ColorXprez

#B9BFDD

Thistle · light cool blue

About #B9BFDD

With the hex code #B9BFDD, this is a light blue with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 73% red, 75% green and 87% blue, while a printer would mix 16% cyan, 14% magenta, 0% yellow and 13% black. It reads as a cool colour.

If you had to name it, it is similar to Thistle — a ΔE of 11.5 — followed by Periwinkle. For maximum hue contrast, pair it with its complement #DDD7B9, a oat shade.

In design, a light colour like this works best for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Put black text on top of it — 11.56:1, a WCAG AAA pass.

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red185
Green191
Blue221

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 11.5
Periwinkle
#CCCCFF · ΔE 12.6
Dusty Blue
#8CA3B8 · ΔE 14.1

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #B9BFDD

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B9BFDD.
1.82:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #B9BFDD.
11.56:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #B9BFDD appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#B9BFDD
Protanopia (no red cones)
#B7C2DE
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#B5BFDC
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B1C4C9

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #B9BFDD?

With the hex code #B9BFDD, this is a light blue with a muted character. Its RGB recipe is 73% red, 75% green and 87% blue, while a printer would mix 16% cyan, 14% magenta, 0% yellow and 13% black. It reads as a cool colour.

›What text colour should I use on #B9BFDD?

Use black text. Black on #B9BFDD has a contrast ratio of 11.56:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #B9BFDD?

Its complementary colour is #DDD7B9, and analogous partners are #B9D1DD and #C5B9DD.