Closest web-safe match: #CC99CC

Color Details and Palettes for #B9AEBA

Details about the color Foggy Plum#B9AEBA

Conversions, palettes, contrast & design ideas for this color.

Silver family Neutral WCAG ink: dark
HEX #B9AEBA RGB rgb(185, 174, 186) HSL hsl(295, 8%, 71%) CMYK cmyk(1%, 6%, 0%, 27%)

Color profile

About Color Hex #B9AEBA

#B9AEBA is a neutral color from the Silver family, closest in name to “Foggy Plum”. In RGB it is rgb(185, 174, 186); in HSL, hsl(295, 8%, 71%).

The color Foggy Plum, with hexadecimal code #b9aeba, falls within the silver range—a cool, luminous neutral that suggests precision and modernity, popular in tech and automotive branding. Additionally, it evokes emotions such as Softness, Delicacy, Calmness, Relaxation and Friendliness. With negligible saturation (8%), this color is effectively achromatic—a pure neutral that pairs with any hue without competition. At 71% lightness, it strikes an approachable, open balance—bright enough to feel welcoming yet substantial enough to carry visual weight. This color is ideal for designs that aim to express Softness, Delicacy, Calmness, Relaxation, or Friendliness. It can be effectively used in web design, branding, and marketing materials to attract attention and convey specific messages.

Key facts

RGB 185, 174, 186 red · green · blue HSL 295° 8% 71% hue · sat · light HSV 295° 6% 73% design-app pickers CMYK 1 6 0 27 print inks, % Luminance 0.441 0 dark → 1 light On black 9.83:1 ✓ AA contrast ratio On white 2.14:1 ✕ AA contrast ratio Web-safe #CC99CC closest web-safe Best text black ideal foreground Character Pastel neutral · silver family

The story of this color

History, Usage, Psychology & Design Ideas for #B9AEBA

Foggy Plum (#B9AEBA) belongs to the Silver color family.

As an achromatic shade, this color carries a timeless, versatile neutrality that anchors any palette it joins.

Historical Background

Silver tones have been revered since antiquity; the metal itself was used as currency across Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. In heraldry, silver (argent) represents sincerity and peace. The Art Deco era of the 1920s–30s popularized silver finishes in architecture and product design, lending a sense of machine-age elegance that persists in modern automotive and tech aesthetics.

Design & Usage Tips

Silver and light-gray tones serve as sophisticated neutrals for professional interfaces—dashboards, SaaS platforms, and enterprise tools use silver dividers, input fields, and card backgrounds. Pairing silver with deep navy or charcoal text ensures legibility while maintaining an upscale, muted palette.

Psychological Impact

Silver conveys modernity, precision, and restraint. It feels cooler and more technological than warm grays, making it popular in tech branding. It can also evoke maturity and reliability, which is why financial and engineering firms gravitate toward silver-toned palettes.

At 71% lightness, it reads clearly on dark backgrounds and provides a welcoming, open feel in light-themed designs—versatile across both contexts.

Creative Design Ideas

Create a gradient from silver to white for subtle hero-section backgrounds that add depth without distraction. Use silver metallic accents on packaging to signal premium quality. In web design, silver hover states on buttons provide elegant feedback without competing with the primary brand color.

Every format

#B9AEBA Color Conversions

Every way to write Foggy Plum — one-tap copy on every format; tap on any card to learn what it is and when to use it.

12 formats
HEX Web
#B9AEBA

Hexadecimal is the web’s universal color notation — two digits each for red, green and blue. Drop it straight into HTML, CSS or any design tool.

RGB Screen
rgb(185, 174, 186)

RGB is the additive Red-Green-Blue model every screen uses to emit light. The default choice for websites, apps and on-screen UI.

HSL Web
hsl(295, 8%, 71%)

HSL breaks a color into Hue, Saturation and Lightness — the most intuitive way to lighten, darken or mute a color in CSS.

HSV HSB Design
hsv(295, 6%, 73%)

HSV (also called HSB) maps Hue, Saturation and Value/Brightness. It is the model behind the color pickers in Photoshop, Figma and most design apps.

HWB CSS 4
hwb(295 68% 27%)

HWB blends a pure hue with Whiteness and Blackness — a painter-friendly model added in CSS Color 4 for quick tints and shades.

CMYK Print
cmyk(1%, 6%, 0%, 27%)

CMYK is the subtractive Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black ink model. Use these values when preparing artwork for a printer or commercial press.

OKLCH Modern
oklch(76.37% 0.021 323.26)

OKLCH is a modern, perceptually-uniform space (Lightness, Chroma, Hue). It powers smooth gradients and accessible palettes in today’s CSS.

OKLab Modern
oklab(76.37% 0.017 -0.012)

OKLab is the Cartesian form of OKLCH — ideal for blending and interpolating colors without the muddy midpoints older spaces produce.

CIELAB L*a*b* Perceptual
L: 72.32, a: 6.13, b: -4.71

CIELAB is a device-independent, perceptually-uniform space. It is the standard for measuring color difference (ΔE) and matching across devices.

LCH Perceptual
L: 72.32, C: 7.74, H: 322.47

LCH is CIELAB in cylindrical form — Lightness, Chroma and Hue — letting you adjust vividness and hue while staying perceptually even.

XYZ CIE Science
X: 44.01, Y: 44.13, Z: 52.65

CIE XYZ is the 1931 master space that underpins every other model here — the scientific bridge used to convert between color systems.

Decimal int Code
12168890

The 24-bit integer value of the color — handy for databases, APIs, game engines and low-level graphics code.

Channel breakdown

RGB Color Percentages for #B9AEBA

How much red, green and blue light mixes into Foggy Plum.

Red 185/255 33.9% Green 174/255 31.9% Blue 186/255 34.1%

Percentages show each channel's share of the total light (R + G + B) in Foggy Plum.

Ink coverage

CMYK Ink Levels & Print Guide for #B9AEBA

Ink needed to reproduce Foggy Plum in four-color print. Heaviest ink: Key (Black).

1% CYAN 6% MAGENTA 0% YELLOW 27% KEY

Print tip: treat these values as a starting point — final output depends on printer profile, paper stock and calibration.

Accessibility · WCAG

Luminance & Contrast for #B9AEBA

How bright Foggy Plum is, and how far black and white text clear each WCAG bar.

Relative luminance 0.441
0 · dark1 · light

Contrast ratio · 1:1 → 21:1 (log scale)

Aa Black text 9.83:1 ✓ AA ✓ AAA ✓ Large
Aa White text 2.14:1 ✕ AA ✕ AAA ✕ Large

Developer shortcuts

Quick CSS Snippets for #B9AEBA

Copy-and-paste CSS for Foggy Plum — per-line copy, or grab the whole block.

foggy-plum.css
background-color: #B9AEBA;
color: #B9AEBA;
border: 2px solid #B9AEBA;
background-color: rgb(185, 174, 186);
background-color: hsl(295, 8%, 71%);
--color: #B9AEBA;

Shades · light to dark

#B9AEBA Monochrome Palette

Lighter and darker steps of Foggy Plum — the color's full brightness range in one strip.

#F8F7F8
#EEEBEE
#E3DFE3
#D9D2D9
#CEC6CF
#C4BAC4
#B9AEBA
#9D949E
#827A82
#666066
#4A464A
#2E2C2F
#131113

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex or open its color page.

Harmony · 180° apart

#B9AEBA Complementary Palette

Two colors opposite on the wheel — maximum contrast for attention-grabbing accents.

#B9AEBA
#B0BBAF

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex or open its color page.

Harmony · adjacent hues

#B9AEBA Analogic Palette

Neighboring hues on the wheel — harmonious, calm combinations that feel unified.

#B9AEBA
#BBAFB6
#B4AFBB
#BBAFB0
#AFB0BB
#BBB4AF
#AFB6BB

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex or open its color page.

Harmony · 120° apart

#B9AEBA Triadic Palette

Three colors evenly spaced on the wheel — vibrant and energetic, yet balanced.

#B9AEBA
#BBBAAF
#AFBBBA

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex or open its color page.

Harmony · 90° apart

#B9AEBA Quad Palette

Four colors evenly spaced on the wheel (tetradic) — rich schemes with multiple accents.

#B9AEBA
#BBB4AF
#B0BBAF
#AFB6BB

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex or open its color page.

Accessibility

Color Blindness Simulation for #B9AEBA

How Foggy Plum reads across five kinds of color vision — a ✓ Friendly verdict means the color difference stays distinguishable for that vision type.

#B9AEBA
#B5B6B6
#B4B4B7
#B8B5B4
#B1B1B1
Normal vision full color Deuteranopia green weakness ✓ Friendly Protanopia red weakness ✓ Friendly Tritanopia blue-yellow weakness ✓ Friendly Achromatopsia total color blindness ✓ Friendly

The dot marks the original color. Hover any shade to copy its hex.

Harmony overview

Color Harmonies for #B9AEBA

The lead color from each harmony scheme, side by side — a shortcut to the full palettes above.

#B0BBAF
#BBAFB6
#BBBAAF
#BBB4AF
Complementary opposite hue Analogous adjacent hue Triadic 120° apart Tetradic (Quad) 90° apart

Perceptually nearby

#B9AEBA Nearby Colors

A step away in brightness, richness or shade — each still feels like the same color.

Last of the Lilacs#CCBBCC
Pastel Purple#AA99AA
Decadial Pink#DDCCDD
Femme Fatale#998899
Monet Magic#BBAABB
Dark Gray#AAAAAA
Silver#BBBBBB
Nebulous December#AAAABB

From the color-name library

Colors Similar to #B9AEBA

The closest named colors to #B9AEBA — same mood, each with its own character.

Foggy Plum#B7A5AD
Nebulous December#B3B2BF
Last of the Lilacs#CBBBCD
Blue Haze#BDBACE
Monet Magic#C1ACC3
Fog Syringa#C4BAD2
Grey Sheep#BAAAAA
Tamed Beauty#CFBCCF
Silver Fox#BDBCC4
Mecha Kitty#D0C4D3
Cosmic#B8B9CB
Ghost#C0BFC7

Looking for more Silver shades? Browse Silver colors →

Inspiration

Explore Vibrant Images Featuring Foggy Plum (#b9aeba)

Curated Unsplash photos that carry the mood of Foggy Plum — hover any tile to download it or view the original.

Good to know

Frequently Asked Questions about #B9AEBA

#B9AEBA is a neutral color from the Silver family. Its closest matched name is “Foggy Plum”, matched perceptually with the CIEDE2000 color-difference formula. In RGB it is rgb(185, 174, 186); in HSL, hsl(295, 8%, 71%).
In RGB, #B9AEBA is rgb(185, 174, 186); in HSL it is hsl(295, 8%, 71%); and in CMYK — the model used for print — it is cmyk(1%, 6%, 0%, 27%).
#B9AEBA has a contrast ratio of 9.83:1 against black and 2.14:1 against white. For readability, black body text meets the WCAG AA threshold of 4.5:1 on it, while white does not.
The direct complement of #B9AEBA is #B0BBAF (opposite on the color wheel). For ready-made combinations, this page includes monochrome, analogous, triadic and tetradic palettes built from #B9AEBA in the palette sections above.