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cyan · cool

#232f2c

a deep, muted cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: Midnight Teal

RGB
35, 47, 44
HSL
165°, 15%, 16%
CMYK
26, 0, 6, 82
Luminance
0.0257

#232f2c is a deep muted cyan, 165° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (13.87:1). As text it scores 13.87:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(165 15% 16%)rgb(35 47 44)Base step 950AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #232f2c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#232f2c
Hue
165°
cyan
Saturation
15%
muted
Lightness
16%
deep
Brightness
18%
HSV value
Perceived
17%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0257
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Muted
Best ink
White
13.87:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Gray
ΔE2000 11.3
Chroma
5.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.293
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 25.4
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue165° of 360°
Saturation15%
Lightness16%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #232f2c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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
Red14%
Green79%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#232f2c
HEX (8-digit)#232f2cff
RGBrgb(35, 47, 44)
RGBArgba(35, 47, 44, 1)
HSLhsl(165, 15%, 16%)
HSV / HSBhsv(165, 26%, 18%)
HWBhwb(165 14% 82%)
CMYKcmyk(26%, 0%, 6%, 82%)
LABlab(18.2 -5.9 0.3)
LCHlch(18.2 5.9 177.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.293 0.017 178.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(2.16, 2.57, 2.76)
Decimal2305836
Display P3color(display-p3 0.137 0.184 0.173)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #232f2c;
background-color: #232f2c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #232f2c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#232f2c] bg-[#232f2c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #232f2c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.137, green: 0.184, blue: 0.173)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.137, green: 0.184, blue: 0.173, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#232F2C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF232F2C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF232F2C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(44, 47, 35)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(35, 47, 44)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(35, 47, 44)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 35, 47, 44)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1373f, 0.1843f, 0.1725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{35,47,44}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #232f2c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #232f2c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#364944, #DCE5E3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #232f2c 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF1F1;
  --brand-200: #DAE2E0;
  --brand-300: #BFCFCB;
  --brand-400: #9FB7B1;
  --brand-500: #7E9F97;
  --brand-600: #698C83;
  --brand-700: #57756D;
  --brand-800: #465E58;
  --brand-900: #354541;
  --brand-950: #232f2c;
  --brand: #232f2c;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-border: #D0DCD9;
  --brand-hover: #141B19;
  --brand-pressed: #050606;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #18201E;
    --brand-ink: #DCE5E3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EEF1F1',
        200: '#DAE2E0',
        300: '#BFCFCB',
        400: '#9FB7B1',
        500: '#7E9F97',
        600: '#698C83',
        700: '#57756D',
        800: '#465E58',
        900: '#354541',
        950: '#232f2c',
        DEFAULT: '#232f2c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EEF1F1,
  '200': #DAE2E0,
  '300': #BFCFCB,
  '400': #9FB7B1,
  '500': #7E9F97,
  '600': #698C83,
  '700': #57756D,
  '800': #465E58,
  '900': #354541,
  '950': #232f2c,
);
$brand-base: #232f2c;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF1F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DAE2E0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BFCFCB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9FB7B1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7E9F97", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#698C83", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#57756D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#465E58", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#354541", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#232f2c", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #232f2c · 13.87:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 13.87:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.51:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #232f2c as text scores 13.87:1 on white and 1.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F0F4F3 at 12.51:1.

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
#232f2c · 13.87:1
AA on whitealready passes
#232f2c
The quick fox
#232f2c · 13.87:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#232f2c
The quick fox
#5C7B73 · 4.54:1
AA on black+26% L
#5C7B73
The quick fox
#7C9D95 · 7.11:1
AAA on black+39% L
#7C9D95

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #232F2C 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
#232f2c on white: 13.87:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#232f2c on black: 1.51:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #232f2c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #232f2c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White13.87:1AaAa
Slate 5013.25:1AaAa
Slate 10012.66:1AaAa
Slate 20011.25:1AaAa
Slate 3009.34:1AaAa
Slate 4005.41:1AaAa
Slate 5002.91:1AaAa
Slate 6001.83:1AaAa
Slate 7001.34:1AaAa
Slate 8001.05:1AaAa
Slate 9001.29:1AaAa
Black1.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #2E2D2C
deuteranopia · #2C2C2C
tritanopia · #202F2E

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. #232f2c is pinned to step 950; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F8F8
#EEF1F1
#DAE2E0
#BFCFCB
#9FB7B1
#7E9F97
#698C83
#57756D
#465E58
#354541
#232f2c
Base = 950Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #232f2cText step on white = 700
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 0.004 178.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.007 178.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.010 178.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.013 178.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.016 178.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.017 178.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.017 178.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.016 178.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.014 178.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.012 178.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.009 178.1);
}

Colors that work with #232f2c

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F6F8F8
Tinted page background
Border#D0DCD9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#62847B
Captions on the surface
Accent#312129
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#364944
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F4F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#18201E
Dark-mode background
Hover#141B19
One step down in lightness
Pressed#050606
Two steps down
Disabled#536F68
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#27403A
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 #232f2c

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • 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
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight84/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#2F2326
Analogous left#232F26
Analogous right#232C2F
Split-complement 1#2F232C
Split-complement 2#2F2623
Triadic 1#2C232F
Triadic 2#2F2C23
Tetradic#26232F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°165°

#232f2c sits at 165°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red13.7%
Green18.4%
Blue17.3%
R · 0–255
35
0x23
G · 0–255
47
0x2f
B · 0–255
44
0x2c

CMYK percentages

Cyan25.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow6.4%
Key (black)81.6%

Total ink coverage is 114%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#232f2c text on a black background

contrast 1.51:1

Card sample

#232f2c text on a white background

contrast 13.87:1

Card sample

#232f2c on grey

12.66:1

#232f2c on its own surface

13.01:1

#232f2c on its dark surface

1.20:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #232f2c;
Background color
Panel with #232f2c background
background-color: #232f2c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #232f2c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(35, 47, 44, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(35, 47, 44, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #232f2c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #232f2c, #232A2F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #232f2c, #23272F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #232f2c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #232f2c;
caret-color: #232f2c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #232f2c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F4F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #232f2c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#232f2c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #232f2c 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(35, 47, 44, 0.5)
rgb(35 47 44 / 50%)
#232f2c80
hsl(165 15% 16% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #232f2c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#232f2c1a#E9EAEA
20%#232f2c33#D3D5D5
40%#232f2c66#A7ACAB
60%#232f2c99#7B8280
80%#232f2ccc#4F5956

Gradients from #232f2c

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, #3D524D, #232f2c 45%, #364944);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #232f2c, #161A1E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #232f2c, #2F2326);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #4A645D 0%, #232f2c 45%, #364944 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #394C3C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #303B41 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #364944 0%, transparent 65%), #232f2c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #232f2c

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.

#232f2c 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

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

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.51:1 — lift it to #5C7B73 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#232f2c, answered

What color is #232f2c?

#232f2c is a deep muted cyan, closest to Dark Slate Gray (ΔE2000 11.3). It sits at 165° on the hue wheel with 15% saturation and 16% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #232f2c?

rgb(35, 47, 44) — 35 red, 47 green and 44 blue out of 255, or 13.7% / 18.4% / 17.3% by channel.

What is #232f2c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(165, 15%, 16%) and hsv(165, 26%, 18%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #232f2c a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0257 and perceived brightness is 17%, so white text on it reaches 13.87:1.

Should I use black or white text on #232f2c?

White. It scores 13.87:1 against #232f2c, versus 1.51:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #232f2c accessible on a white background?

#232f2c on white scores 13.87:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #232f2c?

#2F2326 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2F232C and #2F2623, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #232f2c?

For interface work: #F6F8F8 as the surface, #D0DCD9 for borders, #62847B for secondary text, #312129 as an accent and #364944 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #232F26 and #232C2F stays calm, while #2F2326 is the loudest partner.

What is #232f2c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(26%, 0%, 6%, 82%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #232f2c warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #232F28; nudged cooler, #222E30.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #232f2c?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 25.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #232f2c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #232f2c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#232f2c] or text-[#232f2c], 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 #232f2c with 50% opacity?

rgba(35, 47, 44, 0.5), or #232f2c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #919796; over black, #121816.

Is #232f2c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 7.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #232f2c mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #232f2c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #3D524D, #232f2c 45%, #364944). For more colour, a short hue run to #161A1E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #232f2c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #232f2c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.