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cyan · cool

#02232c

a deep, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Black

Token name suggestion: Midnight Teal

RGB
2, 35, 44
HSL
193°, 91%, 9%
CMYK
96, 21, 0, 83
Luminance
0.0140

#02232c is a deep electric cyan, 193° on the wheel and 93/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (16.41:1). As text it scores 16.41:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Black, nearest Tailwind family is gray.

hsl(193 91% 9%)rgb(2 35 44)Base step 950AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #02232c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#02232c
Hue
193°
cyan
Saturation
91%
electric
Lightness
9%
deep
Brightness
17%
HSV value
Perceived
12%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0140
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
16.41:1
Closest name
Black
ΔE2000 13.4
Chroma
12.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.238
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
gray
500 · ΔE 29.4
Web-safe
#003333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue193° of 360°
Saturation91%
Lightness9%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #02232c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red1%
Green86%
Blue13%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#02232c
HEX (8-digit)#02232cff
RGBrgb(2, 35, 44)
RGBArgba(2, 35, 44, 1)
HSLhsl(193, 91%, 9%)
HSV / HSBhsv(193, 95%, 17%)
HWBhwb(193 1% 83%)
CMYKcmyk(96%, 21%, 0%, 83%)
LABlab(11.9 -8.0 -9.4)
LCHlch(11.9 12.3 229.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.238 0.041 219.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(1.08, 1.40, 2.60)
Decimal140076
Display P3color(display-p3 0.008 0.137 0.173)
Web-safe#003333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #02232c;
background-color: #02232c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #02232c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#02232c] bg-[#02232c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #02232c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.008, green: 0.137, blue: 0.173)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.008, green: 0.137, blue: 0.173, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#02232C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF02232C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF02232C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(44, 35, 2)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(2, 35, 44)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(2, 35, 44)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 2, 35, 44)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0078f, 0.1373f, 0.1725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{2,35,44}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #02232c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #02232c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#06617A, #D3E8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #02232c h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FBFD;
  --brand-100: #E4F6FB;
  --brand-200: #C3EDF9;
  --brand-300: #94E4FA;
  --brand-400: #5ED7F8;
  --brand-500: #28C9F5;
  --brand-600: #0BBAEA;
  --brand-700: #099BC3;
  --brand-800: #077C9C;
  --brand-900: #0A5B71;
  --brand-950: #02232c;
  --brand: #02232c;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E3ED;
  --brand-hover: #00080A;
  --brand-pressed: #000000;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142124;
    --brand-ink: #D3E8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2FBFD',
        100: '#E4F6FB',
        200: '#C3EDF9',
        300: '#94E4FA',
        400: '#5ED7F8',
        500: '#28C9F5',
        600: '#0BBAEA',
        700: '#099BC3',
        800: '#077C9C',
        900: '#0A5B71',
        950: '#02232c',
        DEFAULT: '#02232c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2FBFD,
  '100': #E4F6FB,
  '200': #C3EDF9,
  '300': #94E4FA,
  '400': #5ED7F8,
  '500': #28C9F5,
  '600': #0BBAEA,
  '700': #099BC3,
  '800': #077C9C,
  '900': #0A5B71,
  '950': #02232c,
);
$brand-base: #02232c;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2FBFD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4F6FB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C3EDF9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#94E4FA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5ED7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#28C9F5", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0BBAEA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#099BC3", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#077C9C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0A5B71", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#02232c", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #02232c · 16.41:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 16.41:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.28:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #02232c as text scores 16.41:1 on white and 1.28:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #E7F9FE at 15.15:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#02232c · 16.41:1
AA on whitealready passes
#02232c
The quick fox
#02232c · 16.41:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#02232c
The quick fox
#0780A1 · 4.61:1
AA on black+24% L
#0780A1
The quick fox
#09A3CD · 7.13:1
AAA on black+33% L
#09A3CD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #02232C is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#02232c on white: 16.41:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#02232c on black: 1.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #02232c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #02232c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White16.41:1AaAa
Slate 5015.69:1AaAa
Slate 10014.98:1AaAa
Slate 20013.31:1AaAa
Slate 30011.06:1AaAa
Slate 4006.40:1AaAa
Slate 5003.45:1AaAa
Slate 6002.17:1AaAa
Slate 7001.59:1AaAa
Slate 8001.12:1AaAa
Slate 9001.09:1AaAa
Black1.28:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #1D222C
deuteranopia · #181E2C
tritanopia · #002626

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #02232c is pinned to step 950; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FBFD
#E4F6FB
#C3EDF9
#94E4FA
#5ED7F8
#28C9F5
#0BBAEA
#099BC3
#077C9C
#0A5B71
#02232c
Base = 950Lightest = 50 · #F2FBFDDarkest = 950 · #02232cText step on white = 800
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.010 219.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.016 219.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.025 219.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.032 219.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.038 219.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.041 219.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.041 219.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.039 219.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.035 219.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.029 219.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.023 219.8);
}

Colors that work with #02232c

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E3ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2D0103
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#06617A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7F9FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
Hover#00080A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#000000
Two steps down
Disabled#3E5960
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#003442
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #02232c

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight91/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#2C0B02
Analogous left#022C20
Analogous right#020E2C
Split-complement 1#2C020E
Split-complement 2#2C2002
Triadic 1#2C0223
Triadic 2#232C02
Tetradic#20022C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°193°

#02232c sits at 193°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red0.8%
Green13.7%
Blue17.3%
R · 0–255
2
0x02
G · 0–255
35
0x23
B · 0–255
44
0x2c

CMYK percentages

Cyan95.5%
Magenta20.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)82.7%

Total ink coverage is 199%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#02232c text on a black background

contrast 1.28:1

Card sample

#02232c text on a white background

contrast 16.41:1

Card sample

#02232c on grey

14.98:1

#02232c on its own surface

15.46:1

#02232c on its dark surface

1.01:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #02232c;
Background color
Panel with #02232c background
background-color: #02232c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #02232c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(2, 35, 44, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(2, 35, 44, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #02232c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #02232c, #02072C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #02232c, #08022C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #02232c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #02232c;
caret-color: #02232c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #02232c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E7F9FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #02232c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#02232c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #02232c over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(2, 35, 44, 0.5)
rgb(2 35 44 / 50%)
#02232c80
hsl(193 91% 9% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #02232c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#02232c1a#E6E9EA
20%#02232c33#CCD3D5
40%#02232c66#9AA7AB
60%#02232c99#677B80
80%#02232ccc#354F56

Gradients from #02232c

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #055166, #02232c 45%, #06617A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #02232c, #01010F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #02232c, #2C0B02);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #066984 0%, #02232c 45%, #06617A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #045D3C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #031149 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #06617A 0%, transparent 65%), #02232c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #02232c

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#02232c in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.28:1 — lift it to #0780A1 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#02232c, answered

What color is #02232c?

#02232c is a deep electric cyan, closest to Black (ΔE2000 13.4). It sits at 193° on the hue wheel with 91% saturation and 9% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #02232c?

rgb(2, 35, 44) — 2 red, 35 green and 44 blue out of 255, or 0.8% / 13.7% / 17.3% by channel.

What is #02232c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(193, 91%, 9%) and hsv(193, 95%, 17%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #02232c a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0140 and perceived brightness is 12%, so white text on it reaches 16.41:1.

Should I use black or white text on #02232c?

White. It scores 16.41:1 against #02232c, versus 1.28:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #02232c accessible on a white background?

#02232c on white scores 16.41:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #02232c?

#2C0B02 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2C020E and #2C2002, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #02232c?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E3ED for borders, #4B8A9B for secondary text, #2D0103 as an accent and #06617A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #022C20 and #020E2C stays calm, while #2C0B02 is the loudest partner.

What is #02232c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(96%, 21%, 0%, 83%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #02232c warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #022C26; nudged cooler, #02182C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #02232c?

The gray family — its 500 step is #6b7280, ΔE2000 29.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #02232c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #02232c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#02232c] or text-[#02232c], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #02232c with 50% opacity?

rgba(2, 35, 44, 0.5), or #02232c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #819196; over black, #011216.

Is #02232c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #003333, ΔE2000 9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #02232c mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #02232c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #055166, #02232c 45%, #06617A). For more colour, a short hue run to #01010F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #02232c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #02232c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.