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green · cool

#16ad66

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

Token name suggestion: Forest Moss

RGB
22, 173, 102
HSL
152°, 77%, 38%
CMYK
87, 0, 41, 32
Luminance
0.3102

#16ad66 is a dark electric green, 152° on the wheel and 76/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.20:1). As text it scores 2.92:1 on white — use #11844E instead. Nearest name is Medium Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(152 77% 38%)rgb(22 173 102)Base step 700AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #16ad66 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#16ad66
Hue
152°
green
Saturation
77%
electric
Lightness
38%
dark
Brightness
68%
HSV value
Perceived
54%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3102
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
76/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
7.20:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 2.7
Chroma
59.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.659
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 5.2
Web-safe
#009966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue152° of 360°
Saturation77%
Lightness38%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #16ad66.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool76% 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%
Green96%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#16ad66
HEX (8-digit)#16ad66ff
RGBrgb(22, 173, 102)
RGBArgba(22, 173, 102, 1)
HSLhsl(152, 77%, 38%)
HSV / HSBhsv(152, 87%, 68%)
HWBhwb(152 9% 32%)
CMYKcmyk(87%, 0%, 41%, 32%)
LABlab(62.5 -53.1 26.4)
LCHlch(62.5 59.3 153.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.659 0.157 155.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(17.67, 31.01, 17.62)
Decimal1486182
Display P3color(display-p3 0.086 0.678 0.400)
Web-safe#009966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #16ad66;
background-color: #16ad66;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #16ad66;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#16ad66] bg-[#16ad66]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #16ad66;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.086, green: 0.678, blue: 0.400)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.086, green: 0.678, blue: 0.400, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#16AD66</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF16AD66)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF16AD66)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(102, 173, 22)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(22, 173, 102)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(22, 173, 102)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 22, 173, 102)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0863f, 0.6784f, 0.4000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{22,173,102}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #16ad66 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #16ad66 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0E7143, #D3EEE1);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #16ad66 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: #F3FCF8;
  --brand-100: #E6F9F0;
  --brand-200: #C7F4DF;
  --brand-300: #9BF2CA;
  --brand-400: #6AECAF;
  --brand-500: #38E694;
  --brand-600: #1CD980;
  --brand-700: #16ad66;
  --brand-800: #129155;
  --brand-900: #126940;
  --brand-950: #0B4128;
  --brand: #16ad66;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF8;
  --brand-border: #C0EDD8;
  --brand-hover: #128D53;
  --brand-pressed: #0E6D41;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #14241D;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEE1;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FCF8',
        100: '#E6F9F0',
        200: '#C7F4DF',
        300: '#9BF2CA',
        400: '#6AECAF',
        500: '#38E694',
        600: '#1CD980',
        700: '#16ad66',
        800: '#129155',
        900: '#126940',
        950: '#0B4128',
        DEFAULT: '#16ad66',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FCF8,
  '100': #E6F9F0,
  '200': #C7F4DF,
  '300': #9BF2CA,
  '400': #6AECAF,
  '500': #38E694,
  '600': #1CD980,
  '700': #16ad66,
  '800': #129155,
  '900': #126940,
  '950': #0B4128,
);
$brand-base: #16ad66;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FCF8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F9F0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C7F4DF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9BF2CA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6AECAF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#38E694", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1CD980", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#16ad66", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#129155", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#126940", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0B4128", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #16ad66 · 7.20:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.92:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.20:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #16ad66 as text scores 2.92:1 on white and 7.20:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0E7143 at 2.08:1.

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
#11844E · 4.74:1
AA on white−9% L
#11844E
The quick fox
#0D643B · 7.23:1
AAA on white−16% L
#0D643B
The quick fox
#16ad66 · 7.20:1
AA on blackalready passes
#16ad66
The quick fox
#16ad66 · 7.20:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#16ad66

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #15A863 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
#16ad66 on white: 2.92:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#16ad66 on black: 7.20:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #16ad66 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #16ad66.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.92:1AaAa
Slate 502.79:1AaAa
Slate 1002.66:1AaAa
Slate 2002.36:1AaAa
Slate 3001.96:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5001.63:1AaAa
Slate 6002.60:1AaAa
Slate 7003.55:1AaAa
Slate 8005.02:1AaAa
Slate 9006.12:1AaAa
Black7.20:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AC9E61
deuteranopia · #9C926B
tritanopia · #00AB9B

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. #16ad66 is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FCF8
#E6F9F0
#C7F4DF
#9BF2CA
#6AECAF
#38E694
#1CD980
#16ad66
#129155
#126940
#0B4128
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F3FCF8Darkest = 950 · #0B4128Text 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 0.039 155.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.063 155.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.094 155.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.123 155.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.145 155.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.157 155.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.157 155.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.148 155.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.132 155.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.110 155.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.086 155.3);
}

Colors that work with #16ad66

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#F4FAF8
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDD8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B75
Captions on the surface
Accent#B11284
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0E7143
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FCF3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241D
Dark-mode background
Hover#128D53
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0E6D41
Two steps down
Disabled#83B09B
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#0ECA71
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 #16ad66

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
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #0E7143
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #15A863

Meaning and mood

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

safegrowingnaturalpermissive

Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed.

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

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight62/100
  • 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#AD165D
Analogous left#16AD1B
Analogous right#16A8AD
Split-complement 1#AD16A8
Split-complement 2#AD1B16
Triadic 1#6616AD
Triadic 2#AD6616
Tetradic#1B16AD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°152°

#16ad66 sits at 152°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red8.6%
Green67.8%
Blue40.0%
R · 0–255
22
0x16
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
102
0x66

CMYK percentages

Cyan87.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow41.0%
Key (black)32.2%

Total ink coverage is 161%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#16ad66 text on a black background

contrast 7.20:1

Card sample

#16ad66 text on a white background

contrast 2.92:1

Card sample

#16ad66 on grey

2.66:1

#16ad66 on its own surface

2.76:1

#16ad66 on its dark surface

5.54:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #16ad66;
Background color
Panel with #16ad66 background
background-color: #16ad66;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #16ad66;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(22, 173, 102, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(22, 173, 102, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #16ad66;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #16ad66, #168FAD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #16ad66, #1669AD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #16ad66;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #16ad66;
caret-color: #16ad66;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #16ad66;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8FCF3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #16ad66;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#16ad66 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #16ad66 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, 173, 102, 0.5)
rgb(22 173 102 / 50%)
#16ad6680
hsl(152 77% 38% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #16ad66 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#16ad661a#E8F7F0
20%#16ad6633#D0EFE0
40%#16ad6666#A2DEC2
60%#16ad6699#73CEA3
80%#16ad66cc#45BD85

Gradients from #16ad66

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, #1EE286, #16ad66 45%, #0E7143);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #16ad66, #136E92);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #16ad66, #AD165D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #39E694 0%, #16ad66 45%, #0E7143 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #26DA1C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #19B4C8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0E7143 0%, transparent 65%), #16ad66;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #16ad66

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.

#16ad66 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.

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 7.20:1.

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.

#16ad66, answered

What color is #16ad66?

#16ad66 is a dark electric green, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 2.7). It sits at 152° on the hue wheel with 77% saturation and 38% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #16ad66?

rgb(22, 173, 102) — 22 red, 173 green and 102 blue out of 255, or 8.6% / 67.8% / 40% by channel.

What is #16ad66 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(152, 77%, 38%) and hsv(152, 87%, 68%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #16ad66 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3102 and perceived brightness is 54%, so black text on it reaches 7.20:1.

Should I use black or white text on #16ad66?

Black. It scores 7.20:1 against #16ad66, versus 2.92:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #16ad66 accessible on a white background?

#16ad66 on white scores 2.92:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #11844E to reach 4.5:1, or #0D643B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #16ad66?

#AD165D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AD16A8 and #AD1B16, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #16ad66?

For interface work: #F4FAF8 as the surface, #C0EDD8 for borders, #4B9B75 for secondary text, #B11284 as an accent and #0E7143 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #16AD1B and #16A8AD stays calm, while #AD165D is the loudest partner.

What is #16ad66 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(87%, 0%, 41%, 32%). 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 #16ad66 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 76 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #16AD2F; nudged cooler, #14AF9F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #16ad66?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 5.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #16ad66 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #16ad66 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#16ad66] or text-[#16ad66], 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 #16ad66 with 50% opacity?

rgba(22, 173, 102, 0.5), or #16ad6680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #8BD6B3; over black, #0B5733.

Is #16ad66 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #009966, ΔE2000 7.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #16ad66 mean?

As a green, it reads safe, growing, natural. Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #16ad66?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #1EE286, #16ad66 45%, #0E7143). For more colour, a short hue run to #136E92 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #16ad66 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #16ad66 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.