Skip to content

#33dfd3

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Turquoise

RGB
51, 223, 211
HSL
176°, 73%, 54%
CMYK
77, 0, 5, 13
Luminance
0.5818

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #33dfd3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#33dfd3
Hue
176°
cyan
Saturation
73%
vivid
Lightness
54%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5818
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.64:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 1.4
Where it sits
Hue176° of 360°
Saturation73%
Lightness54%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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#33dfd3
RGBrgb(51, 223, 211)
HSLhsl(176, 73%, 54%)
CMYKcmyk(77%, 0%, 5%, 13%)
LABlab(80.8 -44.3 -6.3)
LCHlch(80.8 44.7 188.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.819 0.133 187.6)
Decimal3399635
Display P3color(display-p3 0.200 0.875 0.827)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #33dfd3;
background-color: #33dfd3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#33dfd3] bg-[#33dfd3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #33dfd3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.200, green: 0.875, blue: 0.827)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#33dfd3")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF33DFD3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(211, 223, 51)

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 #33dfd3 · 12.64:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.66:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.64:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #33dfd3 as text scores 1.66:1 on white and 12.64:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#33dfd3 on white: 1.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#33dfd3 on black: 12.64:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D3D3D3
deuteranopia · #BBC2D5
tritanopia · #00E5DB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #33dfd3 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.

#F3FCFB
#E7F8F7
#C9F3F0
#9EF0EA
#6EE8E0
#33dfd3
#21D4C7
#1CB0A6
#168D85
#146660
#0D403C
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFBDarkest = 950 · #0D403C
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FCFB;
  --brand-100: #E7F8F7;
  --brand-200: #C9F3F0;
  --brand-300: #9EF0EA;
  --brand-400: #6EE8E0;
  --brand-500: #33dfd3;
  --brand-600: #21D4C7;
  --brand-700: #1CB0A6;
  --brand-800: #168D85;
  --brand-900: #146660;
  --brand-950: #0D403C;
  --brand: #33dfd3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #33dfd3

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#C0EDE9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B95
Captions on the surface
Accent#E42E68
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#116E68
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9FCFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142423
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 #33dfd3

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#DF333F
Analogous left#33DF7D
Analogous right#3395DF
Split-complement 1#DF3395
Split-complement 2#DF7D33
Triadic 1#D333DF
Triadic 2#DFD333
Tetradic#7D33DF

RGB percentages

Red20.0%
Green87.5%
Blue82.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan77.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow5.4%
Key (black)12.5%

Color previews

#33dfd3 text on a black background

contrast 12.64:1

Card sample

#33dfd3 text on a white background

contrast 1.66:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #33dfd3;
Background color
Panel with #33dfd3 background
background-color: #33dfd3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #33dfd3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(51, 223, 211, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(51, 223, 211, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #33dfd3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #33dfd3, #3378DF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #33dfd3

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.

#33dfd3 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.

#33dfd3, answered

What color is #33dfd3?

#33dfd3 is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 1.4). It sits at 176° on the hue wheel with 73% saturation and 54% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #33dfd3?

rgb(51, 223, 211) — 51 red, 223 green and 211 blue out of 255, or 20% / 87.5% / 82.7% by channel.

Is #33dfd3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5818 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 12.64:1.

Should I use black or white text on #33dfd3?

Black. It scores 12.64:1 against #33dfd3, versus 1.66:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #33dfd3?

#DF333F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DF3395 and #DF7D33, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #33dfd3?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE9 for borders, #4B9B95 for secondary text, #E42E68 as an accent and #116E68 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #33DF7D and #3395DF stays calm, while #DF333F is the loudest partner.

What is #33dfd3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(77%, 0%, 5%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #33dfd3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #33DF94; nudged cooler, #31B4E1.

Work with #33dfd3 in the Color Lab