Colors · value from the xkcd color survey (2010)

Ice blue color: hex code #D7FFFE, RGB and palettes

Ice blue is #D7FFFE (RGB 215, 255, 254), the value people most often called ice blue in the xkcd color survey: a pale, frosty cyan. Use dark text on it; black reaches 19.62:1.

By Paul Gunder. Every value is computed from published standards; see how ColorPlum works.

Updated November 10, 2026

ColorPlum swatchIce bluepale, soft cyan

HEX: #D7FFFE
RGB: rgb(215, 255, 254)
HSL: hsl(179, 100%, 92%)

Best text on it: black at 19.62:1

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Ice blue#D7FFFE

Every code for Ice blue

HEX#D7FFFE
RGBrgb(215, 255, 254)
HSLhsl(179, 100%, 92%)
HSV179°, 16%, 100%
CMYK16%, 0%, 0%, 0%
Lablab(97.2% -13.4 -4)
OKLCHoklch(97.2% 0.041 194.6)
Decimal14155774

Tints, shades and tones

From white to black in 10% steps, with Ice blue in the middle. Tap a code to copy it.

90%#FBFFFF
80%#F7FFFF
70%#F3FFFF
60%#EFFFFF
50%#EBFFFF
40%#E7FFFE
30%#E3FFFE
20%#DFFFFE
10%#DBFFFE
Base#D7FFFE
10%#C2E6E5
20%#ACCCCB
30%#97B3B2
40%#819998
50%#6C807F
60%#566666
70%#414D4C
80%#2B3333
90%#161A19

Tones (mixed with gray)

10%#CEF2F1
20%#C6E6E5
30%#BDD9D8
40%#B4CCCC
50%#ACC0BF
60%#A3B3B2
70%#9AA6A6
80%#919999
90%#898D8D

Matching colors

Complementary

#D7FFFE
#FFD7D8

Analogous

#D7FFEA
#D7FFFE
#D7ECFF

Triadic

#D7FFFE
#FED7FF
#FFFED7

Split complementary

#D7FFFE
#FFD7EC
#FFEAD7

Tetradic (square)

#D7FFFE
#EAD7FF
#FFD7D8
#ECFFD7

Monochromatic

#3EFFFA
#8BFFFC
#D7FFFE
#EBFFFE
#EBFFFE

Ice blue in 3D color space

OKLab, the space ColorPlum does its math in: lightness runs up the pole, hue goes around it and saturation grows outward. The faint shell is every color a screen can show (saturation is drawn wider than lightness so hues separate). Drag to turn it.

Ice blue with its complement, its triad and its tint and shade

Ice blue
Triad #FED7FF
Triad #FFFED7
Complement
50% tint
50% shade

Ice blue in use

New collectionAutumn edit

Card body text stays dark for reading; ice blue carries the header and the button.

Shop nowTag

Headline in Ice blue

A paragraph with a link in dark text, because this color is too light for text on white; use it for fills instead.

How it looks with color-vision deficiency

A simulation (Machado and colleagues, 2009) of how the color and its complement read without one type of cone.

Typical color vision#D7FFFE
Protanopia (no red cones)#FAFBFE
Deuteranopia (no green cones)#F2F5FE
Tritanopia (no blue cones)#CBFFFF

Contrast and readability

Pairing	Ratio	WCAG 2.2
as text on white	1.07:1	AA AA large AAA
as text on black	19.62:1	AA AA large AAA
white text on it	1.07:1	AA AA large AAA
black text on it	19.62:1	AA AA large AAA
on your background	1.07:1	AA AA large AAA

Try a background

Export

:root {
  --ice-blue: #d7fffe;
  --ice-blue-rgb: 215 255 254;
  --ice-blue-on: #000000;
}

On this page

Ice blue is not in the CSS named color list, so the value comes from the xkcd survey, where people typed a name for each swatch they saw. The shade that most of them called "ice blue" is #D7FFFE, a very light cyan that leans toward green-blue more than toward sky blue.

What the codes mean

In RGB, ice blue is 215, 255, 254: red is the only channel held back, and green and blue are almost at full strength. In HSL that is hue 179°, 100% saturation and 92% lightness, so it is a vivid color pushed to the pale end. The CMYK estimate is 16%, 0%, 0%, 0%, which is just a wash of cyan. Print it from a real press profile before trusting it, since pale cyans can come out grayer on paper than they look on a backlit screen.

The survey list holds some near twins: "very pale blue" (#D6FFFE), "very light blue" (#D5FFFF) and "really light blue" (#D4FFFF) are all within half a unit of it, which means nobody could tell them apart. In the CSS list the closest match is lightcyan (#E0FFFF), about 1.1 away, so the two are very close, and azure (#F0FFFF) is lighter and further off at 3.1.

Using ice blue well

Text on it: black measures 19.62:1 and a dark charcoal such as #3C4142 reaches 9.68:1. White text on it manages only 1.07:1.
Backgrounds: it makes a clean, cold-looking panel for weather, skincare, travel or winter content.
Accents: the 40% shade, #819998, is a gray-teal that sits well beside it for icons and rules.
Pairings: the complement is a pale pink, #FFD7D8, which adds warmth without breaking the pastel mood. See also light blue and white palettes and the Alice blue page for a calmer neighbor.

Worked example

Imagine a poster for a community skating night. You want a frosty banner behind the title, with the title in navy. Navy #1B2A49 on ice blue measures 13.31:1, so the title can be large or small and still pass the strictest level. Below it, the schedule needs a deep green for variety: #0B4008 on the ice blue background reads at 11.20:1. Keep white off the banner entirely, because white on ice blue is too faint to read from across a rink lobby. A thin navy border around the banner stops the pale fill from dissolving into a white wall.

Ice blue versus light cyan

They are close, but not identical. CSS lightcyan is a little paler and slightly less saturated, so it fades into white more easily. Ice blue has enough color to hold its own as a background on a white page. If your design must use a named CSS color for simplicity, lightcyan is the safe stand-in; if you want the frostier survey color, use the hex code directly.

Tones (mixed with gray)

What the codes mean

Using ice blue well

Worked example

Ice blue versus light cyan

Sources