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Iris Bloom Faint
Color detail

Iris Bloom Faint

Blue · Hue 240
Metrics
S 10% · L 76%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white1.9:1Failon black11.2:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Iris Bloom Faint (#BCBCC8) belongs to the blue family — hue 240°, 10% saturation, 76% 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-iris-bloom-faint: #BCBCC8;
  --colorarchive-iris-bloom-faint-hsl: hsl(240, 10%, 76%);
  --colorarchive-iris-bloom-faint-rgb: rgb(188, 188, 200);
}

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 #BCBCC8.

  • Anthropicneutral
    Mid Gray · #B0AEA5
    →
  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #BCBCC8.

  • ScandinaviaIittala Blue
    #A6CEDB · Aalto vase glassware (1936-)
    →
  • China (Traditional)Celadon (青瓷)
    #9CB48F · Song Dynasty Longquan kilns
    →
  • IcelandMidnight Sun Pink
    #F2AEB5 · Horizon light, June
    →

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 TheoryColor Theory Fundamentals: The Principles Every Designer Should Know

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
Iris Pearl Faint
#D2D2DA · hsl(240, 10%, 84%)
Darker companion
Iris Silk Faint
#A5A5B6 · hsl(240, 10%, 68%)
Complementary counterpoint
Citrine Bloom Faint
#C8C8BC · hsl(60, 10%, 76%)
Analogous lead
Orchid Bloom Faint
#C0BCC8 · hsl(260, 10%, 76%)
Analogous echo
Cobalt Bloom Faint
#BCC0C8 · hsl(220, 10%, 76%)
Triadic +120°
Crimson Bloom Faint
#C8BCBC · hsl(0, 10%, 76%)
Triadic +240°
Emerald Bloom Faint
#BCC8BC · hsl(120, 10%, 76%)
Split-comp +150°
Coral Bloom Faint
#C8C2BC · hsl(30, 10%, 76%)
Split-comp +210°
Lime Bloom Faint
#C2C8BC · hsl(90, 10%, 76%)
Export preview
Base: Iris Bloom Faint #BCBCC8
Lighter companion: Iris Pearl Faint #D2D2DA
Darker companion: Iris Silk Faint #A5A5B6
Complementary counterpoint: Citrine Bloom Faint #C8C8BC
Analogous lead: Orchid Bloom Faint #C0BCC8
Analogous echo: Cobalt Bloom Faint #BCC0C8
Triadic +120°: Crimson Bloom Faint #C8BCBC
Triadic +240°: Emerald Bloom Faint #BCC8BC
Split-comp +150°: Coral Bloom Faint #C8C2BC
Split-comp +210°: Lime Bloom Faint #C2C8BC

Compare

See how Iris Bloom Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsIris Pearl FaintvsIris Silk FaintvsCitrine Bloom FaintvsOrchid Bloom FaintvsCobalt Bloom FaintvsCrimson Bloom Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Iris Bloom Muted
#B7B7CD · hsl(240, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Bloom Faint
#BDBCC8 · hsl(245, 10%, 76%)
Nearby match
Iris Silk Faint
#A5A5B6 · hsl(240, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Iris Pearl Faint
#D2D2DA · hsl(240, 10%, 84%)
Nearby match
Iris Bloom Dust
#B2B2D2 · hsl(240, 26%, 76%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Bloom Muted
#B9B7CD · hsl(245, 18%, 76%)

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
AAA8:1
Citrine Ink Faint
#272720
AAA7.7:1
Citrine Ink Muted
#2A2A1D
AAA7.4:1
Citrine Ink Dust
#2D2D1A
AAA7.1:1
Citrine Ink Soft
#303018
AAA8:1
Canary Ink Faint
#272720
AAA7.8:1
Canary Ink Muted
#2A291D

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#BCBCC5
Protanopia
#BCBCC5
Tritanopia
#BCC3C2
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Iris Bloom Faint#BCBCC8 · hsl(240, 10%, 76%)Iris Bloom Muted#B7B7CD · hsl(240, 18%, 76%)Iris Bloom Dust#B2B2D2 · hsl(240, 26%, 76%)Iris Bloom Soft#ADADD7 · hsl(240, 34%, 76%)Iris Bloom Clear#A1A1E3 · hsl(240, 54%, 76%)Iris Bloom Vivid#9595EF · hsl(240, 74%, 76%)Iris Bloom Bright#8E8EF5 · hsl(240, 84%, 76%)Iris Bloom Pure#8989FA · hsl(240, 92%, 76%)
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