ColrShift03A9F4 (Light Blue 500) — RGB, HSL, CMYK and Contrast
A teal at 48% lightness and 98% saturation, which puts it at 2.63:1 against white and 7.99:1 against black. The tables below give the notation conversions, the tints and shades that keep the hue intact, and the harmonies that pair with it.
Notation conversions
| Notation | Value |
|---|---|
| HEX | 03A9F4 |
| RGB | rgb(3, 169, 244) |
| HSL | hsl(199, 98%, 48%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(99%, 31%, 0%, 4%) |
| Relative luminance | 0.3493 |
| Perceived brightness | 50.2 / 100 |
Contrast against pure white and pure black
Pair this colour with the two extremes to see which is the safer text partner. AA needs 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text; AAA raises that to 7:1 and 4.5:1.
| Against | Hex | Ratio | AA text | AA large | AAA text |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #FFFFFF | white | 2.63:1 | fail | fail | fail |
| #000000 | black | 7.99:1 | pass | pass | pass |
Tints and shades
Lightness moves in ten-point steps while hue and saturation stay fixed, which keeps the colour recognisable in a scale. The last column is the ratio against white text, useful for deciding where a scale stops working as a background.
| Step | Hex | HSL | vs white text |
|---|---|---|---|
| shade -30 | #01405d | hsl(199, 98%, 18%) | 11.10:1 |
| shade -20 | #02638f | hsl(199, 98%, 28%) | 6.60:1 |
| shade -10 | #0286c2 | hsl(199, 98%, 38%) | 4.04:1 |
| tint +10 | #2ebcfc | hsl(199, 98%, 58%) | 2.16:1 |
| tint +20 | #60ccfd | hsl(199, 98%, 68%) | 1.82:1 |
| tint +30 | #92dcfe | hsl(199, 98%, 78%) | 1.51:1 |
Harmonies
| Scheme | Hex |
|---|---|
| Complementary | #f44e03 |
| Analogous −30 | #03f4c7 |
| Analogous +30 | #0330f4 |
| Triadic −120 | #a9f403 |
| Triadic +120 | #f403a9 |
Measured rather than eyeballed: hue 198.7°, saturation 97.6%, lightness 48.4%, relative luminance 0.3493 — four decimals is the precision the WCAG formula actually needs — and perceived brightness 50.2 out of 100. Entry 32 of 69 in this library, it scores 2.63:1 on white and 7.99:1 on black, a 5.36 spread. The complementary #f44e03 sits 180° away on the wheel, and the scale brackets it with #01405d below and #92dcfe above.
Nearby colours
Frequently asked questions
What text colour should sit on 03A9F4?
Black gives 7.99:1 and white gives 2.63:1, so black wins at 7.99:1. That clears the 4.5:1 AA threshold for normal text and the 7:1 AAA threshold as well.
Do the CMYK numbers match a print workflow?
They are the naive conversion from RGB, which assumes no ink limit, no colour profile and no black generation strategy. Real print work needs a profile-aware conversion; the values here are the ones the converter reports and are best used as a starting point for a designer rather than a press-ready separations file.
Convert any other colour, or test a pair against each other, in the ColrShift colour converter and contrast checker. The colour library groups every entry on this site by hue family.