Palettes / Colors / #9CA3CD

#9CA3CD — Light Muted Blue

#9CA3CD is a blue color we call Light Muted Blue, closest to the named color DarkGray (#A9A9A9). It belongs to the blue family.

Color name

Closest CSS keyword: darkgray (#A9A9A9) — not an exact match. CSS darkgray gives you #A9A9A9, a different color; use #9CA3CD when you need this exact shade.

Sources: common names follow widely used color-name references; CSS keywords and their hex values follow the CSS Color specification.

#9CA3CD is a cool blue color associated with trust, calm and professionalism. It sits comfortably in the middle: usable for large areas in soft schemes, or as a supporting color beside something stronger.

Its strongest partner is its complement #CDC69D; it also sits naturally between #9DBCCD and #AE9DCD. In the palettes below you can see it working alongside real color combinations from our collection.

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Color values

RGB & CMYK percentages

Red 61% · Green 64% · Blue 80%

Cyan 24% · Magenta 20% · Yellow 0% · Key 20%

CMYK values are unprofiled approximations for screen reference — not a print-proofing guarantee.

Previews

CSS code for #9CA3CD

.text { color: #9CA3CD; }
.background { background-color: #9CA3CD; }
.border { border: 3px solid #9CA3CD; }
.text-rgb { color: rgb(156, 163, 205); }
.text-hsl { color: hsl(231, 33%, 71%); }
.text-shadow-hex { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px #9CA3CD; }
.text-shadow-rgba { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px rgba(156, 163, 205, 0.8); }
.box-shadow-hex { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px #9CA3CD; }
.box-shadow-rgba { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px rgba(156, 163, 205, 0.8); }

HTML: <p style="color:#9CA3CD">Text here</p> · <div style="background-color:#9CA3CD">Div content here</div>

Shades of #9CA3CD

Tints of #9CA3CD

Tones of #9CA3CD

Color harmonies

Complementary — #CDC69D:

Analogous:

Triadic:

Contrast & accessibility

Best text color on #9CA3CD: #000000.

Semi-transparent (opacity) text on #9CA3CD

Text set with opacity blends into the background, so its real contrast is lower than the solid ratios above. Choose a text color and an opacity to see the blended color and its true ratio:

How #9CA3CD looks with color blindness

Simulated with standard Machado color-vision-deficiency matrices — useful when this color carries meaning in charts, maps or interfaces:

Closest design-system colors

The nearest matches in the Tailwind CSS, Material Design and Bootstrap palettes — handy when you need a framework class instead of a raw hex:

Palettes with a similar color

These palettes use a close neighbour of #9CA3CD rather than the exact color:

Similar colors

The closest colors that actually appear in our palette collection — click any to open its page:

Browse neighbouring colors

← #9CA3CC  ·  #9CA3CE →

Frequently asked questions

What color is #9CA3CD?

#9CA3CD is Light Muted Blue, a blue color (RGB 156, 163, 205). Its closest standard named color is DarkGray.

What is the RGB and HSL of #9CA3CD?

#9CA3CD is RGB 156, 163, 205 — HSL 231°, 33%, 71% — CMYK 24%, 20%, 0%, 20%.

What colors go with #9CA3CD?

Its complement is #CDC69D; analogous partners are #9DBCCD and #AE9DCD. It also appears in 6+ palettes in our collection.

Can I use #9CA3CD for text?

Black text on #9CA3CD has a contrast ratio of 8.53:1 (passes WCAG AA); white text gives 2.46:1.