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Color palette for light blue
Short answer
Light blue is #ADD8E6: the CSS color named lightblue, defined by the W3C, written rgb(173, 216, 230) or hsl(195, 53%, 79%).
#ADD8E6 · rgb(173, 216, 230) · hsl(195, 53%, 79%) · contrast 1.53:1 on white, 13.74:1 on black
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split complementary
Tetradic (rectangle)
Square
Tints (toward white)
Shades (toward black)
CSS variables for the analogous palette
:root {
--color-1: #ade6d7;
--color-2: #add8e6;
--color-3: #adbce6;
}Nothing is uploaded. Click a color to copy its hex code.
Key takeaways
- Light blue is #ADD8E6, rgb(173, 216, 230), hsl(195, 53%, 79%), CIELAB 83.8, -10.9, -11.5.
- Contrast: 1.5:1 on white and 13.7:1 on black. Black text on light blue passes the WCAG AA minimum of 4.5:1.
- Its complement is #E6BBAD; the analogous colors are #ADE6D7 and #ADBCE6; the triad is #ADD8E6, #E6ADD8, #D8E6AD.
- 0 of the 9 tints and 5 of the 9 shades have at least 4.5:1 on a white background; the first shade that does is #576C73.
- Photographs rich in light blue gave #79ABC9, #628EDD, #97BCD3, #749CE4, #8CAEED, #CEDEF7; the nearest of their colors to #ADD8E6 was 10.6 CIEDE2000 units away.
- For people with deuteranopia the closest pair in the triad is 3.3 apart, against 26.4 for typical vision.
Measured: a palette for light blue, from photographs
Its complement is #E6BBAD; analogous colors are #ADE6D7 and #ADBCE6; a triad adds #E6ADD8 and #D8E6AD. On white it has a contrast ratio of 1.5:1 (fails the WCAG AA minimum of 4.5:1 for normal text) and on black 13.7:1. A palette extracted from three photographs rich in light blue (39%, 33% and 21% of their pixels near the hue) came out as #79ABC9, #628EDD, #97BCD3, #749CE4, #8CAEED, #CEDEF7.
We searched Wikimedia Commons for light blue subjects and kept photographs under Creative Commons or public domain licenses. Of 12 candidates we kept the three with the largest share of pixels within 25 degrees of the hue of the color, with saturation of at least 25% and lightness between 60% and 92%. The tool's own palette code (k-means in CIELAB, no random numbers) found five colors in each photograph. The six colors in the table below come from only the pixels inside the color window, from the three photographs, so they are six shades and neighbors of light blue rather than the whole picture.
| Color | Share | Nearest CSS name | Contrast on white | Contrast on black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #79ABC9 | 27.9% | near skyblue | 2.48:1 | 8.48:1 |
| #628EDD | 18.3% | near cornflowerblue | 3.26:1 | 6.43:1 |
| #97BCD3 | 18.2% | near lightsteelblue | 2.01:1 | 10.45:1 |
| #749CE4 | 15.2% | near cornflowerblue | 2.76:1 | 7.62:1 |
| #8CAEED | 11.4% | near cornflowerblue | 2.24:1 | 9.39:1 |
| #CEDEF7 | 8.9% | near lightsteelblue | 1.36:1 | 15.42:1 |
Light blue appears here as near skyblue, near cornflowerblue, near lightsteelblue, near cornflowerblue, near cornflowerblue, near lightsteelblue. The photo palette is a starting point: colors from a photograph are rarely pure, and the table shows how each performs as text on white and black.
Measured: the photographs
| Photograph | Photographer, license | Pixels near the hue | Five colors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright blue sky with scenic white cloud | Trixia Lao, CC0 | 39% | #C3D1F4 31%, #6994E0 25%, #95B4EE 20%, #99AAD0 13%, #E5EFFD 11% |
| Power lines pole, street light, blue sky with | Matthew Paul Argall from Australia, CC BY 2.0 | 33% | #5695BE 41%, #88B2CB 33%, #DEDBDD 18%, #1F292F 7%, #9A836B 2% |
| Dark to light blue sky | TheUltimateGrass, CC0 | 21% | #395C97 28%, #476CA9 25%, #577DBC 20%, #7AA2DE 15%, #668ECD 13% |
The photographs are credited with their Wikimedia Commons license. The extracted lists are the exact tool output.
Colors that go with light blue
| Harmony | Colors | Closest pair, typical vision | Protanopia | Deuteranopia | Tritanopia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complementary | #ADD8E6, #E6BBAD | 34.7 | 18.1 | 22.7 | 40.9 |
| Analogous | #ADE6D7, #ADD8E6, #ADBCE6 | 13.0 | 9.2 | 7.5 | 3.3 |
| Triadic | #ADD8E6, #E6ADD8, #D8E6AD | 26.4 | 8.6 | 3.3 | 17.3 |
| Split complementary | #ADD8E6, #E6ADBC, #E6D7AD | 25.9 | 9.1 | 13.7 | 12.7 |
| Tetradic (rectangle) | #ADD8E6, #BBADE6, #E6BBAD, #D8E6AD | 21.9 | 12.3 | 8.1 | 14.4 |
| Square | #ADD8E6, #D7ADE6, #E6BBAD, #BCE6AD | 23.5 | 11.4 | 5.7 | 6.7 |
The complement, #E6BBAD, sits opposite #ADD8E6 on the color wheel (hue + 180 degrees); Wikipedia's color scheme article describes analogous schemes as neighbors on the wheel and a triadic scheme as colors 120 and 240 degrees apart. Under protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia the colors are simulated with the Machado model at full severity; a closest pair below about 10 is hard to tell apart.
Light blue in numbers
| Notation | Value |
|---|---|
| Hex | #ADD8E6 |
| RGB | rgb(173, 216, 230) |
| HSL | hsl(194.7, 53.3%, 79.0%) |
| CMYK (simple conversion) | 25%, 6%, 0%, 10% |
| CIELAB (D65) | 83.8, -10.9, -11.5 |
| Nearest CSS color name | lightblue #ADD8E6 (exact) |
| Contrast on white | 1.53:1 |
| Contrast on black | 13.74:1 |
Tints, shades and accessible text
| Step | Tint (toward white) | Contrast on white | Shade (toward black) | Contrast on white |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10% | #B5DCE9 | 1.46:1 | #9CC2CF | 1.90:1 |
| 20% | #BDE0EB | 1.40:1 | #8AADB8 | 2.40:1 |
| 30% | #C6E4EE | 1.33:1 | #7997A1 | 3.11:1 |
| 40% | #CEE8F0 | 1.28:1 | #68828A | 4.08:1 |
| 50% | #D6ECF3 | 1.22:1 | #576C73 | 5.53:1 |
| 60% | #DEEFF5 | 1.18:1 | #45565C | 7.67:1 |
| 70% | #E6F3F8 | 1.13:1 | #344145 | 10.56:1 |
| 80% | #EFF7FA | 1.08:1 | #232B2E | 14.42:1 |
| 90% | #F7FBFD | 1.04:1 | #111617 | 18.25:1 |
0 tints and 5 shades reach 4.5:1 against white. The WCAG success criterion 1.4.3 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; criterion 1.4.6 asks for 7:1 for the enhanced level.
Use it in CSS
:root { --lightblue-1: #79abc9; --lightblue-2: #628edd; --lightblue-3: #97bcd3; --lightblue-4: #749ce4; --lightblue-5: #8caeed; --lightblue-6: #cedef7; }
The complement and analogous colors of #ADD8E6: #E6BBAD, #ADE6D7, #ADBCE6.
Free tools:Color palette generatorPalette from an imageImage to textCompress an image
Check the contrast before you use it for text
- Light blue #ADD8E6 on white: 1.53:1; on black: 13.74:1.
- The darkest shade in the table, #111617, reaches 18.25:1 on white.
- Large text (at least 18 point, or 14 point bold) needs 3:1; normal text needs 4.5:1; the enhanced level needs 7:1.
- Do not use color as the only way to tell things apart: about 1 in 12 men have a color vision deficiency.
How the numbers were made
The hex value of light blue is the W3C CSS named color. Harmonies rotate the hue in HSL and keep saturation and lightness. Contrast follows the WCAG 2 definition with relative luminance. Color differences use CIEDE2000, which Wikipedia notes is designed so that a difference of 1.0 stands for a just noticeable difference. Color blindness is simulated with the matrices of Machado, Oliveira and Fernandes (2009) at severity 1.0. Palette extraction: pixels are grouped into 32 levels per channel and clustered with k-means in CIELAB; the same picture always gives the same palette. The accuracy test on pictures of known colors is on the palette generator page.
Questions people ask
What is the hex code for light blue?
Light blue is #ADD8E6 (the W3C CSS named color), rgb(173, 216, 230).
What color goes with light blue?
The complement of #ADD8E6 is #E6BBAD. Analogous colors are #ADE6D7 and #ADBCE6; a triad is #ADD8E6, #E6ADD8, #D8E6AD.
Is #ADD8E6 accessible for text?
On white it has 1.53:1 and on black 13.74:1. The WCAG AA minimum for normal text is 4.5:1, so black text on #ADD8E6 passes.
Can people with color blindness tell the light blue palette apart?
For the six colors of the photo palette, the closest pair is 4.5 apart for typical vision and 4.8 for deuteranopia (CIEDE2000; below about 10 is hard).
How was the palette made?
The tool found the dominant colors of the photographs with k-means clustering in CIELAB. It runs in your browser; you can do the same with your own picture on the palette from image page.
Can I use these colors commercially?
Colors themselves are not licensed. The photographs used to find them keep their Creative Commons licenses, shown in the table.
Can I get a palette from my own photo?
Yes. Use the palette from an image tool; nothing is uploaded.
How many colors should a palette have?
Many designs use five: one dominant, one or two supporting, one accent and a neutral. The tool lets you choose 3 to 10 when you extract from a picture.
What is the difference between tints and shades?
A tint mixes the color with white and a shade mixes it with black. The table shows nine of each in steps of 10%.
Related
Sources and how we checked
- W3C: CSS Color Module Level 4 (named colors) (read 2026-10-10)
- W3C: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.3, Contrast (Minimum) (read 2026-10-10)
- W3C: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.6, Contrast (Enhanced) (read 2026-10-10)
- Wikipedia: Color scheme (read 2026-10-10)
- Wikipedia: Color difference (CIEDE2000) (read 2026-10-10)
- Machado, Oliveira and Fernandes: A physiologically-based model for simulation of color vision deficiency (2009) (read 2026-10-10)
- Wikimedia Commons (the photographs, under the licenses shown) (read 2026-10-10)
Reviewed October 10, 2026. The palettes were found with the tool's own code from Creative Commons photographs; contrast, harmonies and color differences are computed. The files and results are in data/seo/hub/evidence/2026-10-10/palette.