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cyan · cool

#2af8cf

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Lagoon

RGB
42, 248, 207
HSL
168°, 94%, 57%
CMYK
83, 0, 17, 3
Luminance
0.7213

#2af8cf is a balanced electric cyan, 168° on the wheel and 83/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.43:1). As text it scores 1.36:1 on white — use #04856B instead. Nearest name is Aqua Marine, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(168 94% 57%)rgb(42 248 207)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2af8cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2af8cf
Hue
168°
cyan
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
97%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7213
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.43:1
Closest name
Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 4.8
Chroma
56.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.877
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 15.9
Web-safe
#33FFCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue168° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2af8cf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#2af8cf
HEX (8-digit)#2af8cfff
RGBrgb(42, 248, 207)
RGBArgba(42, 248, 207, 1)
HSLhsl(168, 94%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(168, 83%, 97%)
HWBhwb(168 16% 3%)
CMYKcmyk(83%, 0%, 17%, 3%)
LABlab(88.0 -56.5 6.3)
LCHlch(88.0 56.8 173.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.877 0.160 174.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.78, 72.13, 70.53)
Decimal2816207
Display P3color(display-p3 0.165 0.973 0.812)
Web-safe#33FFCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2af8cf;
background-color: #2af8cf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2af8cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2af8cf] bg-[#2af8cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2af8cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.165, green: 0.973, blue: 0.812)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.165, green: 0.973, blue: 0.812, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2AF8CF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2AF8CF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2AF8CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 248, 42)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(42, 248, 207)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(42, 248, 207)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 42, 248, 207)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1647f, 0.9725f, 0.8118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{42,248,207}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2af8cf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2af8cf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#047B64, #D3EEE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2af8cf 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: #F2FDFB;
  --brand-100: #E4FBF7;
  --brand-200: #C2FAEF;
  --brand-300: #92FBE7;
  --brand-400: #5CFADA;
  --brand-500: #2af8cf;
  --brand-600: #08EDC0;
  --brand-700: #07C5A0;
  --brand-800: #059E80;
  --brand-900: #08725D;
  --brand-950: #05473A;
  --brand: #2af8cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF9;
  --brand-border: #C0EDE4;
  --brand-hover: #08F6C7;
  --brand-pressed: #07D4AB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142421;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2FDFB',
        100: '#E4FBF7',
        200: '#C2FAEF',
        300: '#92FBE7',
        400: '#5CFADA',
        500: '#2af8cf',
        600: '#08EDC0',
        700: '#07C5A0',
        800: '#059E80',
        900: '#08725D',
        950: '#05473A',
        DEFAULT: '#2af8cf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2FDFB,
  '100': #E4FBF7,
  '200': #C2FAEF,
  '300': #92FBE7,
  '400': #5CFADA,
  '500': #2af8cf,
  '600': #08EDC0,
  '700': #07C5A0,
  '800': #059E80,
  '900': #08725D,
  '950': #05473A,
);
$brand-base: #2af8cf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2FDFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4FBF7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C2FAEF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#92FBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5CFADA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2af8cf", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#08EDC0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#07C5A0", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#059E80", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#08725D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#05473A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #2af8cf · 15.43:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.43:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2af8cf as text scores 1.36:1 on white and 15.43:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #047B64 at 3.84:1.

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
#04856B · 4.59:1
AA on white−30% L
#04856B
The quick fox
#03624F · 7.33:1
AAA on white−37% L
#03624F
The quick fox
#2af8cf · 15.43:1
AA on blackalready passes
#2af8cf
The quick fox
#2af8cf · 15.43:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#2af8cf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #06A787 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
#2af8cf on white: 1.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2af8cf on black: 15.43:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2af8cf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2af8cf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.36:1AaAa
Slate 501.30:1AaAa
Slate 1001.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.10:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.88:1AaAa
Slate 5003.50:1AaAa
Slate 6005.57:1AaAa
Slate 7007.61:1AaAa
Slate 80010.75:1AaAa
Slate 90013.11:1AaAa
Black15.43:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #EFE7CD
deuteranopia · #D6D5D2
tritanopia · #00FBEC

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. #2af8cf 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
#E4FBF7
#C2FAEF
#92FBE7
#5CFADA
#2af8cf
#08EDC0
#07C5A0
#059E80
#08725D
#05473A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2FDFBDarkest = 950 · #05473AText step on white = 900
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 0.040 174.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.064 174.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.096 174.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.125 174.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.147 174.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.160 174.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.160 174.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.151 174.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.135 174.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.112 174.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.088 174.3);
}

Colors that work with #2af8cf

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#FC2686
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#047B64
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142421
Dark-mode background
Hover#08F6C7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#07D4AB
Two steps down
Disabled#BDD5D0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#38FFD7
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 #2af8cf

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 #047B64
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #06A787

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight43/100
  • 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#F82A53
Analogous left#2AF868
Analogous right#2ABAF8
Split-complement 1#F82ABA
Split-complement 2#F8682A
Triadic 1#CF2AF8
Triadic 2#F8CF2A
Tetradic#682AF8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°168°

#2af8cf sits at 168°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red16.5%
Green97.3%
Blue81.2%
R · 0–255
42
0x2a
G · 0–255
248
0xf8
B · 0–255
207
0xcf

CMYK percentages

Cyan83.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow16.5%
Key (black)2.7%

Total ink coverage is 102%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2af8cf text on a black background

contrast 15.43:1

Card sample

#2af8cf text on a white background

contrast 1.36:1

Card sample

#2af8cf on grey

1.24:1

#2af8cf on its own surface

1.29:1

#2af8cf on its dark surface

11.83:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2af8cf;
Background color
Panel with #2af8cf background
background-color: #2af8cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2af8cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(42, 248, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(42, 248, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2af8cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2af8cf, #2A98F8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2af8cf, #2A64F8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2af8cf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2af8cf;
caret-color: #2af8cf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2af8cf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6FEF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2af8cf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2af8cf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2af8cf 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, 248, 207, 0.5)
rgb(42 248 207 / 50%)
#2af8cf80
hsl(168 94% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2af8cf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2af8cf1a#EAFEFA
20%#2af8cf33#D4FEF5
40%#2af8cf66#AAFCEC
60%#2af8cf99#7FFBE2
80%#2af8cfcc#55F9D9

Gradients from #2af8cf

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, #65FADC, #2af8cf 45%, #047B64);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2af8cf, #0D76F7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2af8cf, #F82A53);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #83FBE3 0%, #2af8cf 45%, #047B64 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #5CFA7E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #48B5F9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #047B64 0%, transparent 65%), #2af8cf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2af8cf

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.

#2af8cf 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.

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 15.43:1.

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.

#2af8cf, answered

What color is #2af8cf?

#2af8cf is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 168° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2af8cf?

rgb(42, 248, 207) — 42 red, 248 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 16.5% / 97.3% / 81.2% by channel.

What is #2af8cf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(168, 94%, 57%) and hsv(168, 83%, 97%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2af8cf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7213 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 15.43:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2af8cf?

Black. It scores 15.43:1 against #2af8cf, versus 1.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #2af8cf accessible on a white background?

#2af8cf on white scores 1.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #04856B to reach 4.5:1, or #03624F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #2af8cf?

#F82A53 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F82ABA and #F8682A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2af8cf?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C0EDE4 for borders, #4B9B8B for secondary text, #FC2686 as an accent and #047B64 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2AF868 and #2ABAF8 stays calm, while #F82A53 is the loudest partner.

What is #2af8cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(83%, 0%, 17%, 3%). 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 #2af8cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2AF884; nudged cooler, #28D7FA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2af8cf?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 15.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #2af8cf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #2af8cf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2af8cf] or text-[#2af8cf], 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 #2af8cf with 50% opacity?

rgba(42, 248, 207, 0.5), or #2af8cf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #95FCE7; over black, #157C68.

Is #2af8cf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33FFCC, ΔE2000 2.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2af8cf 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 #2af8cf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #65FADC, #2af8cf 45%, #047B64). For more colour, a short hue run to #0D76F7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2af8cf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2af8cf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.