Skip to content

#26fcdf

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Aqua Marine

RGB
38, 252, 223
HSL
172°, 97%, 57%
CMYK
85, 0, 12, 1
Luminance
0.7536

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #26fcdf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#26fcdf
Hue
172°
cyan
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7536
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.07:1
Closest name
Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 6.4
Where it sits
Hue172° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness57%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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#26fcdf
RGBrgb(38, 252, 223)
HSLhsl(172, 97%, 57%)
CMYKcmyk(85%, 0%, 12%, 1%)
LABlab(89.6 -54.3 0.2)
LCHlch(89.6 54.3 179.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.890 0.157 180.1)
Decimal2555103
Display P3color(display-p3 0.149 0.988 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #26fcdf;
background-color: #26fcdf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#26fcdf] bg-[#26fcdf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #26fcdf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.149, green: 0.988, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#26fcdf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF26FCDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 252, 38)

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 #26fcdf · 16.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.31:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #26fcdf as text scores 1.31:1 on white and 16.07:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#26fcdf on white: 1.31:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#26fcdf on black: 16.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #F1ECDE
deuteranopia · #D7D9E1
tritanopia · #00FFF3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #26fcdf 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.

#F1FDFC
#E4FCF9
#C1FBF3
#90FDEF
#59FDE7
#26fcdf
#03F1D1
#03C9AE
#02A18C
#067465
#04483F
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1FDFCDarkest = 950 · #04483F
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FDFC;
  --brand-100: #E4FCF9;
  --brand-200: #C1FBF3;
  --brand-300: #90FDEF;
  --brand-400: #59FDE7;
  --brand-500: #26fcdf;
  --brand-600: #03F1D1;
  --brand-700: #03C9AE;
  --brand-800: #02A18C;
  --brand-900: #067465;
  --brand-950: #04483F;
  --brand: #26fcdf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #26fcdf

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDE7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF2378
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#027E6D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FFFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
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 #26fcdf

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
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

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#FC2643
Analogous left#26FC74
Analogous right#26AEFC
Split-complement 1#FC26AE
Split-complement 2#FC7426
Triadic 1#DF26FC
Triadic 2#FCDF26
Tetradic#7426FC

RGB percentages

Red14.9%
Green98.8%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan84.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow11.5%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#26fcdf text on a black background

contrast 16.07:1

Card sample

#26fcdf text on a white background

contrast 1.31:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #26fcdf;
Background color
Panel with #26fcdf background
background-color: #26fcdf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #26fcdf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(38, 252, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(38, 252, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #26fcdf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #26fcdf, #268AFC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #26fcdf

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.

#26fcdf 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.

#26fcdf, answered

What color is #26fcdf?

#26fcdf is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 172° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #26fcdf?

rgb(38, 252, 223) — 38 red, 252 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 14.9% / 98.8% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #26fcdf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7536 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 16.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #26fcdf?

Black. It scores 16.07:1 against #26fcdf, versus 1.31:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #26fcdf?

#FC2643 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FC26AE and #FC7426, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #26fcdf?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE7 for borders, #4B9B90 for secondary text, #FF2378 as an accent and #027E6D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #26FC74 and #26AEFC stays calm, while #FC2643 is the loudest partner.

What is #26fcdf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(85%, 0%, 12%, 1%). 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 #26fcdf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #26FC91; nudged cooler, #24D4FE.

Work with #26fcdf in the Color Lab