#BDBFC4

sRGB: 189 / 191 / 196

Ancient mountains command forgotten kingdoms
Restless constellations transform the fabric of existence
Boundless spirits drift toward tomorrow

#BDBFC4 belongs to the azure family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 189 red, 191 green and 196 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 222.9° lands in the azure region. Its 5.6% saturation makes it close to gray at this lightness. HSL lightness is 75.5% 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 (11.41:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 189, 191, 196
HSL: 222.86°, 5.60%, 75.49%
HSV / HSB: 222.86°, 3.57%, 76.86%
CMYK (approx.): 3.57%, 2.55%, 0.00%, 23.14%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 49.579, 52.066, 59.664
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 77.320, 0.250, -2.754
WCAG relative luminance: 0.52066
24-bit decimal: 12435396

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 #BDBFC4 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: 11.41:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text: 1.84:1

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

#C4C2BD sits half a turn (180°) from #BDBFC4 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.

#BDBFC4 #C4C2BD

Analogous

#BDC3C4 and #BFBDC4 sit 30° to either side of #BDBFC4. 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.

#BDC3C4 #BDBFC4 #BFBDC4

Triadic

#BDBFC4, #C4BDBF and #BFC4BD are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#BDBFC4 #C4BDBF #BFC4BD

Split complementary

Start at #BDBFC4 and look across the wheel. #C4BFBD and #C3C4BD sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#BDBFC4 #C4BFBD #C3C4BD

Square

Starting with #BDBFC4, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #C4BDC3, #C4C2BD, then #BDC4BF. Across the square, #BDBFC4 pairs with #C4C2BD, and #C4BDC3 with #BDC4BF.

#BDBFC4 #C4BDC3 #C4C2BD #BDC4BF

Tetradic

#BDBFC4 and #C4C2BD are opposites, as are #C2BDC4 and #BFC4BD. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#BDBFC4 #C2BDC4 #C4C2BD #BFC4BD

Tints

Mixing #BDBFC4 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #CACCD0, keeps 80% of the original. By #F2F2F3, the mixture is 80% white.

#BDBFC4 #CACCD0 #D7D9DC #E5E5E7 #F2F2F3 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #BDBFC4 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #97999D, keeps 80% of the original. By #262627, the mixture is 80% black.

#BDBFC4 #97999D #717376 #4C4C4E #262627 #000000

Tones

Mixing #BDBFC4 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #B1B2B6, keeps 80% of the original. By #8C8D8E, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#BDBFC4 #B1B2B6 #A5A6A9 #98999B #8C8D8E #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

#BDBFC4

RGB

rgb(189 191 196)

HSL

hsl(222.857 5.600% 75.490%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #BDBFC4;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#BDBFC4 uses 189 red, 191 green and 196 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 74.1%

Green 74.9%

Blue 76.9%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #BDBFC4 is 3.6% cyan, 2.6% magenta, 0.0% yellow and 23.1% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 3.6%

Magenta 2.6%

Yellow 0.0%

Black 23.1%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #BBBBCC. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #BBC in CSS. For a modern design, keep #BDBFC4 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCCCC, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #BBBBCC Nearest web-safe: #CCCCCC

Gradient to complement

#BDBFC4 #BEC0C3 #BFC0C2 #C1C1C1 #C2C1BF #C3C2BE #C4C2BD

Color vision previews

Compare how #BDBFC4 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.

#BEBFC4

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.

#BDBFC4

Tritanopia

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

#BCC0C1

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.

#BDBFC4

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.

#BDBFC4

Tritanomaly (50%)

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

#BDBFC3

Grayscale (luminance)

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

#BFBFBF

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.

#BEBFC1

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 0.50888 G 0.52100 B 0.55201

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 0.74258 G 0.74876 B 0.76677

Linear Display P3

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

R 0.51103 G 0.52059 B 0.54903

CIE xyY

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

x 0.307 y 0.323 Y 52.066

CMY

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

C % 25.882 M % 25.098 Y % 23.137

Binary RGB

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

10111101 10111111 11000100