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Sure Forgetmenot

#53baf3
Notes

Sure Forgetmenot (#53BAF3) is a true azure 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 (201°, 87%, 64%) 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
#53baf3
RGB
rgb(83, 186, 243)
HSL
hsl(201, 87%, 64%)
HWB
hwb(201 33% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(75.2% 0.125 236.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4345 0.7204 0.9324)
HSV
hsv(201, 66%, 95%)
LAB
lab(71.84% -12.57 -37.07)
LCH
lch(71.84% 39.14 251.27)
CMYK
cmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 5%)

Etymology

Sure
adjective

Old French seur, certain — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as confident and stable. Sure red, sure blue: moderate saturation combined with optical commitment. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside steady and true.

Forgetmenot
noun

Myosotis sylvatica, the European forget-me-not — a small woodland-and-streamside wildflower whose pale blue five-petaled flowers symbolize remembrance and faithful love in European folk tradition. The color refers to a fresh forget-me-not flower: a soft, slightly cool pale blue with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower with yellow center.

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.

#53baf3
Original
#9fb9f6
Protanopia
#89a9f2
Deuteranopia
#00c9cd
Tritanopia
#a8a8a8
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
2.17:1
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
9.69:1

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
##53BAF3
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4345 0.7204 0.9324)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.125

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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