Powder Blue

#B8E3E9

What color is Powder Blue?

Powder blue is a soft, pale blue with a slightly cool and airy quality, hex #B8E3E9, similar in tone to a clear winter sky. It has enough blue to read as a definite color but is light enough to feel almost translucent.

What is the meaning of the color Powder Blue?

Early recorded uses of the name connect it to powdered smalt, a blue pigment ground from cobalt glass and used by European painters and dyers from the 16th century onward. By the 18th century, the term appeared in English fabric and textile trade to describe pale blue cloth used in fashionable dress. The color gained broader cultural presence when it became associated with infant clothing conventions in the early 20th century, a practice documented in American department store catalogs by the 1920s. Tiffany and Co. later helped anchor a related pale blue in luxury retail, though powder blue itself is most concretely fixed to the 1927 Oxford English Dictionary entry that records it as an established color name.

RGB
184, 227, 233
HSL
187°, 53%, 82%
CMYK
21, 3, 0, 9
HSV
187°, 21%, 91%
Powder blue color

What colors go with Powder Blue?

Colors that pair well with Powder blue include:
White: clean, open contrast
Navy: deep, grounding anchor
Soft coral: warm, gentle balance
Sage green: calm, natural harmony
Charcoal: quiet, modern depth

Similar Colors

Conversions & Codes

Format Value CSS
HEX #B8E3E9 color: #B8E3E9;
RGB 184, 227, 233 color: rgb(184, 227, 233);
RGB Percentage 72%, 89%, 91% color: rgb(72%, 89%, 91%);
CMYK 21%, 3%, 0%, 9% Not supported in CSS
HSL 187°, 53%, 82% color: hsl(187, 53%, 82%);
HSV 187°, 21%, 91% Not supported in CSS
CIE-LAB 66, -9, -2 color: lab(66% -9 -2);
Decimal 12116969 Not supported in CSS

Color Variations

Shades

#B9E4E9
#99D7E0
#79CBD6
#59BFCC
#3BB0C0
#3193A0
#277680
#1D5860

Tints

#EAF7F9
#E3F4F6
#DCF1F4
#D5EFF2
#CEECF0
#C7E9EE
#C0E6EC
#B9E4E9

Tones

#B9E4E9
#BBE2E7
#BEE0E5
#C0DEE2
#C3DCE0
#C5DADD
#C7D9DB
#CAD7D8

Hues

#B9E4E9
#B9BFE9
#D7B9E9
#E9B9D8
#E9BEB9
#E9E3B9
#CBE9B9
#B9E9CB

Color Harmonies

Analogous

#B9E9D7
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#B8E3E9
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#B9CBE9
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Complementary

#B8E3E9
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#E9BEB9
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Split Complementary

#B8E3E9
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#E9B9CB
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#E9D7B9
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Triadic

#B8E3E9
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#E9B9E4
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#E4E9B9
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Tetradic

#B8E3E9
Click to copy
#D7B9E9
Click to copy
#E9BEB9
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#CBE9B9
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Square

#B8E3E9
Click to copy
#D7B9E9
Click to copy
#E9BEB9
Click to copy
#CBE9B9
Click to copy

CSS & Dev Snippets

CSS
.powder-blue {
  color: #B8E3E9;
}
SCSS
$powder-blue: #B8E3E9;
RGB
rgb(184, 227, 233)

Accessibility & Contrast

White background

1.38:1
1.38
contrast ratio on a white background
Element
AA
AAA
Small text
Large text
UI element

Black background

15.20:1
15.20
contrast ratio on a black background
Element
AA
AAA
Small text
Large text
UI element

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