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Steel Bloom Muted
Color detail

Steel Bloom Muted

Blue · Hue 205
Hex
#B7C4CD
RGB
rgb(183, 196, 205)
HSL
hsl(205, 18%, 76%)
CMYK
cmyk(11%, 4%, 0%, 20%)
Metrics
S 18% · L 76%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
1.8:1Fail
on black
11.8:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Steel Bloom Muted (#B7C4CD) belongs to the blue family — hue 205°, 18% 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-steel-bloom-muted: #B7C4CD;
  --colorarchive-steel-bloom-muted-hsl: hsl(205, 18%, 76%);
  --colorarchive-steel-bloom-muted-rgb: rgb(183, 196, 205);
}

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 the rarest pigment in the natural world — and so, historically, the most expensive. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined only in Afghanistan, was worth more than gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer's bills were enormous because of how much he used. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) democratized blue overnight; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized it.

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 600 years. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In post-WWII America, blue became the corporate default ('IBM 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 — sometimes by 35% margins.

In the wild

Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind. IBM's blue dates to 1947. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for a decade before X scrapped it. Pixar's Up famously runs on a single complementary palette built on blue. 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 recedes — physically, the eye focuses blue light slightly behind the retina, which makes 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 #B7C4CD.

  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →
  • Aesopneutral
    Cream Paper · #EFE4D2
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #B7C4CD.

  • ScandinaviaIittala Blue
    #A6CEDB · Aalto vase glassware (1936-)
    →
  • China (Traditional)Celadon (青瓷)
    #9CB48F · Song Dynasty Longquan kilns
    →
  • France (Paris)Lutetian Limestone
    #E5DDC8 · Paris facade stone (Haussmannian-era buildings)
    →

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
Steel Pearl Muted
#CFD7DE · hsl(205, 18%, 84%)
Darker companion
Steel Silk Muted
#9FB0BC · hsl(205, 18%, 68%)
Complementary counterpoint
Tangerine Bloom Muted
#CDC0B7 · hsl(25, 18%, 76%)
Analogous lead
Indigo Bloom Muted
#B7BACD · hsl(230, 18%, 76%)
Analogous echo
Aqua Bloom Muted
#B7CDCD · hsl(180, 18%, 76%)
Triadic +120°
Rose Bloom Muted
#CDB7C5 · hsl(320, 18%, 76%)
Triadic +240°
Olive Bloom Muted
#C5CDB7 · hsl(80, 18%, 76%)
Split-comp +150°
Crimson Bloom Muted
#CDB7B7 · hsl(0, 18%, 76%)
Split-comp +210°
Canary Bloom Muted
#CDCBB7 · hsl(55, 18%, 76%)
Export preview
Base: Steel Bloom Muted #B7C4CD
Lighter companion: Steel Pearl Muted #CFD7DE
Darker companion: Steel Silk Muted #9FB0BC
Complementary counterpoint: Tangerine Bloom Muted #CDC0B7
Analogous lead: Indigo Bloom Muted #B7BACD
Analogous echo: Aqua Bloom Muted #B7CDCD
Triadic +120°: Rose Bloom Muted #CDB7C5
Triadic +240°: Olive Bloom Muted #C5CDB7
Split-comp +150°: Crimson Bloom Muted #CDB7B7
Split-comp +210°: Canary Bloom Muted #CDCBB7

Compare

See how Steel Bloom Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsSteel Pearl MutedvsSteel Silk MutedvsTangerine Bloom MutedvsIndigo Bloom MutedvsAqua Bloom MutedvsRose Bloom Muted

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Steel Bloom Faint
#BCC3C8 · hsl(205, 10%, 76%)
Nearby match
Steel Bloom Dust
#B2C4D2 · hsl(205, 26%, 76%)
Nearby match
Azure Bloom Muted
#B7C5CD · hsl(200, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Bloom Muted
#B7C2CD · hsl(210, 18%, 76%)
Nearby match
Steel Silk Muted
#9FB0BC · hsl(205, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Steel Pearl Muted
#CFD7DE · hsl(205, 18%, 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
AAA7.1:1
Tangerine Nocturne Faint
#38322E
AAA7.1:1
Tangerine Nocturne Muted
#3C312A
AAA7:1
Tangerine Nocturne Dust
#403126
AAA7:1
Tangerine Nocturne Soft
#443022
AAA8.8:1
Tangerine Ink Faint
#272320
AAA8.7:1
Tangerine Ink Muted
#2A231D

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#BCBBCA
Protanopia
#BDBDCB
Tritanopia
#B8C9C9
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