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cyan · cool

#2cd5e2

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Turquoise

Token name suggestion: Signal Glacier

RGB
44, 213, 226
HSL
184°, 76%, 53%
CMYK
81, 6, 0, 11
Luminance
0.5361

#2cd5e2 is a balanced electric cyan, 184° on the wheel and 89/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.72:1). As text it scores 1.79:1 on white — use #13828B instead. Nearest name is Dark Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(184 76% 53%)rgb(44 213 226)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2cd5e2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2cd5e2
Hue
184°
cyan
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5361
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.72:1
Closest name
Dark Turquoise
ΔE2000 4.2
Chroma
40.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.799
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 9.8
Web-safe
#33CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue184° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2cd5e2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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%
Green89%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#2cd5e2
HEX (8-digit)#2cd5e2ff
RGBrgb(44, 213, 226)
RGBArgba(44, 213, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(184, 76%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(184, 81%, 89%)
HWBhwb(184 17% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(81%, 6%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(78.2 -36.1 -18.2)
LCHlch(78.2 40.4 206.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.799 0.129 203.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.55, 53.61, 80.25)
Decimal2938338
Display P3color(display-p3 0.173 0.835 0.886)
Web-safe#33CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2cd5e2;
background-color: #2cd5e2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2cd5e2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2cd5e2] bg-[#2cd5e2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2cd5e2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.173, green: 0.835, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.173, green: 0.835, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2CD5E2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2CD5E2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2CD5E2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 213, 44)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(44, 213, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(44, 213, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 44, 213, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1725f, 0.8353f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{44,213,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2cd5e2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2cd5e2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0F6970, #D3ECEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2cd5e2 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: #F3FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E7F7F9;
  --brand-200: #C8F1F4;
  --brand-300: #9CEBF1;
  --brand-400: #6BE1EB;
  --brand-500: #2cd5e2;
  --brand-600: #1ECAD7;
  --brand-700: #19A8B3;
  --brand-800: #14878F;
  --brand-900: #136268;
  --brand-950: #0C3D41;
  --brand: #2cd5e2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0E9ED;
  --brand-hover: #1CC1CE;
  --brand-pressed: #18A4AE;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142324;
    --brand-ink: #D3ECEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FBFC',
        100: '#E7F7F9',
        200: '#C8F1F4',
        300: '#9CEBF1',
        400: '#6BE1EB',
        500: '#2cd5e2',
        600: '#1ECAD7',
        700: '#19A8B3',
        800: '#14878F',
        900: '#136268',
        950: '#0C3D41',
        DEFAULT: '#2cd5e2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FBFC,
  '100': #E7F7F9,
  '200': #C8F1F4,
  '300': #9CEBF1,
  '400': #6BE1EB,
  '500': #2cd5e2,
  '600': #1ECAD7,
  '700': #19A8B3,
  '800': #14878F,
  '900': #136268,
  '950': #0C3D41,
);
$brand-base: #2cd5e2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FBFC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C8F1F4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9CEBF1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6BE1EB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2cd5e2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1ECAD7", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#19A8B3", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#14878F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#136268", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0C3D41", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #2cd5e2 · 11.72:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.79:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.72:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2cd5e2 as text scores 1.79:1 on white and 11.72:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0F6970 at 3.58:1.

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
#13828B · 4.57:1
AA on white−22% L
#13828B
The quick fox
#0E6067 · 7.27:1
AAA on white−30% L
#0E6067
The quick fox
#2cd5e2 · 11.72:1
AA on blackalready passes
#2cd5e2
The quick fox
#2cd5e2 · 11.72:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#2cd5e2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #18A4AE 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
#2cd5e2 on white: 1.79:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2cd5e2 on black: 11.72:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2cd5e2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2cd5e2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.79:1AaAa
Slate 501.71:1AaAa
Slate 1001.64:1AaAa
Slate 2001.45:1AaAa
Slate 3001.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.43:1AaAa
Slate 5002.66:1AaAa
Slate 6004.23:1AaAa
Slate 7005.78:1AaAa
Slate 8008.17:1AaAa
Slate 9009.97:1AaAa
Black11.72:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C3CCE3
deuteranopia · #ABBAE3
tritanopia · #00DED9

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. #2cd5e2 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.

#F3FBFC
#E7F7F9
#C8F1F4
#9CEBF1
#6BE1EB
#2cd5e2
#1ECAD7
#19A8B3
#14878F
#136268
#0C3D41
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFCDarkest = 950 · #0C3D41Text 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 0.032 203.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.052 203.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.077 203.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.100 203.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.118 203.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.129 203.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.129 203.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.121 203.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.108 203.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.090 203.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.071 203.1);
}

Colors that work with #2cd5e2

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#C0E9ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B959B
Captions on the surface
Accent#E72749
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F6970
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9FBFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
Dark-mode background
Hover#1CC1CE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#18A4AE
Two steps down
Disabled#B1CBCD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#33E2EF
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 #2cd5e2

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 #0F6970
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #18A4AE

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
  • Weight47/100
  • 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#E2392C
Analogous left#2CE294
Analogous right#2C7AE2
Split-complement 1#E22C7A
Split-complement 2#E2942C
Triadic 1#E22CD5
Triadic 2#D5E22C
Tetradic#942CE2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°184°

#2cd5e2 sits at 184°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red17.3%
Green83.5%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
44
0x2c
G · 0–255
213
0xd5
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan80.5%
Magenta5.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 98%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2cd5e2 text on a black background

contrast 11.72:1

Card sample

#2cd5e2 text on a white background

contrast 1.79:1

Card sample

#2cd5e2 on grey

1.64:1

#2cd5e2 on its own surface

1.70:1

#2cd5e2 on its dark surface

9.05:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2cd5e2;
Background color
Panel with #2cd5e2 background
background-color: #2cd5e2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2cd5e2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(44, 213, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(44, 213, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2cd5e2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2cd5e2, #2C5BE2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2cd5e2, #2C2EE2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2cd5e2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2cd5e2;
caret-color: #2cd5e2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2cd5e2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9FBFC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2cd5e2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2cd5e2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2cd5e2 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(44, 213, 226, 0.5)
rgb(44 213 226 / 50%)
#2cd5e280
hsl(184 76% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2cd5e2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2cd5e21a#EAFBFC
20%#2cd5e233#D5F7F9
40%#2cd5e266#ABEEF3
60%#2cd5e299#80E6EE
80%#2cd5e2cc#56DDE8

Gradients from #2cd5e2

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, #62E0E9, #2cd5e2 45%, #0F6970);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2cd5e2, #1D3DD2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2cd5e2, #E2392C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #7DE5ED 0%, #2cd5e2 45%, #0F6970 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #59E89F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #477EE6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0F6970 0%, transparent 65%), #2cd5e2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2cd5e2

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.

#2cd5e2 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 11.72:1.

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.

#2cd5e2, answered

What color is #2cd5e2?

#2cd5e2 is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Dark Turquoise (ΔE2000 4.2). It sits at 184° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2cd5e2?

rgb(44, 213, 226) — 44 red, 213 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 17.3% / 83.5% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #2cd5e2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(184, 76%, 53%) and hsv(184, 81%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2cd5e2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5361 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 11.72:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2cd5e2?

Black. It scores 11.72:1 against #2cd5e2, versus 1.79:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #2cd5e2 accessible on a white background?

#2cd5e2 on white scores 1.79:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #13828B to reach 4.5:1, or #0E6067 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #2cd5e2?

#E2392C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E22C7A and #E2942C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2cd5e2?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E9ED for borders, #4B959B for secondary text, #E72749 as an accent and #0F6970 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2CE294 and #2C7AE2 stays calm, while #E2392C is the loudest partner.

What is #2cd5e2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(81%, 6%, 0%, 11%). 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 #2cd5e2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2CE2AC; nudged cooler, #29ABE4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2cd5e2?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 9.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #2cd5e2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #2cd5e2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2cd5e2] or text-[#2cd5e2], 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 #2cd5e2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(44, 213, 226, 0.5), or #2cd5e280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #96EAF1; over black, #166B71.

Is #2cd5e2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCCC, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2cd5e2 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 #2cd5e2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #62E0E9, #2cd5e2 45%, #0F6970). For more colour, a short hue run to #1D3DD2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2cd5e2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2cd5e2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.