Skip to content

#3cdce5

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Turquoise

RGB
60, 220, 229
HSL
183°, 77%, 57%
CMYK
74, 4, 0, 10
Luminance
0.5780

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3cdce5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3cdce5
Hue
183°
cyan
Saturation
77%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
90%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5780
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.56:1
Closest name
Dark Turquoise
ΔE2000 4.4
Where it sits
Hue183° of 360°
Saturation77%
Lightness57%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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#3cdce5
RGBrgb(60, 220, 229)
HSLhsl(183, 77%, 57%)
CMYKcmyk(74%, 4%, 0%, 10%)
LABlab(80.6 -36.9 -16.2)
LCHlch(80.6 40.3 203.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.819 0.127 200.7)
Decimal3988709
Display P3color(display-p3 0.235 0.863 0.898)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3cdce5;
background-color: #3cdce5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3cdce5] bg-[#3cdce5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3cdce5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.235, green: 0.863, blue: 0.898)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3cdce5")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3CDCE5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(229, 220, 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 #3cdce5 · 12.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.67:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3cdce5 as text scores 1.67:1 on white and 12.56:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3cdce5 on white: 1.67:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3cdce5 on black: 12.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #CBD2E6
deuteranopia · #B4C1E6
tritanopia · #00E4DE

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3cdce5 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.

#F3FBFC
#E7F8F9
#C8F2F4
#9CEDF2
#6AE4EB
#3cdce5
#1DCED8
#18ACB4
#138990
#126468
#0B3E41
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFCDarkest = 950 · #0B3E41
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E7F8F9;
  --brand-200: #C8F2F4;
  --brand-300: #9CEDF2;
  --brand-400: #6AE4EB;
  --brand-500: #3cdce5;
  --brand-600: #1DCED8;
  --brand-700: #18ACB4;
  --brand-800: #138990;
  --brand-900: #126468;
  --brand-950: #0B3E41;
  --brand: #3cdce5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #3cdce5

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#C0EAED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B979B
Captions on the surface
Accent#E9385B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F6B71
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FBFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
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 #3cdce5

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#E5453C
Analogous left#3CE59A
Analogous right#3C88E5
Split-complement 1#E53C88
Split-complement 2#E59A3C
Triadic 1#E53CDC
Triadic 2#DCE53C
Tetradic#9A3CE5

RGB percentages

Red23.5%
Green86.3%
Blue89.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan73.8%
Magenta3.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)10.2%

Color previews

#3cdce5 text on a black background

contrast 12.56:1

Card sample

#3cdce5 text on a white background

contrast 1.67:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3cdce5;
Background color
Panel with #3cdce5 background
background-color: #3cdce5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3cdce5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(60, 220, 229, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(60, 220, 229, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3cdce5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3cdce5, #3C6BE5);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3cdce5

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.

#3cdce5 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.

#3cdce5, answered

What color is #3cdce5?

#3cdce5 is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Dark Turquoise (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 183° on the hue wheel with 77% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3cdce5?

rgb(60, 220, 229) — 60 red, 220 green and 229 blue out of 255, or 23.5% / 86.3% / 89.8% by channel.

Is #3cdce5 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5780 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 12.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3cdce5?

Black. It scores 12.56:1 against #3cdce5, versus 1.67:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3cdce5?

#E5453C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E53C88 and #E59A3C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3cdce5?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EAED for borders, #4B979B for secondary text, #E9385B as an accent and #0F6B71 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3CE59A and #3C88E5 stays calm, while #E5453C is the loudest partner.

What is #3cdce5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(74%, 4%, 0%, 10%). 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 #3cdce5 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #3CE5B0; nudged cooler, #3AB2E7.

Work with #3cdce5 in the Color Lab