CSS named color
LightBlue #ADD8E6
LightBlue (CSS keyword lightblue) has the hex code #ADD8E6 and the RGB value rgb(173, 216, 230): a very light, muted sky blue.
A soft, pale blue (#add8e6), slightly bluer than powderblue. It is a common background for informational messages.
Color codes for LightBlue
| CSS keyword | lightblue |
|---|---|
| HEX | #ADD8E6 |
| RGB | rgb(173, 216, 230) |
| HSL | hsl(195, 53%, 79%) |
| HWB | hwb(195 68% 10%) |
| OKLCH | oklch(85.6% 0.049 219.7) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(25%, 6%, 0%, 10%) |
| Decimal | 11,393,254 |
| Hue family | Blues |
Contrast and accessibility
On lightblue, black text has a contrast ratio of 13.74:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 1.52:1.
WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios (success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6: AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1 and 4.5:1). APCA Lc is the lightness contrast from the APCA-W3 0.0.98G model proposed for WCAG 3; a higher absolute value is more readable, and Lc 75 is its suggested minimum for body text.
| Pair | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | AAA large | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black text on lightblue | 13.74:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 79.3 |
| White text on lightblue | 1.52:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −27.7 |
| Lightblue text on white | 1.52:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 24.5 |
| Lightblue text on black | 13.74:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −78.7 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes lightblue with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, lightblue, white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#b1dae7 - 15%
#b9deea - 25%
#c2e2ec - 35%
#cae6ef - 45%
#d2eaf1 - 55%
#daedf4 - 65%
#e2f1f6 - 75%
#ebf5f9 - 85%
#f3f9fb - 95%
#fbfdfe
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#a4cddb - 15%
#93b8c4 - 25%
#82a2ad - 35%
#708c96 - 45%
#5f777f - 55%
#4e6167 - 65%
#3d4c51 - 75%
#2b363a - 85%
#1a2023 - 95%
#090b0c
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, lightblue's complementary color is #EDC6B8 (close to pink), its analogous colors are #ACDBD7 and #B8D3EF, and its triadic partners are #E7C4DA and #D7D1AD. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #edc6b8 |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #acdbd7#b8d3ef |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #e7c4da#d7d1ad |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #eec3c9#e5cbae |
Computed in OKLCH: the hue is rotated by 180° (complementary), ±30° (analogous), ±120° (triadic) and 180° ±30° (split-complementary) while lightness and chroma stay fixed. Results that fall outside sRGB are brought back with the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm. Because this uses OKLCH, the values differ from tools that rotate hue in HSL, but every color keeps the same perceived lightness.
Warm or cool?
LightBlue is a cool color: its hue is 195° on the HSL wheel, in the green, blue and violet range that is conventionally called cool.
Nearest named and Tailwind colors
Distance is ΔE OK, the Euclidean distance in OKLab multiplied by 100. Values under about 2 are hard to tell apart side by side.
Nearest CSS named colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| powderblue | #b0e0e6 | 2.2 |
| lightgray | #d3d3d3 | 5.0 |
| lightsteelblue | #b0c4de | 5.1 |
Code snippets
.element {
color: lightblue;
background-color: #add8e6;
border-color: rgb(173 216 230);
outline-color: oklch(85.6% 0.049 219.7);
}<div class="bg-[#add8e6] text-black">...</div>
/* or register it once in your CSS (Tailwind v4) */
@theme {
--color-lightblue: #add8e6;
}
/* then use bg-lightblue, text-lightblue, border-lightblue */import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let lightblue = Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.847, blue: 0.902)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Lightblue = Color(0xFFADD8E6)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const lightblue = Color(0xFFADD8E6);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="lightblue">#ADD8E6</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for lightblue?
- The hex code for lightblue is #ADD8E6. The same color is rgb(173, 216, 230), hsl(195, 53%, 79%) and oklch(85.6% 0.049 219.7), and in CSS you can also write the keyword lightblue directly.
- Is lightblue a warm or cool color?
- LightBlue is a cool color: its hue is 195° on the HSL wheel, in the green, blue and violet range that is conventionally called cool.
- What colors go with lightblue?
- Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, lightblue's complementary color is #EDC6B8 (close to pink), its analogous colors are #ACDBD7 and #B8D3EF, and its triadic partners are #E7C4DA and #D7D1AD. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
- Can you use white text on lightblue?
- White text on lightblue has a contrast ratio of 1.52:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 13.74:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −27.7 for white and Lc 79.3 for black.
- What is the RGB value of lightblue?
- LightBlue is rgb(173, 216, 230): red 173, green 216 and blue 230 on the 0 to 255 scale, or 67.8%, 84.7% and 90.2%. As a decimal integer it is 11393254.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.