Skip to content

#09ab49

a dark, electric green · cool · closest name: Medium Sea Green

RGB
9, 171, 73
HSL
144°, 90%, 35%
CMYK
95, 0, 57, 33
Luminance
0.2966

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #09ab49 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#09ab49
Hue
144°
green
Saturation
90%
electric
Lightness
35%
dark
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
52%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2966
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
72/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
6.93:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 6.5
Where it sits
Hue144° of 360°
Saturation90%
Lightness35%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool72% cool

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

Every format

HEX#09ab49
RGBrgb(9, 171, 73)
HSLhsl(144, 90%, 35%)
CMYKcmyk(95%, 0%, 57%, 33%)
LABlab(61.4 -58.1 39.7)
LCHlch(61.4 70.4 145.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.648 0.182 148.7)
Decimal633673
Display P3color(display-p3 0.035 0.671 0.286)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #09ab49;
background-color: #09ab49;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#09ab49] bg-[#09ab49]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #09ab49;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.035, green: 0.671, blue: 0.286)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#09ab49")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF09AB49)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(73, 171, 9)

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#000000 on #09ab49 · 6.93:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 3.03:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.93:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #09ab49 as text scores 3.03:1 on white and 6.93:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#09ab49 on white: 3.03:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#09ab49 on black: 6.93:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #AD9B40
deuteranopia · #9D9051
tritanopia · #00A795

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #09ab49 is pinned to step 800; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FDF6
#E5FBED
#C3F8D8
#94F9BC
#5FF79B
#2AF47A
#0CE963
#0AC253
#09ab49
#0B7033
#074620
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #F2FDF6Darkest = 950 · #074620
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FDF6;
  --brand-100: #E5FBED;
  --brand-200: #C3F8D8;
  --brand-300: #94F9BC;
  --brand-400: #5FF79B;
  --brand-500: #2AF47A;
  --brand-600: #0CE963;
  --brand-700: #0AC253;
  --brand-800: #09ab49;
  --brand-900: #0B7033;
  --brand-950: #074620;
  --brand: #09ab49;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #09ab49

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

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F4FAF7
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDD1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B6A
Captions on the surface
Accent#AF0596
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#067934
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FEF0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241A
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #09ab49

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#AB096B
Analogous left#1AAB09
Analogous right#09AB9A
Split-complement 1#9A09AB
Split-complement 2#AB091A
Triadic 1#4909AB
Triadic 2#AB4909
Tetradic#091AAB

RGB percentages

Red3.5%
Green67.1%
Blue28.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan94.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow57.3%
Key (black)32.9%

Color previews

#09ab49 text on a black background

contrast 6.93:1

Card sample

#09ab49 text on a white background

contrast 3.03:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #09ab49;
Background color
Panel with #09ab49 background
background-color: #09ab49;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #09ab49;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(9, 171, 73, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(9, 171, 73, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #09ab49;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #09ab49, #09A1AB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #09ab49

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#09ab49 in the real world

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

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

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

#09ab49, answered

What color is #09ab49?

#09ab49 is a dark electric green, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 6.5). It sits at 144° on the hue wheel with 90% saturation and 35% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #09ab49?

rgb(9, 171, 73) — 9 red, 171 green and 73 blue out of 255, or 3.5% / 67.1% / 28.6% by channel.

Is #09ab49 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2966 and perceived brightness is 52%, so black text on it reaches 6.93:1.

Should I use black or white text on #09ab49?

Black. It scores 6.93:1 against #09ab49, versus 3.03:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #09ab49?

#AB096B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9A09AB and #AB091A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #09ab49?

For interface work: #F4FAF7 as the surface, #C0EDD1 for borders, #4B9B6A for secondary text, #AF0596 as an accent and #067934 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #1AAB09 and #09AB9A stays calm, while #AB096B is the loudest partner.

What is #09ab49 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(95%, 0%, 57%, 33%). 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 #09ab49 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 72 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #09AB0E; nudged cooler, #07AD85.

Work with #09ab49 in the Color Lab