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#0cd5ee

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Turquoise

RGB
12, 213, 238
HSL
187°, 90%, 49%
CMYK
95, 11, 0, 7
Luminance
0.5384

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #0cd5ee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#0cd5ee
Hue
187°
cyan
Saturation
90%
electric
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5384
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.77:1
Closest name
Dark Turquoise
ΔE2000 7.5
Where it sits
Hue187° of 360°
Saturation90%
Lightness49%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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#0cd5ee
RGBrgb(12, 213, 238)
HSLhsl(187, 90%, 49%)
CMYKcmyk(95%, 11%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(78.4 -34.0 -24.4)
LCHlch(78.4 41.9 215.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.800 0.137 209.8)
Decimal841198
Display P3color(display-p3 0.047 0.835 0.933)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #0cd5ee;
background-color: #0cd5ee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#0cd5ee] bg-[#0cd5ee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #0cd5ee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.047, green: 0.835, blue: 0.933)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#0cd5ee")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF0CD5EE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 213, 12)

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 #0cd5ee · 11.77:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.78:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #0cd5ee as text scores 1.78:1 on white and 11.77:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#0cd5ee on white: 1.78:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#0cd5ee on black: 11.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C0CDF0
deuteranopia · #A6BAEE
tritanopia · #00E0DD

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #0cd5ee is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FCFD
#E5F8FB
#C3F3F9
#94EEFA
#5FE6F7
#29DEF4
#0cd5ee
#0AAEC2
#088B9B
#0A6570
#063F46
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F2FCFDDarkest = 950 · #063F46
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FCFD;
  --brand-100: #E5F8FB;
  --brand-200: #C3F3F9;
  --brand-300: #94EEFA;
  --brand-400: #5FE6F7;
  --brand-500: #29DEF4;
  --brand-600: #0cd5ee;
  --brand-700: #0AAEC2;
  --brand-800: #088B9B;
  --brand-900: #0A6570;
  --brand-950: #063F46;
  --brand: #0cd5ee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #0cd5ee

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B929B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F30728
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#066D79
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FBFE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
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 #0cd5ee

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#EE250C
Analogous left#0CEE96
Analogous right#0C64EE
Split-complement 1#EE0C64
Split-complement 2#EE960C
Triadic 1#EE0CD5
Triadic 2#D5EE0C
Tetradic#960CEE

RGB percentages

Red4.7%
Green83.5%
Blue93.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan95.0%
Magenta10.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#0cd5ee text on a black background

contrast 11.77:1

Card sample

#0cd5ee text on a white background

contrast 1.78:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #0cd5ee;
Background color
Panel with #0cd5ee background
background-color: #0cd5ee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #0cd5ee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(12, 213, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(12, 213, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #0cd5ee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #0cd5ee, #0C3EEE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #0cd5ee

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.

#0cd5ee 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.

#0cd5ee, answered

What color is #0cd5ee?

#0cd5ee is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Dark Turquoise (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 187° on the hue wheel with 90% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #0cd5ee?

rgb(12, 213, 238) — 12 red, 213 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 4.7% / 83.5% / 93.3% by channel.

Is #0cd5ee a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5384 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 11.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #0cd5ee?

Black. It scores 11.77:1 against #0cd5ee, versus 1.78:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #0cd5ee?

#EE250C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EE0C64 and #EE960C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #0cd5ee?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E8ED for borders, #4B929B for secondary text, #F30728 as an accent and #066D79 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #0CEE96 and #0C64EE stays calm, while #EE250C is the loudest partner.

What is #0cd5ee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(95%, 11%, 0%, 7%). 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 #0cd5ee warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #0CEEB4; nudged cooler, #09AAF0.

Work with #0cd5ee in the Color Lab