ColorXprez

#BBB6DA

Thistle · light cool blue

About #BBB6DA

#BBB6DA is a muted, light shade in the blue family. On screen it is built from 73% red, 71% green and 85% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 14% cyan, 17% magenta, 0% yellow and 15% black. Its overall feel is cool.

Of the common colour names it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 10.3); Periwinkle comes next. Its complementary colour, directly opposite on the colour wheel, is #D5DAB6 — a light sage tone that gives the strongest contrast in hue.

Designers tend to use light tones like #BBB6DA for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Black text reads best on it at 10.82:1 (a WCAG AAA pass).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red187
Green182
Blue218

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 10.3
Periwinkle
#CCCCFF · ΔE 11.1
Lilac
#C8A2C8 · ΔE 12.9

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

Text on #BBB6DA

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BBB6DA.
1.94:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BBB6DA.
10.82:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

How #BBB6DA appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#BBB6DA
Protanopia (no red cones)
#AEBBDC
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#AEB9D9
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B5BCC2

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BBB6DA?

#BBB6DA is a muted, light shade in the blue family. On screen it is built from 73% red, 71% green and 85% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 14% cyan, 17% magenta, 0% yellow and 15% black. Its overall feel is cool.

›What text colour should I use on #BBB6DA?

Use black text. Black on #BBB6DA has a contrast ratio of 10.82:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BBB6DA?

Its complementary colour is #D5DAB6, and analogous partners are #B6C3DA and #CDB6DA.