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#2eb5f0

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

RGB
46, 181, 240
HSL
198°, 87%, 56%
CMYK
81, 25, 0, 6
Luminance
0.3992

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2eb5f0 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2eb5f0
Hue
198°
cyan
Saturation
87%
electric
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3992
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.98:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 2.8
Where it sits
Hue198° of 360°
Saturation87%
Lightness56%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% 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#2eb5f0
RGBrgb(46, 181, 240)
HSLhsl(198, 87%, 56%)
CMYKcmyk(81%, 25%, 0%, 6%)
LABlab(69.4 -15.4 -39.3)
LCHlch(69.4 42.2 248.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.729 0.139 233.0)
Decimal3061232
Display P3color(display-p3 0.180 0.710 0.941)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #2eb5f0;
background-color: #2eb5f0;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2eb5f0] bg-[#2eb5f0]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2eb5f0;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.180, green: 0.710, blue: 0.941)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#2eb5f0")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2EB5F0)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(240, 181, 46)

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 #2eb5f0 · 8.98:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.98:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2eb5f0 as text scores 2.34:1 on white and 8.98:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#2eb5f0 on white: 2.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2eb5f0 on black: 8.98:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #98B3F3
deuteranopia · #7EA2EF
tritanopia · #00C5C9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #2eb5f0 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.

#F2F9FD
#E5F4FA
#C4E8F7
#96DAF7
#62C8F4
#2eb5f0
#10A4E4
#0E89BE
#0B6D98
#0C506E
#083245
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2F9FDDarkest = 950 · #083245
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2F9FD;
  --brand-100: #E5F4FA;
  --brand-200: #C4E8F7;
  --brand-300: #96DAF7;
  --brand-400: #62C8F4;
  --brand-500: #2eb5f0;
  --brand-600: #10A4E4;
  --brand-700: #0E89BE;
  --brand-800: #0B6D98;
  --brand-900: #0C506E;
  --brand-950: #083245;
  --brand: #2eb5f0;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #2eb5f0

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0DFED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B839B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F4342A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#095577
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7F7FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
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 #2eb5f0

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#F0692E
Analogous left#2EF0CA
Analogous right#2E54F0
Split-complement 1#F02E54
Split-complement 2#F0CA2E
Triadic 1#F02EB5
Triadic 2#B5F02E
Tetradic#CA2EF0

RGB percentages

Red18.0%
Green71.0%
Blue94.1%

CMYK percentages

Cyan80.8%
Magenta24.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.9%

Color previews

#2eb5f0 text on a black background

contrast 8.98:1

Card sample

#2eb5f0 text on a white background

contrast 2.34:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2eb5f0;
Background color
Panel with #2eb5f0 background
background-color: #2eb5f0;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2eb5f0;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(46, 181, 240, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(46, 181, 240, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2eb5f0;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2eb5f0, #2E34F0);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2eb5f0

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.

#2eb5f0 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.

#2eb5f0, answered

What color is #2eb5f0?

#2eb5f0 is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 2.8). It sits at 198° on the hue wheel with 87% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2eb5f0?

rgb(46, 181, 240) — 46 red, 181 green and 240 blue out of 255, or 18% / 71% / 94.1% by channel.

Is #2eb5f0 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3992 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 8.98:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2eb5f0?

Black. It scores 8.98:1 against #2eb5f0, versus 2.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #2eb5f0?

#F0692E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F02E54 and #F0CA2E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2eb5f0?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0DFED for borders, #4B839B for secondary text, #F4342A as an accent and #095577 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2EF0CA and #2E54F0 stays calm, while #F0692E is the loudest partner.

What is #2eb5f0 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(81%, 25%, 0%, 6%). 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 #2eb5f0 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2EF0E4; nudged cooler, #2CA0F2.

Work with #2eb5f0 in the Color Lab