Color #A6B4CE Color / Colour Code #A6B4CE
This page shows the hex color code for color #a6b4ce (#A6B4CE). The colour is a blue tone with 29% saturation and 73% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #A6B4CE against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#A6B4CE paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 189, 219, and 249 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 219, 339, and 99 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #A6B4CE
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 219 and saturation at 29%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 219 to 264 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 219 with its complement at 39 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #A6B4CE
Lightness variations at hue 219 and 29% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #A6B4CE
Design Use Cases for #A6B4CE
Muted Accent Color
With 29% saturation, #A6B4CE has a subtle, sophisticated quality. This level of desaturation works well for secondary buttons, inactive states, subtle borders, and backgrounds that need a hint of color without being distracting. Muted colors communicate restraint and professionalism.
Light Background Tint
#A6B4CE at 73% lightness creates a gentle tinted background. Use it for section backgrounds, alert banners, or card surfaces that need to stand out from a white page without strong contrast. It adds color personality while keeping the design light and open.
Trust & Professional Identity
#A6B4CE sits in the blue range (hue 219). Blue is the world's most popular color for corporate identities because it conveys trust, stability, and competence. Use it for navigation bars, link text, form focus states, and any element where user confidence matters. Financial, healthcare, and technology brands rely heavily on this hue range.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #A6B4CE (hue 219) to its complement at hue 39. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 249. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a6b4ce, #cec0a6);
CSS Code for #A6B4CE
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #A6B4CE based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #A6B4CE across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #A6B4CE (#A6B4CE)
#A6B4CE is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 166 red, 180 green, and 206 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 219 degrees with 29% saturation and 73% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #A6B4CE is 179/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This is a medium-brightness color that can work with either dark or light text depending on font weight and size. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 19% cyan, 13% magenta, 0% yellow, and 19% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #A6B4CE against white is 2.09:1 and against black is 10.04:1. This does not meet AA requirements on white. Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 10.04:1, or use it exclusively for decorative purposes.
The complementary colour #CEC0A6 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #A6B4CE. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #A6C8CE and #ACA6CE, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #A6B4CE
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #A6B4CE?
- #A6B4CE is Color #A6B4CE, a blue color (colour) with RGB(166, 180, 206), HSL(219, 29%, 73%), and CMYK(19%, 13%, 0%, 19%). Its perceived brightness is 179/255.
- Is #A6B4CE accessible for text?
- Against white, #A6B4CE has a contrast ratio of 2.09:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 10.04:1 (passes AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #A6B4CE?
- The complementary colour is #CEC0A6 (hue 39). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #A6C8CE and #ACA6CE. The triadic palette adds #CEA6B4 and #B4CEA6 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #A6B4CE in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #a6b4ce; or rgb(166, 180, 206); or hsl(219, 29%, 73%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 219 29% 73%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.