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#3bfade

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Aqua Marine

RGB
59, 250, 222
HSL
171°, 95%, 61%
CMYK
76, 0, 11, 2
Luminance
0.7457

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3bfade is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3bfade
Hue
171°
cyan
Saturation
95%
electric
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7457
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.91:1
Closest name
Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 6.2
Where it sits
Hue171° of 360°
Saturation95%
Lightness61%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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#3bfade
RGBrgb(59, 250, 222)
HSLhsl(171, 95%, 61%)
CMYKcmyk(76%, 0%, 11%, 2%)
LABlab(89.2 -52.0 0.2)
LCHlch(89.2 52.0 179.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.888 0.150 180.1)
Decimal3930846
Display P3color(display-p3 0.231 0.980 0.871)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3bfade;
background-color: #3bfade;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3bfade] bg-[#3bfade]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3bfade;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.231, green: 0.980, blue: 0.871)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3bfade")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3BFADE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(222, 250, 59)

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 #3bfade · 15.91:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.91:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3bfade as text scores 1.32:1 on white and 15.91:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3bfade on white: 1.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3bfade on black: 15.91:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #EFEBDD
deuteranopia · #D6D8E0
tritanopia · #00FEF1

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3bfade 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.

#F1FDFC
#E4FBF8
#C2FAF2
#92FCED
#5BFBE3
#3bfade
#06EFCD
#05C7AA
#049F88
#087363
#05483E
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1FDFCDarkest = 950 · #05483E
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FDFC;
  --brand-100: #E4FBF8;
  --brand-200: #C2FAF2;
  --brand-300: #92FCED;
  --brand-400: #5BFBE3;
  --brand-500: #3bfade;
  --brand-600: #06EFCD;
  --brand-700: #05C7AA;
  --brand-800: #049F88;
  --brand-900: #087363;
  --brand-950: #05483E;
  --brand: #3bfade;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #3bfade

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#C0EDE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8F
Captions on the surface
Accent#FE3786
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#037C6B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FEFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
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 #3bfade

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#FA3B57
Analogous left#3BFA7F
Analogous right#3BB7FA
Split-complement 1#FA3BB7
Split-complement 2#FA7F3B
Triadic 1#DE3BFA
Triadic 2#FADE3B
Tetradic#7F3BFA

RGB percentages

Red23.1%
Green98.0%
Blue87.1%

CMYK percentages

Cyan76.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow11.2%
Key (black)2.0%

Color previews

#3bfade text on a black background

contrast 15.91:1

Card sample

#3bfade text on a white background

contrast 1.32:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3bfade;
Background color
Panel with #3bfade background
background-color: #3bfade;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3bfade;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(59, 250, 222, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(59, 250, 222, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3bfade;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3bfade, #3B97FA);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3bfade

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.

#3bfade 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.

#3bfade, answered

What color is #3bfade?

#3bfade is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 6.2). It sits at 171° on the hue wheel with 95% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3bfade?

rgb(59, 250, 222) — 59 red, 250 green and 222 blue out of 255, or 23.1% / 98% / 87.1% by channel.

Is #3bfade a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7457 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 15.91:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3bfade?

Black. It scores 15.91:1 against #3bfade, versus 1.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3bfade?

#FA3B57 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FA3BB7 and #FA7F3B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3bfade?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE6 for borders, #4B9B8F for secondary text, #FE3786 as an accent and #037C6B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3BFA7F and #3BB7FA stays calm, while #FA3B57 is the loudest partner.

What is #3bfade in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(76%, 0%, 11%, 2%). 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 #3bfade warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #3BFA98; nudged cooler, #39D3FC.

Work with #3bfade in the Color Lab