Palettes / Colors / #9CAEBA

#9CAEBA — Light Dusty Blue

#9CAEBA is a blue color we call Light Dusty 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 #9CAEBA 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.

#9CAEBA 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 #BAA89C; it also sits naturally between #9CBAB7 and #9C9FBA. 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 68% · Blue 73%

Cyan 16% · Magenta 6% · Yellow 0% · Key 27%

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

Previews

CSS code for #9CAEBA

.text { color: #9CAEBA; }
.background { background-color: #9CAEBA; }
.border { border: 3px solid #9CAEBA; }
.text-rgb { color: rgb(156, 174, 186); }
.text-hsl { color: hsl(204, 18%, 67%); }
.text-shadow-hex { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px #9CAEBA; }
.text-shadow-rgba { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px rgba(156, 174, 186, 0.8); }
.box-shadow-hex { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px #9CAEBA; }
.box-shadow-rgba { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px rgba(156, 174, 186, 0.8); }

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

Shades of #9CAEBA

Tints of #9CAEBA

Tones of #9CAEBA

Color harmonies

Complementary — #BAA89C:

Analogous:

Triadic:

Contrast & accessibility

Best text color on #9CAEBA: #000000.

Semi-transparent (opacity) text on #9CAEBA

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 #9CAEBA 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 #9CAEBA 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

← #9CAEB9  ·  #9CAEBB →

Frequently asked questions

What color is #9CAEBA?

#9CAEBA is Light Dusty Blue, a blue color (RGB 156, 174, 186). Its closest standard named color is DarkGray.

What is the RGB and HSL of #9CAEBA?

#9CAEBA is RGB 156, 174, 186 — HSL 204°, 18%, 67% — CMYK 16%, 6%, 0%, 27%.

What colors go with #9CAEBA?

Its complement is #BAA89C; analogous partners are #9CBAB7 and #9C9FBA. It also appears in 6+ palettes in our collection.

Can I use #9CAEBA for text?

Black text on #9CAEBA has a contrast ratio of 9.18:1 (passes WCAG AA); white text gives 2.29:1.