Skip to content
cyan · cool

#20cdec

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

Token name suggestion: True Glacier

RGB
32, 205, 236
HSL
189°, 84%, 53%
CMYK
86, 13, 0, 8
Luminance
0.5003

#20cdec is a balanced electric cyan, 189° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.01:1). As text it scores 1.91:1 on white — use #0D7F94 instead. Nearest name is Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(189 84% 53%)rgb(32 205 236)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #20cdec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#20cdec
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
84%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5003
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.01:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 7.7
Chroma
40.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.782
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 6
Web-safe
#33CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation84%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #20cdec.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red1%
Green87%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#20cdec
HEX (8-digit)#20cdecff
RGBrgb(32, 205, 236)
RGBArgba(32, 205, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(189, 84%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(189, 86%, 93%)
HWBhwb(189 13% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(86%, 13%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(76.1 -30.0 -26.8)
LCHlch(76.1 40.3 221.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.782 0.133 214.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.56, 50.02, 87.02)
Decimal2149868
Display P3color(display-p3 0.125 0.804 0.925)
Web-safe#33CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #20cdec;
background-color: #20cdec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #20cdec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#20cdec] bg-[#20cdec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #20cdec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.125, green: 0.804, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.125, green: 0.804, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#20CDEC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF20CDEC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF20CDEC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 205, 32)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(32, 205, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(32, 205, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 32, 205, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1255f, 0.8039f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{32,205,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #20cdec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #20cdec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0A6575, #D3EAEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #20cdec 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: #F2FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E6F7FA;
  --brand-200: #C5EFF6;
  --brand-300: #98E8F6;
  --brand-400: #64DCF2;
  --brand-500: #20cdec;
  --brand-600: #13C2E2;
  --brand-700: #10A2BC;
  --brand-800: #0D8296;
  --brand-900: #0E5E6D;
  --brand-950: #093B44;
  --brand: #20cdec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E6ED;
  --brand-hover: #12B8D6;
  --brand-pressed: #0F9CB5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142224;
    --brand-ink: #D3EAEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2FBFC',
        100: '#E6F7FA',
        200: '#C5EFF6',
        300: '#98E8F6',
        400: '#64DCF2',
        500: '#20cdec',
        600: '#13C2E2',
        700: '#10A2BC',
        800: '#0D8296',
        900: '#0E5E6D',
        950: '#093B44',
        DEFAULT: '#20cdec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2FBFC,
  '100': #E6F7FA,
  '200': #C5EFF6,
  '300': #98E8F6,
  '400': #64DCF2,
  '500': #20cdec,
  '600': #13C2E2,
  '700': #10A2BC,
  '800': #0D8296,
  '900': #0E5E6D,
  '950': #093B44,
);
$brand-base: #20cdec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2FBFC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F7FA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C5EFF6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#98E8F6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#64DCF2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#20cdec", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#13C2E2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#10A2BC", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0D8296", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0E5E6D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#093B44", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #20cdec · 11.01:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.91:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.01:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #20cdec as text scores 1.91:1 on white and 11.01:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0A6575 at 3.51:1.

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
#0D7F94 · 4.69:1
AA on white−21% L
#0D7F94
The quick fox
#095F6E · 7.31:1
AAA on white−29% L
#095F6E
The quick fox
#20cdec · 11.01:1
AA on blackalready passes
#20cdec
The quick fox
#20cdec · 11.01:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#20cdec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #10A0BA 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
#20cdec on white: 1.91:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#20cdec on black: 11.01:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #20cdec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #20cdec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.91:1AaAa
Slate 501.82:1AaAa
Slate 1001.74:1AaAa
Slate 2001.55:1AaAa
Slate 3001.29:1AaAa
Slate 4001.34:1AaAa
Slate 5002.49:1AaAa
Slate 6003.97:1AaAa
Slate 7005.43:1AaAa
Slate 8007.67:1AaAa
Slate 9009.36:1AaAa
Black11.01:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7C6EE
deuteranopia · #9DB4EC
tritanopia · #00D9D7

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. #20cdec is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FBFC
#E6F7FA
#C5EFF6
#98E8F6
#64DCF2
#20cdec
#13C2E2
#10A2BC
#0D8296
#0E5E6D
#093B44
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2FBFCDarkest = 950 · #093B44Text step on white = 800
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 0.033 214.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.053 214.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.080 214.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.104 214.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.122 214.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.133 214.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.133 214.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.125 214.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.112 214.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.093 214.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.073 214.3);
}

Colors that work with #20cdec

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#4B8F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F11B30
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0A6575
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FAFD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
Dark-mode background
Hover#12B8D6
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0F9CB5
Two steps down
Disabled#B0C8CC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#27D9F9
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 #20cdec

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #0A6575
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #10A0BA

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#EC3F20
Analogous left#20ECA5
Analogous right#2067EC
Split-complement 1#EC2067
Split-complement 2#ECA520
Triadic 1#EC20CD
Triadic 2#CDEC20
Tetradic#A520EC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°189°

#20cdec sits at 189°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red12.5%
Green80.4%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
32
0x20
G · 0–255
205
0xcd
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan86.4%
Magenta13.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 107%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#20cdec text on a black background

contrast 11.01:1

Card sample

#20cdec text on a white background

contrast 1.91:1

Card sample

#20cdec on grey

1.74:1

#20cdec on its own surface

1.80:1

#20cdec on its dark surface

8.57:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #20cdec;
Background color
Panel with #20cdec background
background-color: #20cdec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #20cdec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(32, 205, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(32, 205, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #20cdec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #20cdec, #2045EC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #20cdec, #2E20EC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #20cdec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #20cdec;
caret-color: #20cdec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #20cdec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8FAFD;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #20cdec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#20cdec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #20cdec 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(32, 205, 236, 0.5)
rgb(32 205 236 / 50%)
#20cdec80
hsl(189 84% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #20cdec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#20cdec1a#E9FAFD
20%#20cdec33#D2F5FB
40%#20cdec66#A6EBF7
60%#20cdec99#79E1F4
80%#20cdeccc#4DD7F0

Gradients from #20cdec

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, #58DAF1, #20cdec 45%, #0A6575);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #20cdec, #1326DB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #20cdec, #EC3F20);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #74E0F3 0%, #20cdec 45%, #0A6575 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #4FF0AA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #3C6BEE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0A6575 0%, transparent 65%), #20cdec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #20cdec

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.

#20cdec 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.

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 11.01:1.

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.

#20cdec, answered

What color is #20cdec?

#20cdec is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 84% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #20cdec?

rgb(32, 205, 236) — 32 red, 205 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 12.5% / 80.4% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #20cdec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(189, 84%, 53%) and hsv(189, 86%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #20cdec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5003 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 11.01:1.

Should I use black or white text on #20cdec?

Black. It scores 11.01:1 against #20cdec, versus 1.91:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #20cdec accessible on a white background?

#20cdec on white scores 1.91:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #0D7F94 to reach 4.5:1, or #095F6E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #20cdec?

#EC3F20 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EC2067 and #ECA520, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #20cdec?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E6ED for borders, #4B8F9B for secondary text, #F11B30 as an accent and #0A6575 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #20ECA5 and #2067EC stays calm, while #EC3F20 is the loudest partner.

What is #20cdec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(86%, 13%, 0%, 8%). 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 #20cdec 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 #20ECC0; nudged cooler, #1DA8EE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #20cdec?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #20cdec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #20cdec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#20cdec] or text-[#20cdec], 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 #20cdec with 50% opacity?

rgba(32, 205, 236, 0.5), or #20cdec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #90E6F6; over black, #106776.

Is #20cdec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCFF, ΔE2000 6.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #20cdec 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 #20cdec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #58DAF1, #20cdec 45%, #0A6575). For more colour, a short hue run to #1326DB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #20cdec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #20cdec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.