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Burning Skagerrak

#09a8dd
Notes

Burning Skagerrak (#09A8DD) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (195°, 92%, 45%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#09a8dd
RGB
rgb(9, 168, 221)
HSL
hsl(195, 92%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(195 4% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(68.5% 0.135 230.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.2970 0.6489 0.8471)
HSV
hsv(195, 96%, 87%)
LAB
lab(64.39% -17.16 -36.75)
LCH
lch(64.39% 40.56 244.97)
CMYK
cmyk(96%, 24%, 0%, 13%)

Etymology

Burning
adjective

The progressive participle of burn — used as a color modifier for hues that read as actively luminous, as if combustion is in progress. Burning red, burning orange: the implication is high saturation combined with thermal heat. Sits in the bright-and-warm corner alongside hot and flame. Slightly more active than smoldering.

Skagerrak
noun

The strait between Norway, Denmark, and Sweden — connecting the North Sea to the Kattegat. Skagerrak color refers to mid-depth Skagerrak water at Skagen: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical complexity of brackish Scandinavian water at the boundary of two major sea basins.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#09a8dd
Original
#8da6e0
Protanopia
#7495dc
Deuteranopia
#00b7ba
Tritanopia
#8a8a8a
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon White
2.74:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
7.66:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##09A8DD
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.2970 0.6489 0.8471)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.135

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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