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Cerulean Pearl Muted
Color detail

Cerulean Pearl Muted

Blue · Hue 190
Metrics
S 18% · L 84%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white1.4:1Failon black14.8:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cerulean Pearl Muted (#CFDBDE) belongs to the blue family — hue 190°, 18% saturation, 84% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-cerulean-pearl-muted: #CFDBDE;
  --colorarchive-cerulean-pearl-muted-hsl: hsl(190, 18%, 84%);
  --colorarchive-cerulean-pearl-muted-rgb: rgb(207, 219, 222);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

SereneTrustworthyClean
Common in

Social Media · Cloud Storage · Baby Products

Pairs well with

Light gray for tech minimalism, peach for friendly warmth

Design tip

The default choice for tech and social platforms for good reason. Light blue backgrounds reduce anxiety and increase trust.

Cultural context ▶

Light blue represents peace, sky, and openness. It's the most universally liked color, making it safe for global brands.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is one of the hardest colors for nature to make with pigment — and, historically, one of the most expensive to paint with. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan, could cost as much as gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer used it lavishly. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) quickly gave painters a cheap alternative to ultramarine; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized blue.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for centuries. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In America, IBM's blue logo helped earn it the nickname 'Big Blue'; in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — in one ten-country survey it led every other color by 8 to 18 points.

In the wild

Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is blue because he is red-green colorblind. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for years before the 2023 rebrand to X scrapped it. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue tends to recede — the eye focuses blue light slightly in front of the retina, which can make blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

A pale, gentle tone — pastel territory, where the hue acts more like a tinted neutral than a stated color.

Lightness band: At this lightness the hue almost recedes into the surface around it — useful for backgrounds, hover states, and any surface where the color should suggest a mood without competing with content.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #CFDBDE.

  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Anthropicneutral
    Light Gray · #E8E6DC
    →
  • Aesopneutral
    Cream Paper · #EFE4D2
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #CFDBDE.

  • France (Paris)Lutetian Limestone
    #E5DDC8 · Paris facade stone (Haussmannian-era buildings)
    →
  • IcelandLopapeysa Cream
    #E8DFCC · Undyed Icelandic sheep wool
    →
  • Korea (Obangsaek)Hanji Cream
    #EAE0CB · Mulberry-fiber Korean paper
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

HistoryIndigo: The Color That Built Trade Routes and Made Blue CheapBrand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemColor PsychologyRestaurant Interior Color Guide: How Color Affects Appetite, Dwell Time, and Dining Experience

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Cerulean Mist Muted
#E1E9EA · hsl(190, 18%, 90%)
Darker companion
Cerulean Bloom Muted
#B7C9CD · hsl(190, 18%, 76%)
Complementary counterpoint
Ruby Pearl Muted
#DED1CF · hsl(10, 18%, 84%)
Analogous lead
Sapphire Pearl Muted
#CFD6DE · hsl(210, 18%, 84%)
Analogous echo
Lagoon Pearl Muted
#CFDEDB · hsl(170, 18%, 84%)
Triadic +120°
Peony Pearl Muted
#DECFDB · hsl(310, 18%, 84%)
Triadic +240°
Honey Pearl Muted
#DBDECF · hsl(70, 18%, 84%)
Split-comp +150°
Garnet Pearl Muted
#DECFD4 · hsl(340, 18%, 84%)
Split-comp +210°
Apricot Pearl Muted
#DED9CF · hsl(40, 18%, 84%)
Export preview
Base: Cerulean Pearl Muted #CFDBDE
Lighter companion: Cerulean Mist Muted #E1E9EA
Darker companion: Cerulean Bloom Muted #B7C9CD
Complementary counterpoint: Ruby Pearl Muted #DED1CF
Analogous lead: Sapphire Pearl Muted #CFD6DE
Analogous echo: Lagoon Pearl Muted #CFDEDB
Triadic +120°: Peony Pearl Muted #DECFDB
Triadic +240°: Honey Pearl Muted #DBDECF
Split-comp +150°: Garnet Pearl Muted #DECFD4
Split-comp +210°: Apricot Pearl Muted #DED9CF

Compare

See how Cerulean Pearl Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsCerulean Mist MutedvsCerulean Bloom MutedvsRuby Pearl MutedvsSapphire Pearl MutedvsLagoon Pearl MutedvsPeony Pearl Muted

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cerulean Pearl Faint
#D2D9DA · hsl(190, 10%, 84%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Pearl Dust
#CCDDE1 · hsl(190, 26%, 84%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Mist Muted
#E1E9EA · hsl(190, 18%, 90%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Bloom Muted
#B7C9CD · hsl(190, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Pearl Soft
#C8DFE4 · hsl(190, 34%, 84%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Whisper Muted
#EDF2F2 · hsl(190, 18%, 94%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA7:1
Ruby Shadow Dust
#5A3B35
AAA7.1:1
Ruby Shadow Soft
#60372F
AAA7.1:1
Ruby Shadow Clear
#6E2E21
AAA7:1
Ruby Shadow Vivid
#7C2413
AAA9.1:1
Ruby Nocturne Faint
#38302E
AAA9.3:1
Ruby Nocturne Muted
#3C2D2A

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#D4D3DD
Protanopia
#D4D4DD
Tritanopia
#D0DDDD
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cerulean Pearl Faint#D2D9DA · hsl(190, 10%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Muted#CFDBDE · hsl(190, 18%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Dust#CCDDE1 · hsl(190, 26%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Soft#C8DFE4 · hsl(190, 34%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Clear#C0E5EC · hsl(190, 54%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Vivid#B8EAF4 · hsl(190, 74%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Bright#B4EDF8 · hsl(190, 84%, 84%)Cerulean Pearl Pure#B1EFFC · hsl(190, 92%, 84%)
More from Blue →
Appears in collections
Pearl CloudNorthern Winter