Skip to content

#14b2cf

a dark, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

RGB
20, 178, 207
HSL
189°, 82%, 45%
CMYK
90, 14, 0, 19
Luminance
0.3649

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #14b2cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#14b2cf
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
45%
dark
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3649
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.30:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 10.1
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness45%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#14b2cf
RGBrgb(20, 178, 207)
HSLhsl(189, 82%, 45%)
CMYKcmyk(90%, 14%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(66.9 -26.7 -25.1)
LCHlch(66.9 36.7 223.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.704 0.122 215.3)
Decimal1356495
Display P3color(display-p3 0.078 0.698 0.812)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #14b2cf;
background-color: #14b2cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#14b2cf] bg-[#14b2cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #14b2cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.078, green: 0.698, blue: 0.812)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#14b2cf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF14B2CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 178, 20)

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 #14b2cf · 8.30:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.30:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #14b2cf as text scores 2.53:1 on white and 8.30:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#14b2cf on white: 2.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#14b2cf on black: 8.30:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #9EACD1
deuteranopia · #879CCF
tritanopia · #00BDBB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #14b2cf 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.

#F2FBFC
#E6F6FA
#C6EEF6
#99E7F5
#66DBF0
#32CFEB
#14b2cf
#12A0BA
#0E8095
#0F5D6C
#093A43
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F2FBFCDarkest = 950 · #093A43
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E6F6FA;
  --brand-200: #C6EEF6;
  --brand-300: #99E7F5;
  --brand-400: #66DBF0;
  --brand-500: #32CFEB;
  --brand-600: #14b2cf;
  --brand-700: #12A0BA;
  --brand-800: #0E8095;
  --brand-900: #0F5D6C;
  --brand-950: #093A43;
  --brand: #14b2cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #14b2cf

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E6ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8E9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D40F22
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0B6474
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F9FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #14b2cf

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • 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
  • Black text placed on it
  • 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#CF3114
Analogous left#14CF8E
Analogous right#1454CF
Split-complement 1#CF1454
Split-complement 2#CF8E14
Triadic 1#CF14B2
Triadic 2#B2CF14
Tetradic#8E14CF

RGB percentages

Red7.8%
Green69.8%
Blue81.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan90.3%
Magenta14.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Color previews

#14b2cf text on a black background

contrast 8.30:1

Card sample

#14b2cf text on a white background

contrast 2.53:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #14b2cf;
Background color
Panel with #14b2cf background
background-color: #14b2cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #14b2cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(20, 178, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(20, 178, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #14b2cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #14b2cf, #1435CF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #14b2cf

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.

#14b2cf 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.

#14b2cf, answered

What color is #14b2cf?

#14b2cf is a dark electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 10.1). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #14b2cf?

rgb(20, 178, 207) — 20 red, 178 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 7.8% / 69.8% / 81.2% by channel.

Is #14b2cf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3649 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 8.30:1.

Should I use black or white text on #14b2cf?

Black. It scores 8.30:1 against #14b2cf, versus 2.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #14b2cf?

#CF3114 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CF1454 and #CF8E14, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #14b2cf?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E6ED for borders, #4B8E9B for secondary text, #D40F22 as an accent and #0B6474 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #14CF8E and #1454CF stays calm, while #CF3114 is the loudest partner.

What is #14b2cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(90%, 14%, 0%, 19%). 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 #14b2cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #14CFA7; nudged cooler, #128FD1.

Work with #14b2cf in the Color Lab