ColorXprez

#BBBBDB

Thistle · light cool blue

About #BBBBDB

#BBBBDB is a muted, light shade in the blue family. On screen it is built from 73% red, 73% green and 86% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 15% cyan, 15% magenta, 0% yellow and 14% black. Its overall feel is cool.

Of the common colour names it is similar to Thistle (ΔE 10.2); Periwinkle comes next. Its complementary colour, directly opposite on the colour wheel, is #DBDBBB — a oat tone that gives the strongest contrast in hue.

Designers tend to use light tones like #BBBBDB for large surfaces, cards and soft highlights. Put black text on top of it — 11.24:1, a WCAG AAA pass.

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red187
Green187
Blue219

Closest named colours

Thistle
#D8BFD8 · ΔE 10.2
Periwinkle
#CCCCFF · ΔE 11.9
Dusty Blue
#8CA3B8 · ΔE 14.8

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

Text on #BBBBDB

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BBBBDB.
1.87:1Fail
Black heading text
Body copy set on thistle #BBBBDB.
11.24:1AAA

Colour-blindness preview

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

Normal vision
#BBBBDB
Protanopia (no red cones)
#B4BEDD
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#B3BDDA
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#B4C0C5

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #BBBBDB?

#BBBBDB is a muted, light shade in the blue family. On screen it is built from 73% red, 73% green and 86% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 15% cyan, 15% magenta, 0% yellow and 14% black. Its overall feel is cool.

›What text colour should I use on #BBBBDB?

Use black text. Black on #BBBBDB has a contrast ratio of 11.24:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #BBBBDB?

Its complementary colour is #DBDBBB, and analogous partners are #BBCBDB and #CBBBDB.