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cyan · cool

#27b0cd

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

Token name suggestion: Studio Lagoon

RGB
39, 176, 205
HSL
191°, 68%, 48%
CMYK
81, 14, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3589

#27b0cd is a balanced vivid cyan, 191° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.18:1). As text it scores 2.57:1 on white — use #1C8095 instead. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(191 68% 48%)rgb(39 176 205)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #27b0cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#27b0cd
Hue
191°
cyan
Saturation
68%
vivid
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3589
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.18:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 9.9
Chroma
35.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.701
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 1.8
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue191° of 360°
Saturation68%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #27b0cd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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#27b0cd
HEX (8-digit)#27b0cdff
RGBrgb(39, 176, 205)
RGBArgba(39, 176, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(191, 68%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(190, 81%, 80%)
HWBhwb(191 15% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(81%, 14%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(66.4 -25.1 -24.7)
LCHlch(66.4 35.2 224.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.701 0.117 216.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.38, 35.89, 63.23)
Decimal2601165
Display P3color(display-p3 0.153 0.690 0.804)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #27b0cd;
background-color: #27b0cd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #27b0cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#27b0cd] bg-[#27b0cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #27b0cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.153, green: 0.690, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.153, green: 0.690, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#27B0CD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF27B0CD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF27B0CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 176, 39)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(39, 176, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(39, 176, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 39, 176, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1529f, 0.6902f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{39,176,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #27b0cd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #27b0cd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#145C6B, #D3E9EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #27b0cd 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: #F3FAFB;
  --brand-100: #E8F5F8;
  --brand-200: #CAEBF2;
  --brand-300: #A1E0ED;
  --brand-400: #72D0E4;
  --brand-500: #43C0DB;
  --brand-600: #27b0cd;
  --brand-700: #2193AB;
  --brand-800: #1A7689;
  --brand-900: #175663;
  --brand-950: #0E363E;
  --brand: #27b0cd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E5ED;
  --brand-hover: #2196AF;
  --brand-pressed: #1C7C91;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142224;
    --brand-ink: #D3E9EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FAFB',
        100: '#E8F5F8',
        200: '#CAEBF2',
        300: '#A1E0ED',
        400: '#72D0E4',
        500: '#43C0DB',
        600: '#27b0cd',
        700: '#2193AB',
        800: '#1A7689',
        900: '#175663',
        950: '#0E363E',
        DEFAULT: '#27b0cd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FAFB,
  '100': #E8F5F8,
  '200': #CAEBF2,
  '300': #A1E0ED,
  '400': #72D0E4,
  '500': #43C0DB,
  '600': #27b0cd,
  '700': #2193AB,
  '800': #1A7689,
  '900': #175663,
  '950': #0E363E,
);
$brand-base: #27b0cd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FAFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F5F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CAEBF2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A1E0ED", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#72D0E4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#43C0DB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#27b0cd", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2193AB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1A7689", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#175663", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E363E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #27b0cd · 8.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.57:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #27b0cd as text scores 2.57:1 on white and 8.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #145C6B at 2.95:1.

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
#1C8095 · 4.59:1
AA on white−13% L
#1C8095
The quick fox
#155F6F · 7.25:1
AAA on white−22% L
#155F6F
The quick fox
#27b0cd · 8.18:1
AA on blackalready passes
#27b0cd
The quick fox
#27b0cd · 8.18:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#27b0cd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #24A1BC 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
#27b0cd on white: 2.57:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#27b0cd on black: 8.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #27b0cd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #27b0cd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.57:1AaAa
Slate 502.45:1AaAa
Slate 1002.34:1AaAa
Slate 2002.08:1AaAa
Slate 3001.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.00:1AaAa
Slate 5001.85:1AaAa
Slate 6002.95:1AaAa
Slate 7004.03:1AaAa
Slate 8005.70:1AaAa
Slate 9006.95:1AaAa
Black8.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9DAACF
deuteranopia · #879BCD
tritanopia · #00BAB9

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. #27b0cd is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FAFB
#E8F5F8
#CAEBF2
#A1E0ED
#72D0E4
#43C0DB
#27b0cd
#2193AB
#1A7689
#175663
#0E363E
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3FAFBDarkest = 950 · #0E363EText 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 0.029 216.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.047 216.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.070 216.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.091 216.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.107 216.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.117 216.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.117 216.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.110 216.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.098 216.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.082 216.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.064 216.3);
}

Colors that work with #27b0cd

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#C0E5ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D2222F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#145C6B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAF8FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
Dark-mode background
Hover#2196AF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1C7C91
Two steps down
Disabled#A1BDC3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#24C2E4
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 #27b0cd

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 #145C6B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #24A1BC

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#CD4427
Analogous left#27CD97
Analogous right#275DCD
Split-complement 1#CD275D
Split-complement 2#CD9727
Triadic 1#CD27B0
Triadic 2#B0CD27
Tetradic#9727CD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°191°

#27b0cd sits at 191°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red15.3%
Green69.0%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
39
0x27
G · 0–255
176
0xb0
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan81.0%
Magenta14.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 115%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#27b0cd text on a black background

contrast 8.18:1

Card sample

#27b0cd text on a white background

contrast 2.57:1

Card sample

#27b0cd on grey

2.34:1

#27b0cd on its own surface

2.42:1

#27b0cd on its dark surface

6.37:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #27b0cd;
Background color
Panel with #27b0cd background
background-color: #27b0cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #27b0cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(39, 176, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(39, 176, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #27b0cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #27b0cd, #2741CD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #27b0cd, #3627CD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #27b0cd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #27b0cd;
caret-color: #27b0cd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #27b0cd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAF8FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #27b0cd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#27b0cd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #27b0cd 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(39, 176, 205, 0.5)
rgb(39 176 205 / 50%)
#27b0cd80
hsl(191 68% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #27b0cd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#27b0cd1a#E9F7FA
20%#27b0cd33#D4EFF5
40%#27b0cd66#A9DFEB
60%#27b0cd99#7DD0E1
80%#27b0cdcc#52C0D7

Gradients from #27b0cd

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, #53C6DE, #27b0cd 45%, #145C6B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #27b0cd, #222DB3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #27b0cd, #CD4427);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #6CCEE3 0%, #27b0cd 45%, #145C6B 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%, #4ADDA1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #3960D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #145C6B 0%, transparent 65%), #27b0cd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #27b0cd

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.

#27b0cd 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 8.18:1.

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.

#27b0cd, answered

What color is #27b0cd?

#27b0cd is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 9.9). It sits at 191° on the hue wheel with 68% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #27b0cd?

rgb(39, 176, 205) — 39 red, 176 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 15.3% / 69% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #27b0cd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(191, 68%, 48%) and hsv(190, 81%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #27b0cd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3589 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 8.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #27b0cd?

Black. It scores 8.18:1 against #27b0cd, versus 2.57:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #27b0cd accessible on a white background?

#27b0cd on white scores 2.57:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1C8095 to reach 4.5:1, or #155F6F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #27b0cd?

#CD4427 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD275D and #CD9727, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #27b0cd?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E5ED for borders, #4B8D9B for secondary text, #D2222F as an accent and #145C6B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #27CD97 and #275DCD stays calm, while #CD4427 is the loudest partner.

What is #27b0cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(81%, 14%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #27b0cd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #27CDAD; nudged cooler, #2591CF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #27b0cd?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 1.8 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #27b0cd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#27b0cd] or text-[#27b0cd], 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 #27b0cd with 50% opacity?

rgba(39, 176, 205, 0.5), or #27b0cd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #93D8E6; over black, #145867.

Is #27b0cd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 10.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #27b0cd 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 #27b0cd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #53C6DE, #27b0cd 45%, #145C6B). For more colour, a short hue run to #222DB3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #27b0cd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #27b0cd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.