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#2af4cb

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

RGB
42, 244, 203
HSL
168°, 90%, 56%
CMYK
83, 0, 17, 4
Luminance
0.6951

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2af4cb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2af4cb
Hue
168°
cyan
Saturation
90%
electric
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6951
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
82/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.90:1
Closest name
Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 5.1
Where it sits
Hue168° of 360°
Saturation90%
Lightness56%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool82% 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#2af4cb
RGBrgb(42, 244, 203)
HSLhsl(168, 90%, 56%)
CMYKcmyk(83%, 0%, 17%, 4%)
LABlab(86.8 -55.9 6.6)
LCHlch(86.8 56.3 173.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.866 0.159 174.0)
Decimal2815179
Display P3color(display-p3 0.165 0.957 0.796)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #2af4cb;
background-color: #2af4cb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2af4cb] bg-[#2af4cb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2af4cb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.165, green: 0.957, blue: 0.796)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#2af4cb")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2AF4CB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 244, 42)

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 #2af4cb · 14.90:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.41:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.90:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2af4cb as text scores 1.41:1 on white and 14.90:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#2af4cb on white: 1.41:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2af4cb on black: 14.90:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #EBE4C9
deuteranopia · #D3D2CE
tritanopia · #00F7E8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #2af4cb 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.

#F2FDFB
#E5FBF6
#C3F8EE
#94FAE5
#5FF7D8
#2af4cb
#0CE9BC
#0AC29D
#089B7D
#0A705B
#074639
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2FDFBDarkest = 950 · #074639
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FDFB;
  --brand-100: #E5FBF6;
  --brand-200: #C3F8EE;
  --brand-300: #94FAE5;
  --brand-400: #5FF7D8;
  --brand-500: #2af4cb;
  --brand-600: #0CE9BC;
  --brand-700: #0AC29D;
  --brand-800: #089B7D;
  --brand-900: #0A705B;
  --brand-950: #074639;
  --brand: #2af4cb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #2af4cb

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#F4FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDE4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F92685
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#067962
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142421
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 #2af4cb

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#F42A53
Analogous left#2AF466
Analogous right#2AB8F4
Split-complement 1#F42AB8
Split-complement 2#F4662A
Triadic 1#CB2AF4
Triadic 2#F4CB2A
Tetradic#662AF4

RGB percentages

Red16.5%
Green95.7%
Blue79.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan82.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow16.8%
Key (black)4.3%

Color previews

#2af4cb text on a black background

contrast 14.90:1

Card sample

#2af4cb text on a white background

contrast 1.41:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2af4cb;
Background color
Panel with #2af4cb background
background-color: #2af4cb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2af4cb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(42, 244, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(42, 244, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2af4cb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2af4cb, #2A96F4);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2af4cb

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.

#2af4cb 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.

#2af4cb, answered

What color is #2af4cb?

#2af4cb is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 5.1). It sits at 168° on the hue wheel with 90% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2af4cb?

rgb(42, 244, 203) — 42 red, 244 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 16.5% / 95.7% / 79.6% by channel.

Is #2af4cb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6951 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 14.90:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2af4cb?

Black. It scores 14.90:1 against #2af4cb, versus 1.41:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #2af4cb?

#F42A53 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F42AB8 and #F4662A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2af4cb?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C0EDE4 for borders, #4B9B8B for secondary text, #F92685 as an accent and #067962 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2AF466 and #2AB8F4 stays calm, while #F42A53 is the loudest partner.

What is #2af4cb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(83%, 0%, 17%, 4%). 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 #2af4cb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 82 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2AF481; nudged cooler, #28D5F6.

Work with #2af4cb in the Color Lab