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Iris Pearl Muted
Color detail

Iris Pearl Muted

Blue · Hue 240
Metrics
S 18% · L 84%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white1.5:1Failon black13.6:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Iris Pearl Muted (#CFCFDE) belongs to the blue family — hue 240°, 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-iris-pearl-muted: #CFCFDE;
  --colorarchive-iris-pearl-muted-hsl: hsl(240, 18%, 84%);
  --colorarchive-iris-pearl-muted-rgb: rgb(207, 207, 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 #CFCFDE.

  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Anthropicneutral
    Light Gray · #E8E6DC
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →

Cultures using a similar color

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

  • France (Paris)Lutetian Limestone
    #E5DDC8 · Paris facade stone (Haussmannian-era buildings)
    →
  • IcelandLopapeysa Cream
    #E8DFCC · Undyed Icelandic sheep wool
    →
  • ScandinaviaOat Beige
    #D5C7A7 · Linseed oil-treated pine
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

Brand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemColor PsychologyBlue Color Psychology in Branding: Why Every Bank and Tech Giant Chooses BlueDesign SystemsDark Mode Color Systems: A Token Architecture Guide

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 Mist Muted
#E1E1EA · hsl(240, 18%, 90%)
Darker companion
Iris Bloom Muted
#B7B7CD · hsl(240, 18%, 76%)
Complementary counterpoint
Citrine Pearl Muted
#DEDECF · hsl(60, 18%, 84%)
Analogous lead
Orchid Pearl Muted
#D4CFDE · hsl(260, 18%, 84%)
Analogous echo
Cobalt Pearl Muted
#CFD4DE · hsl(220, 18%, 84%)
Triadic +120°
Crimson Pearl Muted
#DECFCF · hsl(0, 18%, 84%)
Triadic +240°
Emerald Pearl Muted
#CFDECF · hsl(120, 18%, 84%)
Split-comp +150°
Coral Pearl Muted
#DED6CF · hsl(30, 18%, 84%)
Split-comp +210°
Lime Pearl Muted
#D6DECF · hsl(90, 18%, 84%)
Export preview
Base: Iris Pearl Muted #CFCFDE
Lighter companion: Iris Mist Muted #E1E1EA
Darker companion: Iris Bloom Muted #B7B7CD
Complementary counterpoint: Citrine Pearl Muted #DEDECF
Analogous lead: Orchid Pearl Muted #D4CFDE
Analogous echo: Cobalt Pearl Muted #CFD4DE
Triadic +120°: Crimson Pearl Muted #DECFCF
Triadic +240°: Emerald Pearl Muted #CFDECF
Split-comp +150°: Coral Pearl Muted #DED6CF
Split-comp +210°: Lime Pearl Muted #D6DECF

Compare

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

vsIris Mist MutedvsIris Bloom MutedvsCitrine Pearl MutedvsOrchid Pearl MutedvsCobalt Pearl MutedvsCrimson Pearl Muted

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Iris Pearl Faint
#D2D2DA · hsl(240, 10%, 84%)
Nearby match
Iris Pearl Dust
#CCCCE1 · hsl(240, 26%, 84%)
Nearby match
Iris Mist Muted
#E1E1EA · hsl(240, 18%, 90%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Pearl Muted
#D0CFDE · hsl(245, 18%, 84%)
Nearby match
Iris Bloom Muted
#B7B7CD · hsl(240, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Iris Pearl Soft
#C8C8E4 · hsl(240, 34%, 84%)

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
AAA7.7:1
Citrine Nocturne Faint
#38382E
AAA7.3:1
Citrine Nocturne Muted
#3C3C2A
AAA9.8:1
Citrine Ink Faint
#272720
AAA9.4:1
Citrine Ink Muted
#2A2A1D
AAA9.1:1
Citrine Ink Dust
#2D2D1A
AAA8.7:1
Citrine Ink Soft
#303018

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#CFCFDA
Protanopia
#CFCFDA
Tritanopia
#CFD8D7
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Iris Pearl Faint#D2D2DA · hsl(240, 10%, 84%)Iris Pearl Muted#CFCFDE · hsl(240, 18%, 84%)Iris Pearl Dust#CCCCE1 · hsl(240, 26%, 84%)Iris Pearl Soft#C8C8E4 · hsl(240, 34%, 84%)Iris Pearl Clear#C0C0EC · hsl(240, 54%, 84%)Iris Pearl Vivid#B8B8F4 · hsl(240, 74%, 84%)Iris Pearl Bright#B4B4F8 · hsl(240, 84%, 84%)Iris Pearl Pure#B1B1FC · hsl(240, 92%, 84%)
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