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#28bfaa

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Light Sea Green

RGB
40, 191, 170
HSL
172°, 65%, 45%
CMYK
79, 0, 11, 25
Luminance
0.4061

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #28bfaa is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#28bfaa
Hue
172°
cyan
Saturation
65%
vivid
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
75%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4061
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.12:1
Closest name
Light Sea Green
ΔE2000 5.5
Where it sits
Hue172° of 360°
Saturation65%
Lightness45%
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#28bfaa
RGBrgb(40, 191, 170)
HSLhsl(172, 65%, 45%)
CMYKcmyk(79%, 0%, 11%, 25%)
LABlab(69.9 -42.6 -0.3)
LCHlch(69.9 42.6 180.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.725 0.123 180.7)
Decimal2670506
Display P3color(display-p3 0.157 0.749 0.667)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #28bfaa;
background-color: #28bfaa;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#28bfaa] bg-[#28bfaa]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #28bfaa;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.157, green: 0.749, blue: 0.667)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#28bfaa")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF28BFAA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(170, 191, 40)

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 #28bfaa · 9.12:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.30:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #28bfaa as text scores 2.30:1 on white and 9.12:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#28bfaa on white: 2.30:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#28bfaa on black: 9.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B6B3A9
deuteranopia · #A3A5AC
tritanopia · #00C3B9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #28bfaa 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.

#F3FBFA
#E8F8F5
#CBF1EC
#A2ECE1
#74E2D3
#45D8C4
#28bfaa
#23A996
#1C8778
#186258
#0F3D37
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFADarkest = 950 · #0F3D37
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FBFA;
  --brand-100: #E8F8F5;
  --brand-200: #CBF1EC;
  --brand-300: #A2ECE1;
  --brand-400: #74E2D3;
  --brand-500: #45D8C4;
  --brand-600: #28bfaa;
  --brand-700: #23A996;
  --brand-800: #1C8778;
  --brand-900: #186258;
  --brand-950: #0F3D37;
  --brand: #28bfaa;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #28bfaa

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#C0EDE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#C42362
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#16695E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAFBF8
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 #28bfaa

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#BF283D
Analogous left#28BF5F
Analogous right#2888BF
Split-complement 1#BF2888
Split-complement 2#BF5F28
Triadic 1#AA28BF
Triadic 2#BFAA28
Tetradic#5F28BF

RGB percentages

Red15.7%
Green74.9%
Blue66.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan79.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow11.0%
Key (black)25.1%

Color previews

#28bfaa text on a black background

contrast 9.12:1

Card sample

#28bfaa text on a white background

contrast 2.30:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #28bfaa;
Background color
Panel with #28bfaa background
background-color: #28bfaa;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #28bfaa;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(40, 191, 170, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(40, 191, 170, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #28bfaa;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #28bfaa, #286FBF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #28bfaa

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.

#28bfaa 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.

#28bfaa, answered

What color is #28bfaa?

#28bfaa is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Light Sea Green (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 172° on the hue wheel with 65% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #28bfaa?

rgb(40, 191, 170) — 40 red, 191 green and 170 blue out of 255, or 15.7% / 74.9% / 66.7% by channel.

Is #28bfaa a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4061 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 9.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #28bfaa?

Black. It scores 9.12:1 against #28bfaa, versus 2.30:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #28bfaa?

#BF283D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BF2888 and #BF5F28, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #28bfaa?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE6 for borders, #4B9B90 for secondary text, #C42362 as an accent and #16695E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #28BF5F and #2888BF stays calm, while #BF283D is the loudest partner.

What is #28bfaa in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(79%, 0%, 11%, 25%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #28bfaa 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 #28BF73; nudged cooler, #269EC1.

Work with #28bfaa in the Color Lab