Skip to content
cyan · cool

#2ab488

a dark, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Medium Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Dusk Lagoon

RGB
42, 180, 136
HSL
161°, 62%, 44%
CMYK
77, 0, 24, 29
Luminance
0.3491

#2ab488 is a dark vivid cyan, 161° on the wheel and 80/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.98:1). As text it scores 2.63:1 on white — use #1F8666 instead. Nearest name is Medium Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(161 62% 44%)rgb(42 180 136)Base step 700AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2ab488 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2ab488
Hue
161°
cyan
Saturation
62%
vivid
Lightness
44%
dark
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3491
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
80/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.98:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 5.6
Chroma
48.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.688
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 2.9
Web-safe
#33CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue161° of 360°
Saturation62%
Lightness44%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2ab488.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool80% 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%
Green93%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#2ab488
HEX (8-digit)#2ab488ff
RGBrgb(42, 180, 136)
RGBArgba(42, 180, 136, 1)
HSLhsl(161, 62%, 44%)
HSV / HSBhsv(161, 77%, 71%)
HWBhwb(161 16% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(77%, 0%, 24%, 29%)
LABlab(65.7 -46.4 12.3)
LCHlch(65.7 48.0 165.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.688 0.132 166.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(21.72, 34.91, 28.88)
Decimal2798728
Display P3color(display-p3 0.165 0.706 0.533)
Web-safe#33CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2ab488;
background-color: #2ab488;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2ab488;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2ab488] bg-[#2ab488]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2ab488;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.165, green: 0.706, blue: 0.533)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.165, green: 0.706, blue: 0.533, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2AB488</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2AB488)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2AB488)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(136, 180, 42)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(42, 180, 136)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(42, 180, 136)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 42, 180, 136)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1647f, 0.7059f, 0.5333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{42,180,136}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2ab488 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2ab488 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#18674E, #D3EEE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2ab488 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: #F4FBF9;
  --brand-100: #E8F7F2;
  --brand-200: #CCF0E4;
  --brand-300: #A4EAD4;
  --brand-400: #77DFBE;
  --brand-500: #49D5A8;
  --brand-600: #2EC796;
  --brand-700: #2ab488;
  --brand-800: #1F8464;
  --brand-900: #1A604A;
  --brand-950: #103C2E;
  --brand: #2ab488;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF8;
  --brand-border: #C0EDDE;
  --brand-hover: #239772;
  --brand-pressed: #1C7A5C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #14241F;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FBF9',
        100: '#E8F7F2',
        200: '#CCF0E4',
        300: '#A4EAD4',
        400: '#77DFBE',
        500: '#49D5A8',
        600: '#2EC796',
        700: '#2ab488',
        800: '#1F8464',
        900: '#1A604A',
        950: '#103C2E',
        DEFAULT: '#2ab488',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FBF9,
  '100': #E8F7F2,
  '200': #CCF0E4,
  '300': #A4EAD4,
  '400': #77DFBE,
  '500': #49D5A8,
  '600': #2EC796,
  '700': #2ab488,
  '800': #1F8464,
  '900': #1A604A,
  '950': #103C2E,
);
$brand-base: #2ab488;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FBF9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F7F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CCF0E4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A4EAD4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#77DFBE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#49D5A8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2EC796", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2ab488", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1F8464", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1A604A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#103C2E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #2ab488 · 7.98:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.63:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.98:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2ab488 as text scores 2.63:1 on white and 7.98:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #18674E at 2.58:1.

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
#1F8666 · 4.51:1
AA on white−11% L
#1F8666
The quick fox
#176149 · 7.39:1
AAA on white−20% L
#176149
The quick fox
#2ab488 · 7.98:1
AA on blackalready passes
#2ab488
The quick fox
#2ab488 · 7.98:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#2ab488

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #27A87F 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
#2ab488 on white: 2.63:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2ab488 on black: 7.98:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2ab488 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2ab488.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.63:1AaAa
Slate 502.51:1AaAa
Slate 1002.40:1AaAa
Slate 2002.13:1AaAa
Slate 3001.77:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.81:1AaAa
Slate 6002.88:1AaAa
Slate 7003.94:1AaAa
Slate 8005.56:1AaAa
Slate 9006.79:1AaAa
Black7.98:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0A786
deuteranopia · #9F9A8B
tritanopia · #00B5A8

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. #2ab488 is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F4FBF9
#E8F7F2
#CCF0E4
#A4EAD4
#77DFBE
#49D5A8
#2EC796
#2ab488
#1F8464
#1A604A
#103C2E
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F4FBF9Darkest = 950 · #103C2EText 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 0.033 166.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.053 166.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.079 166.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.103 166.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.121 166.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.132 166.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.132 166.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.124 166.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.111 166.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.092 166.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.072 166.2);
}

Colors that work with #2ab488

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#F4FAF8
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B81
Captions on the surface
Accent#B82579
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#18674E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAFAF5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241F
Dark-mode background
Hover#239772
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1C7A5C
Two steps down
Disabled#94BAAE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#22D199
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 #2ab488

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • 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
  • 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
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #18674E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #27A87F

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 low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight57/100
  • 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#B42A56
Analogous left#2AB443
Analogous right#2A9BB4
Split-complement 1#B42A9B
Split-complement 2#B4432A
Triadic 1#882AB4
Triadic 2#B4882A
Tetradic#432AB4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°161°

#2ab488 sits at 161°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red16.5%
Green70.6%
Blue53.3%
R · 0–255
42
0x2a
G · 0–255
180
0xb4
B · 0–255
136
0x88

CMYK percentages

Cyan76.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow24.4%
Key (black)29.4%

Total ink coverage is 131%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2ab488 text on a black background

contrast 7.98:1

Card sample

#2ab488 text on a white background

contrast 2.63:1

Card sample

#2ab488 on grey

2.40:1

#2ab488 on its own surface

2.49:1

#2ab488 on its dark surface

6.13:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2ab488;
Background color
Panel with #2ab488 background
background-color: #2ab488;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2ab488;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(42, 180, 136, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(42, 180, 136, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2ab488;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2ab488, #2A84B4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2ab488, #2A61B4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2ab488;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2ab488;
caret-color: #2ab488;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2ab488;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAFAF5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2ab488;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2ab488 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2ab488 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(42, 180, 136, 0.5)
rgb(42 180 136 / 50%)
#2ab48880
hsl(161 62% 44% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2ab488 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2ab4881a#EAF8F3
20%#2ab48833#D4F0E7
40%#2ab48866#AAE1CF
60%#2ab48899#7FD2B8
80%#2ab488cc#55C3A0

Gradients from #2ab488

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, #47D4A7, #2ab488 45%, #18674E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2ab488, #24689B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2ab488, #B42A56);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #60DAB3 0%, #2ab488 45%, #18674E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #3FD24D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #30A3CD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #18674E 0%, transparent 65%), #2ab488;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2ab488

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.

#2ab488 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 7.98:1.

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.

#2ab488, answered

What color is #2ab488?

#2ab488 is a dark vivid cyan, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 161° on the hue wheel with 62% saturation and 44% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2ab488?

rgb(42, 180, 136) — 42 red, 180 green and 136 blue out of 255, or 16.5% / 70.6% / 53.3% by channel.

What is #2ab488 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(161, 62%, 44%) and hsv(161, 77%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2ab488 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3491 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 7.98:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2ab488?

Black. It scores 7.98:1 against #2ab488, versus 2.63:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #2ab488 accessible on a white background?

#2ab488 on white scores 2.63:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1F8666 to reach 4.5:1, or #176149 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #2ab488?

#B42A56 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B42A9B and #B4432A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2ab488?

For interface work: #F4FAF8 as the surface, #C0EDDE for borders, #4B9B81 for secondary text, #B82579 as an accent and #18674E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2AB443 and #2A9BB4 stays calm, while #B42A56 is the loudest partner.

What is #2ab488 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(77%, 0%, 24%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #2ab488 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 80 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2AB455; nudged cooler, #28AFB6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2ab488?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 2.9 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #2ab488 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2ab488] or text-[#2ab488], 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 #2ab488 with 50% opacity?

rgba(42, 180, 136, 0.5), or #2ab48880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #95DAC4; over black, #155A44.

Is #2ab488 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CC99, ΔE2000 6.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2ab488 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 #2ab488?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #47D4A7, #2ab488 45%, #18674E). For more colour, a short hue run to #24689B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2ab488 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2ab488 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.