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cyan · cool

#2db1bf

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Cadet Blue

Token name suggestion: Atlas Glacier

RGB
45, 177, 191
HSL
186°, 62%, 46%
CMYK
76, 7, 0, 25
Luminance
0.3576

#2db1bf is a balanced vivid cyan, 186° on the wheel and 90/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.15:1). As text it scores 2.58:1 on white — use #207F89 instead. Nearest name is Cadet Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(186 62% 46%)rgb(45 177 191)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2db1bf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2db1bf
Hue
186°
cyan
Saturation
62%
vivid
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
75%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3576
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.15:1
Closest name
Cadet Blue
ΔE2000 7.9
Chroma
34.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.698
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 5.1
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue186° of 360°
Saturation62%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2db1bf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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
Red2%
Green88%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#2db1bf
HEX (8-digit)#2db1bfff
RGBrgb(45, 177, 191)
RGBArgba(45, 177, 191, 1)
HSLhsl(186, 62%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(186, 76%, 75%)
HWBhwb(186 18% 25%)
CMYKcmyk(76%, 7%, 0%, 25%)
LABlab(66.3 -29.5 -17.1)
LCHlch(66.3 34.1 210.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.698 0.110 205.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.20, 35.76, 54.80)
Decimal2994623
Display P3color(display-p3 0.176 0.694 0.749)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2db1bf;
background-color: #2db1bf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2db1bf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2db1bf] bg-[#2db1bf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2db1bf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.176, green: 0.694, blue: 0.749)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.176, green: 0.694, blue: 0.749, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2DB1BF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2DB1BF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2DB1BF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(191, 177, 45)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(45, 177, 191)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(45, 177, 191)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 45, 177, 191)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1765f, 0.6941f, 0.7490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{45,177,191}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2db1bf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2db1bf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#186067, #D3ECEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2db1bf 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: #F4FAFB;
  --brand-100: #E8F6F7;
  --brand-200: #CCECF0;
  --brand-300: #A4E3EA;
  --brand-400: #77D5DF;
  --brand-500: #49C7D4;
  --brand-600: #2db1bf;
  --brand-700: #2799A5;
  --brand-800: #1F7A84;
  --brand-900: #1A5960;
  --brand-950: #10383C;
  --brand: #2db1bf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0E8ED;
  --brand-hover: #2696A2;
  --brand-pressed: #1F7B85;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142324;
    --brand-ink: #D3ECEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FAFB',
        100: '#E8F6F7',
        200: '#CCECF0',
        300: '#A4E3EA',
        400: '#77D5DF',
        500: '#49C7D4',
        600: '#2db1bf',
        700: '#2799A5',
        800: '#1F7A84',
        900: '#1A5960',
        950: '#10383C',
        DEFAULT: '#2db1bf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FAFB,
  '100': #E8F6F7,
  '200': #CCECF0,
  '300': #A4E3EA,
  '400': #77D5DF,
  '500': #49C7D4,
  '600': #2db1bf,
  '700': #2799A5,
  '800': #1F7A84,
  '900': #1A5960,
  '950': #10383C,
);
$brand-base: #2db1bf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FAFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F6F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CCECF0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A4E3EA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#77D5DF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#49C7D4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2db1bf", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2799A5", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1F7A84", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1A5960", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#10383C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #2db1bf · 8.15:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.58:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.15:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #2db1bf as text scores 2.58:1 on white and 8.15:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #186067 at 2.80:1.

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
#207F89 · 4.71:1
AA on white−13% L
#207F89
The quick fox
#196168 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−21% L
#196168
The quick fox
#2db1bf · 8.15:1
AA on blackalready passes
#2db1bf
The quick fox
#2db1bf · 8.15:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#2db1bf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #29A2AF 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
#2db1bf on white: 2.58:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2db1bf on black: 8.15:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2db1bf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2db1bf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.58:1AaAa
Slate 502.46:1AaAa
Slate 1002.35:1AaAa
Slate 2002.09:1AaAa
Slate 3001.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.00:1AaAa
Slate 5001.85:1AaAa
Slate 6002.94:1AaAa
Slate 7004.02:1AaAa
Slate 8005.68:1AaAa
Slate 9006.93:1AaAa
Black8.15:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A2AAC0
deuteranopia · #8E9BBF
tritanopia · #00B9B5

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. #2db1bf is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F4FAFB
#E8F6F7
#CCECF0
#A4E3EA
#77D5DF
#49C7D4
#2db1bf
#2799A5
#1F7A84
#1A5960
#10383C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F4FAFBDarkest = 950 · #10383CText 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 0.027 205.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.044 205.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.066 205.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.085 205.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.101 205.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.110 205.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.110 205.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.103 205.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.092 205.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.077 205.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.060 205.8);
}

Colors that work with #2db1bf

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#C0E8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B939B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C42840
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#186067
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAF9FA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
Dark-mode background
Hover#2696A2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1F7B85
Two steps down
Disabled#9CBDC0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#25CADB
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 #2db1bf

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 #186067
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #29A2AF

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight54/100
  • 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#BF3B2D
Analogous left#2DBF84
Analogous right#2D68BF
Split-complement 1#BF2D68
Split-complement 2#BF842D
Triadic 1#BF2DB1
Triadic 2#B1BF2D
Tetradic#842DBF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°186°

#2db1bf sits at 186°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red17.6%
Green69.4%
Blue74.9%
R · 0–255
45
0x2d
G · 0–255
177
0xb1
B · 0–255
191
0xbf

CMYK percentages

Cyan76.4%
Magenta7.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)25.1%

Total ink coverage is 109%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2db1bf text on a black background

contrast 8.15:1

Card sample

#2db1bf text on a white background

contrast 2.58:1

Card sample

#2db1bf on grey

2.35:1

#2db1bf on its own surface

2.44:1

#2db1bf on its dark surface

6.29:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2db1bf;
Background color
Panel with #2db1bf background
background-color: #2db1bf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2db1bf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(45, 177, 191, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(45, 177, 191, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2db1bf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2db1bf, #2D50BF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2db1bf, #2F2DBF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2db1bf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2db1bf;
caret-color: #2db1bf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2db1bf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAF9FA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2db1bf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2db1bf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2db1bf 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(45, 177, 191, 0.5)
rgb(45 177 191 / 50%)
#2db1bf80
hsl(186 62% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2db1bf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2db1bf1a#EAF7F9
20%#2db1bf33#D5EFF2
40%#2db1bf66#ABE0E5
60%#2db1bf99#81D0D9
80%#2db1bfcc#57C1CC

Gradients from #2db1bf

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, #53CAD6, #2db1bf 45%, #186067);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2db1bf, #273BA6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2db1bf, #BF3B2D);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #6CD1DC 0%, #2db1bf 45%, #186067 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%, #4BD591 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #3A6AD1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #186067 0%, transparent 65%), #2db1bf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2db1bf

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.

#2db1bf 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 8.15:1.

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.

#2db1bf, answered

What color is #2db1bf?

#2db1bf is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Cadet Blue (ΔE2000 7.9). It sits at 186° on the hue wheel with 62% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2db1bf?

rgb(45, 177, 191) — 45 red, 177 green and 191 blue out of 255, or 17.6% / 69.4% / 74.9% by channel.

What is #2db1bf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(186, 62%, 46%) and hsv(186, 76%, 75%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2db1bf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3576 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 8.15:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2db1bf?

Black. It scores 8.15:1 against #2db1bf, versus 2.58:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #2db1bf accessible on a white background?

#2db1bf on white scores 2.58:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #207F89 to reach 4.5:1, or #196168 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #2db1bf?

#BF3B2D sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BF2D68 and #BF842D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2db1bf?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E8ED for borders, #4B939B for secondary text, #C42840 as an accent and #186067 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2DBF84 and #2D68BF stays calm, while #BF3B2D is the loudest partner.

What is #2db1bf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(76%, 7%, 0%, 25%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #2db1bf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #2DBF98; nudged cooler, #2B8EC2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2db1bf?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 5.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #2db1bf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #2db1bf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2db1bf] or text-[#2db1bf], 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 #2db1bf with 50% opacity?

rgba(45, 177, 191, 0.5), or #2db1bf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #96D8DF; over black, #175960.

Is #2db1bf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 14.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2db1bf 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 #2db1bf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #53CAD6, #2db1bf 45%, #186067). For more colour, a short hue run to #273BA6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2db1bf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2db1bf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.