#ADDFDC

sRGB: 173 / 223 / 220

Radiant blossoms command forgotten kingdoms
Electric visions transform the fabric of existence
Fierce revelations awaken sleeping galaxies

#ADDFDC belongs to the cyan family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 173 red, 223 green and 220 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 176.4° lands in the cyan region. Its 43.9% saturation makes it partway between gray and the most vivid version of this hue at this lightness. HSL lightness is 77.6% on a scale from black (0%) to white (100%). Of black and white lettering, black has the clearer light-to-dark separation on this background (14.37:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 173, 223, 220
HSL: 176.40°, 43.86%, 77.65%
HSV / HSB: 176.40°, 22.42%, 87.45%
CMYK (approx.): 22.42%, 0.00%, 1.35%, 12.55%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 56.537, 66.826, 77.632
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 85.416, -16.634, -3.805
WCAG relative luminance: 0.66827
24-bit decimal: 11395036

CMYK uses a profile-free approximation. Printed output depends on the press, ink and paper. Lab uses a D65 white point.

Text contrast

Contrast tells you how clearly lettering separates from #ADDFDC in light and dark. The ratio compares relative luminance, a measure of light weighted for human vision. Identical colors give 1:1 and black against white gives 21:1. A ratio of 2.99:1 falls just below the 3:1 AA minimum for large text. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 because its finer strokes are harder to distinguish.

Black text: 14.37:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text: 1.46:1

Normal text: Fail
Large text: Fail

AA and AAA are WCAG accessibility levels. AAA sets a higher bar: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Large text begins at 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold. Ratings use the unrounded ratio.

Reference: WCAG text contrast guidance

Palettes & scales

Harmonies rotate the hue. Scales mix the starting color with white, black or middle gray in 20% steps in encoded sRGB.

Complementary

#DFADB0 sits half a turn (180°) from #ADDFDC on the HSL wheel. Keeping saturation and lightness steady while crossing to the opposite hue gives you a contrasting accent. Check text contrast separately before using the pair for lettering.

#ADDFDC #DFADB0

Analogous

#ADDFC3 and #ADC9DF sit 30° to either side of #ADDFDC. The three hues are neighbors on the wheel, so you can change the color of a border or highlight while keeping it close to the original.

#ADDFC3 #ADDFDC #ADC9DF

Triadic

#ADDFDC, #DCADDF and #DFDCAD are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#ADDFDC #DCADDF #DFDCAD

Split complementary

Start at #ADDFDC and look across the wheel. #DFADC9 and #DFC3AD sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#ADDFDC #DFADC9 #DFC3AD

Square

Starting with #ADDFDC, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #C3ADDF, #DFADB0, then #C9DFAD. Across the square, #ADDFDC pairs with #DFADB0, and #C3ADDF with #C9DFAD.

#ADDFDC #C3ADDF #DFADB0 #C9DFAD

Tetradic

#ADDFDC and #DFADB0 are opposites, as are #ADB0DF and #DFDCAD. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#ADDFDC #ADB0DF #DFADB0 #DFDCAD

Tints

Mixing #ADDFDC with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #BDE5E3, keeps 80% of the original. By #EFF9F8, the mixture is 80% white.

#ADDFDC #BDE5E3 #CEECEA #DEF2F1 #EFF9F8 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #ADDFDC with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #8AB2B0, keeps 80% of the original. By #232D2C, the mixture is 80% black.

#ADDFDC #8AB2B0 #688684 #455958 #232D2C #000000

Tones

Mixing #ADDFDC with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #A4CCCA, keeps 80% of the original. By #899392, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#ADDFDC #A4CCCA #9BB9B7 #92A6A5 #899392 #808080

Copy color codes

Hex, RGB and HSL are three ways to write this screen color. Paste any of them into a CSS color property.

Hex

#ADDFDC

RGB

rgb(173 223 220)

HSL

hsl(176.400 43.860% 77.647%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #ADDFDC;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#ADDFDC uses 173 red, 223 green and 220 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 67.8%

Green 87.5%

Blue 86.3%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #ADDFDC is 22.4% cyan, 0.0% magenta, 1.3% yellow and 12.5% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 22.4%

Magenta 0.0%

Yellow 1.3%

Black 12.5%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #AADDDD. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #ADD in CSS. For a modern design, keep #ADDFDC when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #99CCCC, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #AADDDD Nearest web-safe: #99CCCC

Gradient to complement

#ADDFDC #B5D7D5 #BECECD #C6C6C6 #CEBEBF #D7B5B7 #DFADB0

Color vision previews

Compare how #ADDFDC appears in each simulation. When two chart lines or status indicators become hard to tell apart, a label, shape or line pattern gives readers another way to distinguish them. Individual perception varies.

Protanopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from long-wavelength cones, some reds and greens can look alike, and reds can appear darker.

#D9DADC

Deuteranopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from medium-wavelength cones, some greens can be difficult to distinguish from reds or browns.

#CFD2DD

Tritanopia

A blue–yellow color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from short-wavelength cones, blue can resemble green, and yellow can resemble pink.

#9EE2DE

Protanomaly (50%)

An altered long-wavelength cone response can make reds appear dimmer and harder to distinguish from greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#CBDBDC

Deuteranomaly (50%)

An altered medium-wavelength cone response can reduce the visible difference between reds and greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#C6D7DD

Tritanomaly (50%)

An altered short-wavelength cone response can make blue harder to distinguish from green. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#ACDFDC

Grayscale (luminance)

This design check removes hue and preserves relative luminance so you can compare light and dark areas.

#D5D5D5

Partial grayscale (50% blend)

This design check mixes the original color halfway toward its grayscale equivalent in linear light. Use it to see how a design holds up as color fades.

#C3DAD9

Reference: National Eye Institute: Types of Color Vision Deficiency

Technical reference

CAM16 and CIECAM02 below assume D65 white, an average surround, background Y of 20 against white at 100, and adapting luminance of 4.07 cd/m².

Linear sRGB

These channels scale with emitted light. Use them for lighting calculations and physically meaningful blends.

R 0.41789 G 0.73791 B 0.71569

Display P3

P3 displays can reproduce a wider range of reds and greens. These coordinates reproduce this same sRGB swatch on a color-managed P3 display.

R 0.71844 G 0.86891 B 0.86088

Linear Display P3

These P3 channels are proportional to light, before display encoding.

R 0.47470 G 0.72729 B 0.71221

CIE xyY

The x and y coordinates locate chromaticity on a diagram. Y gives relative luminance on a scale where white is 100.

x 0.281 y 0.332 Y 66.826

CMY

Ideal cyan, magenta and yellow are the complements of the encoded red, green and blue channels.

C % 32.157 M % 12.549 Y % 13.725

Binary RGB

Each eight-bit group represents one channel. Together they store the 24-bit hex color.

10101101 11011111 11011100