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green · cool

#38bc89

a balanced, vivid green · cool · closest name: Medium Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Studio Fern

RGB
56, 188, 137
HSL
157°, 54%, 48%
CMYK
70, 0, 27, 26
Luminance
0.3861

#38bc89 is a balanced vivid green, 157° on the wheel and 78/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.72:1). As text it scores 2.41:1 on white — use #288561 instead. Nearest name is Medium Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(157 54% 48%)rgb(56 188 137)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #38bc89 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#38bc89
Hue
157°
green
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
61%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3861
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
78/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.72:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
50.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.712
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 2
Web-safe
#33CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue157° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #38bc89.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool78% 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%
Green93%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#38bc89
HEX (8-digit)#38bc89ff
RGBrgb(56, 188, 137)
RGBArgba(56, 188, 137, 1)
HSLhsl(157, 54%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(157, 70%, 74%)
HWBhwb(157 22% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(70%, 0%, 27%, 26%)
LABlab(68.5 -47.5 15.7)
LCHlch(68.5 50.0 161.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.712 0.136 162.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(24.13, 38.61, 29.84)
Decimal3718281
Display P3color(display-p3 0.220 0.737 0.537)
Web-safe#33CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #38bc89;
background-color: #38bc89;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #38bc89;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#38bc89] bg-[#38bc89]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #38bc89;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.220, green: 0.737, blue: 0.537)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.220, green: 0.737, blue: 0.537, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#38BC89</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF38BC89)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF38BC89)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(137, 188, 56)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(56, 188, 137)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(56, 188, 137)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 56, 188, 137)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2196f, 0.7373f, 0.5373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{56,188,137}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #38bc89 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #38bc89 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1D6248, #D3EEE4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #38bc89 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: #F4FBF8;
  --brand-100: #E9F6F1;
  --brand-200: #CEEEE1;
  --brand-300: #A9E5CE;
  --brand-400: #7DD8B5;
  --brand-500: #52CC9D;
  --brand-600: #38bc89;
  --brand-700: #2F9D73;
  --brand-800: #257E5C;
  --brand-900: #1F5C44;
  --brand-950: #13392B;
  --brand: #38bc89;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAF8;
  --brand-border: #C0ECDB;
  --brand-hover: #30A075;
  --brand-pressed: #288561;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #14241E;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEE4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FBF8',
        100: '#E9F6F1',
        200: '#CEEEE1',
        300: '#A9E5CE',
        400: '#7DD8B5',
        500: '#52CC9D',
        600: '#38bc89',
        700: '#2F9D73',
        800: '#257E5C',
        900: '#1F5C44',
        950: '#13392B',
        DEFAULT: '#38bc89',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FBF8,
  '100': #E9F6F1,
  '200': #CEEEE1,
  '300': #A9E5CE,
  '400': #7DD8B5,
  '500': #52CC9D,
  '600': #38bc89,
  '700': #2F9D73,
  '800': #257E5C,
  '900': #1F5C44,
  '950': #13392B,
);
$brand-base: #38bc89;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FBF8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9F6F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEEEE1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A9E5CE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7DD8B5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#52CC9D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#38bc89", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2F9D73", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#257E5C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1F5C44", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#13392B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #38bc89 · 8.72:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.41:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.72:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #38bc89 as text scores 2.41:1 on white and 8.72:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1D6248 at 3.02:1.

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
#288561 · 4.55:1
AA on white−14% L
#288561
The quick fox
#1D6147 · 7.36:1
AAA on white−23% L
#1D6147
The quick fox
#38bc89 · 8.72:1
AA on blackalready passes
#38bc89
The quick fox
#38bc89 · 8.72:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#38bc89

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #31A478 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
#38bc89 on white: 2.41:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#38bc89 on black: 8.72:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #38bc89 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #38bc89.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.41:1AaAa
Slate 502.30:1AaAa
Slate 1002.20:1AaAa
Slate 2001.95:1AaAa
Slate 3001.62:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.98:1AaAa
Slate 6003.15:1AaAa
Slate 7004.30:1AaAa
Slate 8006.08:1AaAa
Slate 9007.42:1AaAa
Black8.72:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9AE86
deuteranopia · #A8A28C
tritanopia · #00BCAE

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. #38bc89 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.

#F4FBF8
#E9F6F1
#CEEEE1
#A9E5CE
#7DD8B5
#52CC9D
#38bc89
#2F9D73
#257E5C
#1F5C44
#13392B
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F4FBF8Darkest = 950 · #13392BText 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 0.034 162.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.055 162.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.082 162.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.106 162.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.125 162.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.136 162.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.136 162.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.128 162.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.114 162.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.095 162.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.075 162.9);
}

Colors that work with #38bc89

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#F4FAF8
Tinted page background
Border#C0ECDB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B7C
Captions on the surface
Accent#C1338D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1D6248
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF9F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241E
Dark-mode background
Hover#30A075
One step down in lightness
Pressed#288561
Two steps down
Disabled#A1C3B6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#35D396
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 #38bc89

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
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • 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 #1D6248
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #31A478

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

safegrowingnaturalpermissive

Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed.

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

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#BC386B
Analogous left#38BC47
Analogous right#38ADBC
Split-complement 1#BC38AD
Split-complement 2#BC4738
Triadic 1#8938BC
Triadic 2#BC8938
Tetradic#4738BC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°157°

#38bc89 sits at 157°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red22.0%
Green73.7%
Blue53.7%
R · 0–255
56
0x38
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
137
0x89

CMYK percentages

Cyan70.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow27.1%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 124%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#38bc89 text on a black background

contrast 8.72:1

Card sample

#38bc89 text on a white background

contrast 2.41:1

Card sample

#38bc89 on grey

2.20:1

#38bc89 on its own surface

2.28:1

#38bc89 on its dark surface

6.71:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #38bc89;
Background color
Panel with #38bc89 background
background-color: #38bc89;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #38bc89;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(56, 188, 137, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(56, 188, 137, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #38bc89;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #38bc89, #3897BC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #38bc89, #3876BC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #38bc89;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #38bc89;
caret-color: #38bc89;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #38bc89;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF9F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #38bc89;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#38bc89 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #38bc89 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(56, 188, 137, 0.5)
rgb(56 188 137 / 50%)
#38bc8980
hsl(157 54% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #38bc89 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#38bc891a#EBF8F3
20%#38bc8933#D7F2E7
40%#38bc8966#AFE4D0
60%#38bc8999#88D7B8
80%#38bc89cc#60C9A1

Gradients from #38bc89

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, #61D0A5, #38bc89 45%, #1D6248);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #38bc89, #317AA4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #38bc89, #BC386B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #79D7B2 0%, #38bc89 45%, #1D6248 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAF8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #59CE5D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #49B0C9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1D6248 0%, transparent 65%), #38bc89;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #38bc89

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.

#38bc89 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
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 8.72:1.

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.

#38bc89, answered

What color is #38bc89?

#38bc89 is a balanced vivid green, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 157° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #38bc89?

rgb(56, 188, 137) — 56 red, 188 green and 137 blue out of 255, or 22% / 73.7% / 53.7% by channel.

What is #38bc89 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(157, 54%, 48%) and hsv(157, 70%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #38bc89 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3861 and perceived brightness is 61%, so black text on it reaches 8.72:1.

Should I use black or white text on #38bc89?

Black. It scores 8.72:1 against #38bc89, versus 2.41:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #38bc89 accessible on a white background?

#38bc89 on white scores 2.41:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #288561 to reach 4.5:1, or #1D6147 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #38bc89?

#BC386B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BC38AD and #BC4738, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #38bc89?

For interface work: #F4FAF8 as the surface, #C0ECDB for borders, #4B9B7C for secondary text, #C1338D as an accent and #1D6248 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #38BC47 and #38ADBC stays calm, while #BC386B is the loudest partner.

What is #38bc89 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(70%, 0%, 27%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #38bc89 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 78 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #38BC58; nudged cooler, #36BEBC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #38bc89?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 2 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #38bc89 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#38bc89] or text-[#38bc89], 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 #38bc89 with 50% opacity?

rgba(56, 188, 137, 0.5), or #38bc8980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #9CDEC4; over black, #1C5E45.

Is #38bc89 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CC99, ΔE2000 4.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #38bc89 mean?

As a green, it reads safe, growing, natural. Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #38bc89?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #61D0A5, #38bc89 45%, #1D6248). For more colour, a short hue run to #317AA4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #38bc89 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #38bc89 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.