Cornflower Blue `#6495ED`

Cornflower Blue (#6495ED) is a mid-tone, saturated blue with an OKLCH hue of 261°, lightness 0.67 and chroma 0.141. It sits on the cool side of the color wheel. In practice it behaves as an accent color: strong in focal moments, dominant over large fields.

Color values

HEX	`#6495ED`
RGB	`rgb(100, 149, 237)`
HSL	`hsl(219, 79%, 66%)`
HSV	`hsv(219, 58%, 93%)`
CMYK	`cmyk(58%, 37%, 0%, 7%)`
CIE Lab	`lab(61.9 9.3 -49.3)`
OKLCH	`oklch(0.675 0.141 261)`

How Cornflower Blue behaves under real light

Under warm 2700K interior light Cornflower Blue shifts subtly: leans toward purple, loses intensity; in north-facing or shaded light it is virtually unchanged. Overall drift across common illuminants is small (max ΔE ≈ 2.3), so it is a lighting-stable choice.

Warm interior (2700K incandescent / warm LED): → #7092df — ΔE 2.3, shifts subtly: leans toward purple, loses intensity
Neutral LED (4000K task and retail lighting): → #6c96e9 — ΔE 1.1, shifts subtly: leans toward purple
Daylight (6500K standard daylight (reference)): → #6495ed — ΔE 0.0, is virtually unchanged
North light / shade (~7500K diffuse blue-sky light): → #6396f0 — ΔE 0.5, is virtually unchanged

Contrast & accessibility

Against white it measures 2.97:1 and against black 7.06:1, so black text is the stronger pairing. That pairing passes WCAG AA for body text. Avoid white text on this color entirely.

Palettes built from Cornflower Blue

Tonal

One color explored: close hues with real lightness and chroma structure, so the palette is the anchor through value rather than a set of colors.

#e8f1ff · #a9c8ff · #6495ed · #4c79ca · #2e559c · #113270

Analogous

The anchor's neighbours on the wheel — everything shares an undertone, so the chord carries color without anything having to be muted to get along.

#68c9f5 · #5fb0f3 · #6495ed · #727bd2 · #7763b2 · #744e91

Shifted

The mid-gap pairing — sage and mustard, terracotta and olive. A foil rotated 40–65° toward warm or cool: too far to be kin, too near to argue, carried by temperature and a deliberate value offset.

#c6a9d6 · #6495ed · #4f77bf · #783f93 · #1c3e7c · #351a42

Contrast

One deliberately opposed voice — a single restrained counterpoint across the wheel, or temperature against temperature where the anchor is too muted to carry a loud opposite.

#f2ba4a · #6495ed · #68768f · #3e5682 · #24385e · #101e35

Quiet Support

The anchor as the only color in the room. True neutrals or complement-warmed near-neutrals let it stay dominant.

#f9f1e3 · #6495ed · #727c8d · #4f4a41 · #151e2e · #020100

Bright Accent

This color as a ground rather than a subject — its own restraint held across a narrow value band, carrying one saturated voice from the opposite temperature.

#f7f1e6 · #d2cbbe · #a8a092 · #362c1b · #150b00 · #6495ed

Complementary

The opposite hue on the perceptual wheel, tempered to field strength — warm/cool tension without vibration.

#fff0d6 · #6495ed · #9d7418 · #624400 · #2a1b00 · #000012

Split-complementary

The complement's two neighbours instead of the complement itself — strong contrast with a lower clash risk.

#cdebce · #c4cd7d · #6495ed · #977963 · #3b4a3a · #04131b

Triadic

Three hues spaced evenly around the wheel; the anchor leads and the other two are held at supporting strength.

#ffedec · #6495ed · #b55e5e · #0b5b00 · #012700 · #1a0001

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs offset by 90° — the richest chord, kept usable by a strict lightness hierarchy.

#ffecf4 · #6495ed · #ad5e83 · #624400 · #00251b · #0d0500

Tints, shades & muted variants

Tints

#79A5F4 · #8FB6FA · #A5C6FF · #BED6FF · #D7E6FF

Shades

#4E7AC8 · #395FA5 · #244683 · #112E62 · #021743

Muted

#7096DB · #7B97C9 · #8597B7

Using Cornflower Blue

Its chroma is high enough to carry accents, calls to action, and focal moments; large fields of it will dominate a composition. In palettes it pairs most predictably with its tonal ramp and analogous neighbors; reserve the complementary hue for small, deliberate contrast.