Skip to content

#3cecb2

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

RGB
60, 236, 178
HSL
160°, 82%, 58%
CMYK
75, 0, 25, 8
Luminance
0.6417

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3cecb2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3cecb2
Hue
160°
cyan
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6417
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
79/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.83:1
Closest name
Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 6.5
Where it sits
Hue160° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness58%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool79% 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#3cecb2
RGBrgb(60, 236, 178)
HSLhsl(160, 82%, 58%)
CMYKcmyk(75%, 0%, 25%, 8%)
LABlab(84.0 -56.9 15.8)
LCHlch(84.0 59.0 164.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.843 0.162 165.6)
Decimal3992754
Display P3color(display-p3 0.235 0.925 0.698)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3cecb2;
background-color: #3cecb2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3cecb2] bg-[#3cecb2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3cecb2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.235, green: 0.925, blue: 0.698)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3cecb2")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3CECB2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(178, 236, 60)

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 #3cecb2 · 13.83:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.52:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.83:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3cecb2 as text scores 1.52:1 on white and 13.83:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3cecb2 on white: 1.52:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3cecb2 on black: 13.83:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E7DBAF
deuteranopia · #D1CBB6
tritanopia · #00EDDC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3cecb2 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.

#F2FCF9
#E6FAF3
#C6F6E6
#99F5D7
#66F0C2
#3cecb2
#16DF9D
#12BA83
#0F9568
#0F6B4D
#094330
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2FCF9Darkest = 950 · #094330
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FCF9;
  --brand-100: #E6FAF3;
  --brand-200: #C6F6E6;
  --brand-300: #99F5D7;
  --brand-400: #66F0C2;
  --brand-500: #3cecb2;
  --brand-600: #16DF9D;
  --brand-700: #12BA83;
  --brand-800: #0F9568;
  --brand-900: #0F6B4D;
  --brand-950: #094330;
  --brand: #3cecb2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #3cecb2

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#C0EDDE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B80
Captions on the surface
Accent#F038A3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0B7452
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FDF6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241F
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 #3cecb2

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#EC3C76
Analogous left#3CEC5A
Analogous right#3CCEEC
Split-complement 1#EC3CCE
Split-complement 2#EC5A3C
Triadic 1#B23CEC
Triadic 2#ECB23C
Tetradic#5A3CEC

RGB percentages

Red23.5%
Green92.5%
Blue69.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan74.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow24.6%
Key (black)7.5%

Color previews

#3cecb2 text on a black background

contrast 13.83:1

Card sample

#3cecb2 text on a white background

contrast 1.52:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3cecb2;
Background color
Panel with #3cecb2 background
background-color: #3cecb2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3cecb2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(60, 236, 178, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(60, 236, 178, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3cecb2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3cecb2, #3CB1EC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3cecb2

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.

#3cecb2 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.

#3cecb2, answered

What color is #3cecb2?

#3cecb2 is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 6.5). It sits at 160° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3cecb2?

rgb(60, 236, 178) — 60 red, 236 green and 178 blue out of 255, or 23.5% / 92.5% / 69.8% by channel.

Is #3cecb2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6417 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 13.83:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3cecb2?

Black. It scores 13.83:1 against #3cecb2, versus 1.52:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3cecb2?

#EC3C76 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EC3CCE and #EC5A3C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3cecb2?

For interface work: #F4FAF8 as the surface, #C0EDDE for borders, #4B9B80 for secondary text, #F038A3 as an accent and #0B7452 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3CEC5A and #3CCEEC stays calm, while #EC3C76 is the loudest partner.

What is #3cecb2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(75%, 0%, 25%, 8%). 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 #3cecb2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 79 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #3CEC71; nudged cooler, #3AE7EE.

Work with #3cecb2 in the Color Lab