Color #ADA9BC Color / Colour Code #ADA9BC
This page shows the hex color code for color #ada9bc (#ADA9BC). The colour is a blue tone with 12% saturation and 70% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #ADA9BC against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#ADA9BC paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 223, 253, and 283 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 253, 13, and 133 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #ADA9BC
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 253 and saturation at 12%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 253 to 298 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 253 with its complement at 73 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 #ADA9BC
Lightness variations at hue 253 and 12% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #ADA9BC
Design Use Cases for #ADA9BC
Muted Accent Color
With 12% saturation, #ADA9BC 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
#ADA9BC at 70% 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
#ADA9BC sits in the blue range (hue 253). 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 #ADA9BC (hue 253) to its complement at hue 73. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 283. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ada9bc, #b8bca9);
CSS Code for #ADA9BC
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #ADA9BC based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #ADA9BC across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #ADA9BC (#ADA9BC)
#ADA9BC is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 173 red, 169 green, and 188 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 253 degrees with 12% saturation and 70% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #ADA9BC is 172/255 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 8% cyan, 10% magenta, 0% yellow, and 26% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #ADA9BC against white is 2.29:1 and against black is 9.18:1. This does not meet AA requirements on white. Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 9.18:1, or use it exclusively for decorative purposes.
The complementary colour #B8BCA9 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #ADA9BC. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #A9AFBC and #B6A9BC, 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 #ADA9BC
- 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 #ADA9BC?
- #ADA9BC is Color #ADA9BC, a blue color (colour) with RGB(173, 169, 188), HSL(253, 12%, 70%), and CMYK(8%, 10%, 0%, 26%). Its perceived brightness is 172/255.
- Is #ADA9BC accessible for text?
- Against white, #ADA9BC has a contrast ratio of 2.29:1 (fails AA for normal text). Against black, it has 9.18:1 (passes AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #ADA9BC?
- The complementary colour is #B8BCA9 (hue 73). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #A9AFBC and #B6A9BC. The triadic palette adds #BCADA9 and #A9BCAD for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #ADA9BC in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #ada9bc; or rgb(173, 169, 188); or hsl(253, 12%, 70%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 253 12% 70%; 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.