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cyan · cool

#16937e

a dark, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Cyan

Token name suggestion: Forest Teal

RGB
22, 147, 126
HSL
170°, 74%, 33%
CMYK
85, 0, 14, 42
Luminance
0.2254

#16937e is a dark vivid cyan, 170° on the wheel and 83/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.51:1). As text it scores 3.81:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dark Cyan, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(170 74% 33%)rgb(22 147 126)Base step 800AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #16937e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#16937e
Hue
170°
cyan
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
33%
dark
Brightness
58%
HSV value
Perceived
47%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2254
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.51:1
Closest name
Dark Cyan
ΔE2000 8.4
Chroma
37.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.595
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 11.5
Web-safe
#009966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue170° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness33%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #16937e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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%
Green93%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#16937e
HEX (8-digit)#16937eff
RGBrgb(22, 147, 126)
RGBArgba(22, 147, 126, 1)
HSLhsl(170, 74%, 33%)
HSV / HSBhsv(170, 85%, 58%)
HWBhwb(170 9% 42%)
CMYKcmyk(85%, 0%, 14%, 42%)
LABlab(54.6 -37.0 2.1)
LCHlch(54.6 37.0 176.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.595 0.106 177.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(14.53, 22.54, 23.32)
Decimal1479550
Display P3color(display-p3 0.086 0.576 0.494)
Web-safe#009966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #16937e;
background-color: #16937e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #16937e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#16937e] bg-[#16937e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #16937e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.086, green: 0.576, blue: 0.494)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.086, green: 0.576, blue: 0.494, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#16937E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF16937E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF16937E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(126, 147, 22)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(22, 147, 126)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(22, 147, 126)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 22, 147, 126)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0863f, 0.5765f, 0.4941f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{22,147,126}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #16937e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #16937e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#116F5F, #D3EEEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #16937e 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: #F3FCFA;
  --brand-100: #E7F9F6;
  --brand-200: #C8F3EC;
  --brand-300: #9DF0E2;
  --brand-400: #6DE9D4;
  --brand-500: #3CE2C6;
  --brand-600: #20D5B6;
  --brand-700: #1BB198;
  --brand-800: #16937e;
  --brand-900: #146759;
  --brand-950: #0C4038;
  --brand: #16937e;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF9;
  --brand-border: #C0EDE5;
  --brand-hover: #117463;
  --brand-pressed: #0D5549;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142422;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FCFA',
        100: '#E7F9F6',
        200: '#C8F3EC',
        300: '#9DF0E2',
        400: '#6DE9D4',
        500: '#3CE2C6',
        600: '#20D5B6',
        700: '#1BB198',
        800: '#16937e',
        900: '#146759',
        950: '#0C4038',
        DEFAULT: '#16937e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FCFA,
  '100': #E7F9F6,
  '200': #C8F3EC,
  '300': #9DF0E2,
  '400': #6DE9D4,
  '500': #3CE2C6,
  '600': #20D5B6,
  '700': #1BB198,
  '800': #16937e,
  '900': #146759,
  '950': #0C4038,
);
$brand-base: #16937e;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FCFA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C8F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9DF0E2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6DE9D4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3CE2C6", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#20D5B6", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1BB198", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#16937e", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#146759", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0C4038", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #16937e · 5.51:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.81:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.51:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #16937e as text scores 3.81:1 on white and 5.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #116F5F at 1.59:1.

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
#13816F · 4.78:1
AA on white−4% L
#13816F
The quick fox
#0F6254 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−11% L
#0F6254
The quick fox
#16937e · 5.51:1
AA on blackalready passes
#16937e
The quick fox
#19A991 · 7.13:1
AAA on black+5% L
#19A991

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #16937E 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
#16937e on white: 3.81:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#16937e on black: 5.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #16937e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #16937e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.81:1AaAa
Slate 503.64:1AaAa
Slate 1003.48:1AaAa
Slate 2003.09:1AaAa
Slate 3002.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.49:1AaAa
Slate 5001.25:1AaAa
Slate 6001.99:1AaAa
Slate 7002.72:1AaAa
Slate 8003.84:1AaAa
Slate 9004.68:1AaAa
Black5.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8D897D
deuteranopia · #7D7E80
tritanopia · #00958D

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. #16937e 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.

#F3FCFA
#E7F9F6
#C8F3EC
#9DF0E2
#6DE9D4
#3CE2C6
#20D5B6
#1BB198
#16937e
#146759
#0C4038
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFADarkest = 950 · #0C4038Text step on white = 900
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 0.026 177.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.042 177.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.063 177.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.082 177.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.097 177.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.106 177.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.106 177.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.099 177.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.089 177.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.074 177.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.058 177.4);
}

Colors that work with #16937e

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#F4FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDE5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8D
Captions on the surface
Accent#96134A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#116F5F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9FCF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
Dark-mode background
Hover#117463
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0D5549
Two steps down
Disabled#73A69D
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#0FAE93
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 #16937e

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #116F5F
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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight67/100
  • 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#93162B
Analogous left#16933F
Analogous right#166993
Split-complement 1#931669
Split-complement 2#933F16
Triadic 1#7E1693
Triadic 2#937E16
Tetradic#3F1693
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°170°

#16937e sits at 170°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red8.6%
Green57.6%
Blue49.4%
R · 0–255
22
0x16
G · 0–255
147
0x93
B · 0–255
126
0x7e

CMYK percentages

Cyan85.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow14.3%
Key (black)42.4%

Total ink coverage is 142%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#16937e text on a black background

contrast 5.51:1

Card sample

#16937e text on a white background

contrast 3.81:1

Card sample

#16937e on grey

3.48:1

#16937e on its own surface

3.61:1

#16937e on its dark surface

4.22:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #16937e;
Background color
Panel with #16937e background
background-color: #16937e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #16937e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(22, 147, 126, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(22, 147, 126, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #16937e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #16937e, #165593);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #16937e, #163593);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #16937e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #16937e;
caret-color: #16937e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #16937e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9FCF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #16937e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#16937e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #16937e 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(22, 147, 126, 0.5)
rgb(22 147 126 / 50%)
#16937e80
hsl(170 74% 33% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #16937e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#16937e1a#E8F4F2
20%#16937e33#D0E9E5
40%#16937e66#A2D4CB
60%#16937e99#73BEB2
80%#16937ecc#45A998

Gradients from #16937e

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, #1EC8AB, #16937e 45%, #116F5F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #16937e, #123D78);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #16937e, #93162B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #26DFC0 0%, #16937e 45%, #116F5F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #1DBF45 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #1A70AD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #116F5F 0%, transparent 65%), #16937e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #16937e

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.

#16937e 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.51:1.

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.

#16937e, answered

What color is #16937e?

#16937e is a dark vivid cyan, closest to Dark Cyan (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 170° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 33% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #16937e?

rgb(22, 147, 126) — 22 red, 147 green and 126 blue out of 255, or 8.6% / 57.6% / 49.4% by channel.

What is #16937e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(170, 74%, 33%) and hsv(170, 85%, 58%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #16937e a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2254 and perceived brightness is 47%, so black text on it reaches 5.51:1.

Should I use black or white text on #16937e?

Black. It scores 5.51:1 against #16937e, versus 3.81:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #16937e accessible on a white background?

#16937e on white scores 3.81:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #13816F to reach 4.5:1, or #0F6254 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #16937e?

#93162B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #931669 and #933F16, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #16937e?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C0EDE5 for borders, #4B9B8D for secondary text, #96134A as an accent and #116F5F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #16933F and #166993 stays calm, while #93162B is the loudest partner.

What is #16937e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(85%, 0%, 14%, 42%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #16937e warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #169350; nudged cooler, #147B95.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #16937e?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 11.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #16937e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #16937e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#16937e] or text-[#16937e], 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 #16937e with 50% opacity?

rgba(22, 147, 126, 0.5), or #16937e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #8BC9BF; over black, #0B4A3F.

Is #16937e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #009966, ΔE2000 8.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #16937e 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 #16937e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #1EC8AB, #16937e 45%, #116F5F). For more colour, a short hue run to #123D78 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #16937e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #16937e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.