits in the blue family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

000024 fafaff 00002e f9fafb 000033 f8fafc 000038 f8f8ff 000042 f5faff 000047 f5f5ff 002147 007dfa 0f52ba 1c39bb 2a3439 372aac 4e3cc3 64609a 7abdff 979aaa b8dbff d6d6ff

#B5BCD9 Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #B5BCD9?

#B5BCD9 is a light blue — rgb(181, 188, 217) in RGB and hsl(228, 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 5.18.

What is the RGB value of #B5BCD9?

#B5BCD9 is rgb(181, 188, 217) — red 181, green 188, and blue 217 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #B5BCD9?

#B5BCD9 converts to approximately cmyk(17%, 13%, 0%, 15%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #B5BCD9 be black or white?

Black text is the more readable choice. #B5BCD9 scores 1.88:1 against white and 11.16:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #B5BCD9 as a CSS color keyword?

No. #B5BCD9 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 5.18, which is clearly related but distinguishable side by side.

Open #B5BCD9 in a Tool

Hex to RGB Hex to HSL Hex to CMYK Hex to OKLCH Hex to Pantone Build a palette Make a gradient

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