Complementary
Two colors from opposite sides of the wheel. They make each other look more vivid, which is why the pairing is used for anything that needs to stand out.
Baby blue
#89CFF0Baby blue is commonly given as the hex color #89CFF0, with RGB values 137, 207, 240. It is not a CSS keyword, so the value is a widely used convention rather than a standard.
Quick colors, then fill the screen
Or a gradient
Or let it move
#89CFF0rgb(137, 207, 240) · hsl(199, 77%, 74%)
Baby blue color codes
Every value for #89CFF0, ready to paste. Click any code to copy it.
| Channel | Decimal | Share | Hex | Octal | Binary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 137 | 53.73% | 89 | 211 | 10001001 |
| Green | 207 | 81.18% | CF | 317 | 11001111 |
| Blue | 240 | 94.12% | F0 | 360 | 11110000 |
The nearest web-safe color is #99CCFF, from the 216-color palette browsers agreed on before displays could be trusted with more.
About baby blue
Marginally more saturated than sky blue and used almost entirely in fashion and nursery contexts. No standard value, so treat this as the common convention.
Shades, tints and tones
Every step is generated from #89CFF0. Click a swatch to copy its hex.
Shades of baby blue
A shade is the base color with black mixed in. Shades read as deeper and more dramatic, and they are what you reach for when a color needs to recede or carry weight.
Tints of baby blue
A tint is the base color with white mixed in. Tints turn pastel as they lighten, which makes them useful for backgrounds and for anything that has to sit behind text.
Tones of baby blue
A tone is the base color with grey mixed in. Tones lose the shout without losing the hue, and they are usually what separates a considered palette from a loud one.
The baby blue scale
The same color as the 50 to 950 ladder every CSS framework uses, with #89CFF0 at 500. Click a step to copy its hex, or take the whole scale as variables for a design system.
Color schemes built on baby blue
Harmonies are positions on the color wheel rather than matters of taste, which is why they keep working across very different designs.
Analogous
Three neighbours on the wheel. Nothing competes, so the result reads calm and settled, closer to how colour behaves in nature.
Split complementary
The base plus the two colors either side of its complement. It keeps most of the contrast while being much easier to balance.
Triadic
Three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Strong and lively, and usually best with one dominant color and two accents.
Tetradic
Two complementary pairs, forming a rectangle on the wheel. The richest scheme available, and the hardest to keep from shouting.
Monochromatic
One hue at different lightness levels. Effortlessly cohesive, and the safest way to build a palette around a brand color.
Colors close to #89CFF0
Near neighbours, for when this color is almost right. Each one shifts hue, saturation or lightness by a small step.
Baby blue color palettes
Five-color palettes built around #89CFF0, each following a different scheme. Click any swatch to copy it, or open the generator to build your own.
Analogous
Complementary
Triadic
Monochromatic
Open the palette generator to lock the colors you like and regenerate the rest.
Contrast and readability
Whether baby blue works as text, and what to put on top of it when it is the background. Ratios follow WCAG 2.1, where 4.5 is the bar for body text and 3 for large text.
Baby blue text on white background
1.71:1 · PoorLarge text at 24 pixels
Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.
- Body AA
- Body AAA
- Large AA
- Large AAA
Baby blue text on black background
12.25:1 · ExcellentLarge text at 24 pixels
Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.
- Body AA
- Body AAA
- Large AA
- Large AAA
Used the other way round, #89CFF0 as a background takes #000000 text. That is the higher-contrast of the two, and it is what the tool picks automatically for any chrome sitting on your color.
Baby blue reads better on a black background of the two. Contrast is a property of the pair, not of one color, so a color that fails here can still be perfectly usable against a different partner.
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The blue family
Baby blue sits in the blue family. Every named blue in the library, with baby blue first.
| Swatch | Name | Hex | RGB | HSL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| is the color on this page | #89CFF0 | 137, 207, 240 | 199, 77%, 74% | |
| Blue is a CSS keyword | #0000FF | 0, 0, 255 | 240, 100%, 50% | |
| Navy is a CSS keyword | #000080 | 0, 0, 128 | 240, 100%, 25% | |
| Royal blue is a CSS keyword | #4169E1 | 65, 105, 225 | 225, 73%, 57% | |
| Sky blue is a CSS keyword | #87CEEB | 135, 206, 235 | 197, 71%, 73% | |
| Cobalt | #0047AB | 0, 71, 171 | 215, 100%, 34% | |
| Indigo is a CSS keyword | #4B0082 | 75, 0, 130 | 275, 100%, 25% | |
| Periwinkle | #CCCCFF | 204, 204, 255 | 240, 100%, 90% | |
| Powder blue is a CSS keyword | #B0E0E6 | 176, 224, 230 | 187, 52%, 80% | |
| Steel blue is a CSS keyword | #4682B4 | 70, 130, 180 | 207, 44%, 49% | |
| Midnight blue is a CSS keyword | #191970 | 25, 25, 112 | 240, 64%, 27% | |
| Denim | #1560BD | 21, 96, 189 | 213, 80%, 41% | |
| Cerulean | #2A52BE | 42, 82, 190 | 224, 64%, 45% | |
| Dodger blue is a CSS keyword | #1E90FF | 30, 144, 255 | 210, 100%, 56% | |
| Prussian blue | #003153 | 0, 49, 83 | 205, 100%, 16% |