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#36ebfc

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Cyan

RGB
54, 235, 252
HSL
185°, 97%, 60%
CMYK
79, 7, 0, 1
Luminance
0.6723

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #36ebfc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#36ebfc
Hue
185°
cyan
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6723
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.45:1
Closest name
Cyan
ΔE2000 7.2
Where it sits
Hue185° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness60%
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.

Every format

HEX#36ebfc
RGBrgb(54, 235, 252)
HSLhsl(185, 97%, 60%)
CMYKcmyk(79%, 7%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(85.6 -37.6 -20.8)
LCHlch(85.6 43.0 208.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.862 0.138 204.8)
Decimal3599356
Display P3color(display-p3 0.212 0.922 0.988)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #36ebfc;
background-color: #36ebfc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#36ebfc] bg-[#36ebfc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #36ebfc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.212, green: 0.922, blue: 0.988)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#36ebfc")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF36EBFC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(252, 235, 54)

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 #36ebfc · 14.45:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #36ebfc as text scores 1.45:1 on white and 14.45:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#36ebfc on white: 1.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#36ebfc on black: 14.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D7E1FD
deuteranopia · #BDCEFD
tritanopia · #00F5F0

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #36ebfc 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.

#F1FCFD
#E4FAFC
#C1F6FB
#90F4FD
#59EEFD
#36ebfc
#04DDF1
#03B8C9
#0293A1
#076A74
#044248
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1FCFDDarkest = 950 · #044248
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FCFD;
  --brand-100: #E4FAFC;
  --brand-200: #C1F6FB;
  --brand-300: #90F4FD;
  --brand-400: #59EEFD;
  --brand-500: #36ebfc;
  --brand-600: #04DDF1;
  --brand-700: #03B8C9;
  --brand-800: #0293A1;
  --brand-900: #076A74;
  --brand-950: #044248;
  --brand: #36ebfc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #36ebfc

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#4B949B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF3354
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#02737E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FCFF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
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 #36ebfc

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#FC4736
Analogous left#36FCAA
Analogous right#3688FC
Split-complement 1#FC3688
Split-complement 2#FCAA36
Triadic 1#FC36EB
Triadic 2#EBFC36
Tetradic#AA36FC

RGB percentages

Red21.2%
Green92.2%
Blue98.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan78.6%
Magenta6.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#36ebfc text on a black background

contrast 14.45:1

Card sample

#36ebfc text on a white background

contrast 1.45:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #36ebfc;
Background color
Panel with #36ebfc background
background-color: #36ebfc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #36ebfc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(54, 235, 252, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(54, 235, 252, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #36ebfc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #36ebfc, #3667FC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #36ebfc

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.

#36ebfc 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.

#36ebfc, answered

What color is #36ebfc?

#36ebfc is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Cyan (ΔE2000 7.2). It sits at 185° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #36ebfc?

rgb(54, 235, 252) — 54 red, 235 green and 252 blue out of 255, or 21.2% / 92.2% / 98.8% by channel.

Is #36ebfc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6723 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 14.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #36ebfc?

Black. It scores 14.45:1 against #36ebfc, versus 1.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #36ebfc?

#FC4736 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FC3688 and #FCAA36, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #36ebfc?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E9ED for borders, #4B949B for secondary text, #FF3354 as an accent and #02737E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #36FCAA and #3688FC stays calm, while #FC4736 is the loudest partner.

What is #36ebfc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(79%, 7%, 0%, 1%). 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 #36ebfc 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 #36FCC5; nudged cooler, #34C0FE.

Work with #36ebfc in the Color Lab