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cyan · cool

#46dbd2

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Turquoise

Token name suggestion: Signal Teal

RGB
70, 219, 210
HSL
176°, 67%, 57%
CMYK
68, 0, 4, 14
Luminance
0.5662

#46dbd2 is a balanced vivid cyan, 176° on the wheel and 86/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.32:1). As text it scores 1.70:1 on white — use #1A837D instead. Nearest name is Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(176 67% 57%)rgb(70 219 210)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #46dbd2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#46dbd2
Hue
176°
cyan
Saturation
67%
vivid
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5662
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.32:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 2.5
Chroma
41.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.812
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 9.9
Web-safe
#33CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue176° of 360°
Saturation67%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #46dbd2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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%
Green89%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#46dbd2
HEX (8-digit)#46dbd2ff
RGBrgb(70, 219, 210)
RGBArgba(70, 219, 210, 1)
HSLhsl(176, 67%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(176, 68%, 86%)
HWBhwb(176 27% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(68%, 0%, 4%, 14%)
LABlab(80.0 -40.5 -7.0)
LCHlch(80.0 41.1 189.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.812 0.124 189.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.48, 56.61, 69.81)
Decimal4643794
Display P3color(display-p3 0.275 0.859 0.824)
Web-safe#33CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #46dbd2;
background-color: #46dbd2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #46dbd2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#46dbd2] bg-[#46dbd2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #46dbd2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.275, green: 0.859, blue: 0.824)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.275, green: 0.859, blue: 0.824, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#46DBD2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF46DBD2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF46DBD2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(210, 219, 70)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(70, 219, 210)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(70, 219, 210)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 70, 219, 210)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2745f, 0.8588f, 0.8235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{70,219,210}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #46dbd2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #46dbd2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#156B66, #D3EEED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #46dbd2 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: #F3FBFB;
  --brand-100: #E8F8F7;
  --brand-200: #CAF2EF;
  --brand-300: #A1EDE8;
  --brand-400: #72E4DD;
  --brand-500: #46dbd2;
  --brand-600: #28CDC3;
  --brand-700: #21ABA2;
  --brand-800: #1B8982;
  --brand-900: #17635F;
  --brand-950: #0F3E3B;
  --brand: #46dbd2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0EDEA;
  --brand-hover: #29D4CA;
  --brand-pressed: #23B6AD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142423;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FBFB',
        100: '#E8F8F7',
        200: '#CAF2EF',
        300: '#A1EDE8',
        400: '#72E4DD',
        500: '#46dbd2',
        600: '#28CDC3',
        700: '#21ABA2',
        800: '#1B8982',
        900: '#17635F',
        950: '#0F3E3B',
        DEFAULT: '#46dbd2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FBFB,
  '100': #E8F8F7,
  '200': #CAF2EF,
  '300': #A1EDE8,
  '400': #72E4DD,
  '500': #46dbd2,
  '600': #28CDC3,
  '700': #21ABA2,
  '800': #1B8982,
  '900': #17635F,
  '950': #0F3E3B,
);
$brand-base: #46dbd2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FBFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CAF2EF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A1EDE8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#72E4DD", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#46dbd2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#28CDC3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#21ABA2", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1B8982", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#17635F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0F3E3B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #46dbd2 · 12.32:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.70:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #46dbd2 as text scores 1.70:1 on white and 12.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #156B66 at 3.70:1.

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
#1A837D · 4.58:1
AA on white−26% L
#1A837D
The quick fox
#13615C · 7.26:1
AAA on white−34% L
#13615C
The quick fox
#46dbd2 · 12.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#46dbd2
The quick fox
#46dbd2 · 12.32:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#46dbd2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #20A59D 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
#46dbd2 on white: 1.70:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#46dbd2 on black: 12.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #46dbd2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #46dbd2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.70:1AaAa
Slate 501.63:1AaAa
Slate 1001.56:1AaAa
Slate 2001.38:1AaAa
Slate 3001.15:1AaAa
Slate 4001.50:1AaAa
Slate 5002.79:1AaAa
Slate 6004.45:1AaAa
Slate 7006.08:1AaAa
Slate 8008.58:1AaAa
Slate 90010.48:1AaAa
Black12.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CFD0D2
deuteranopia · #B9C0D3
tritanopia · #00E1D8

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. #46dbd2 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.

#F3FBFB
#E8F8F7
#CAF2EF
#A1EDE8
#72E4DD
#46dbd2
#28CDC3
#21ABA2
#1B8982
#17635F
#0F3E3B
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFBDarkest = 950 · #0F3E3BText step on white = 900
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 0.031 189.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 189.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.074 189.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.096 189.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.114 189.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.124 189.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.124 189.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.116 189.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.104 189.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.087 189.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 189.1);
}

Colors that work with #46dbd2

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#C0EDEA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B96
Captions on the surface
Accent#DF4273
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#156B66
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAFBFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142423
Dark-mode background
Hover#29D4CA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#23B6AD
Two steps down
Disabled#BDD5D3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4DE8DF
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 #46dbd2

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #156B66
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #20A59D

Meaning and mood

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

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

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

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight43/100
  • 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#DB464F
Analogous left#46DB88
Analogous right#469ADB
Split-complement 1#DB469A
Split-complement 2#DB8846
Triadic 1#D246DB
Triadic 2#DBD246
Tetradic#8846DB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°176°

#46dbd2 sits at 176°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red27.5%
Green85.9%
Blue82.4%
R · 0–255
70
0x46
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
210
0xd2

CMYK percentages

Cyan68.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow4.1%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 86%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#46dbd2 text on a black background

contrast 12.32:1

Card sample

#46dbd2 text on a white background

contrast 1.70:1

Card sample

#46dbd2 on grey

1.56:1

#46dbd2 on its own surface

1.61:1

#46dbd2 on its dark surface

9.43:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #46dbd2;
Background color
Panel with #46dbd2 background
background-color: #46dbd2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #46dbd2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(70, 219, 210, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(70, 219, 210, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #46dbd2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #46dbd2, #4681DB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #46dbd2, #465BDB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #46dbd2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #46dbd2;
caret-color: #46dbd2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #46dbd2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAFBFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #46dbd2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#46dbd2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #46dbd2 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(70, 219, 210, 0.5)
rgb(70 219 210 / 50%)
#46dbd280
hsl(176 67% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #46dbd2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#46dbd21a#EDFBFB
20%#46dbd233#DAF8F6
40%#46dbd266#B5F1ED
60%#46dbd299#90E9E4
80%#46dbd2cc#6BE2DB

Gradients from #46dbd2

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, #79E5DF, #46dbd2 45%, #156B66);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #46dbd2, #2D61D6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #46dbd2, #DB464F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #93EAE5 0%, #46dbd2 45%, #156B66 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #71E39A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #609DE0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #156B66 0%, transparent 65%), #46dbd2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #46dbd2

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.

#46dbd2 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

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 12.32:1.

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.

#46dbd2, answered

What color is #46dbd2?

#46dbd2 is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 2.5). It sits at 176° on the hue wheel with 67% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #46dbd2?

rgb(70, 219, 210) — 70 red, 219 green and 210 blue out of 255, or 27.5% / 85.9% / 82.4% by channel.

What is #46dbd2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(176, 67%, 57%) and hsv(176, 68%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #46dbd2 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5662 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 12.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #46dbd2?

Black. It scores 12.32:1 against #46dbd2, versus 1.70:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #46dbd2 accessible on a white background?

#46dbd2 on white scores 1.70:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1A837D to reach 4.5:1, or #13615C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #46dbd2?

#DB464F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DB469A and #DB8846, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #46dbd2?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDEA for borders, #4B9B96 for secondary text, #DF4273 as an accent and #156B66 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #46DB88 and #469ADB stays calm, while #DB464F is the loudest partner.

What is #46dbd2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(68%, 0%, 4%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #46dbd2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #46DB9B; nudged cooler, #44B2DD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #46dbd2?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 9.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #46dbd2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #46dbd2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#46dbd2] or text-[#46dbd2], 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 #46dbd2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(70, 219, 210, 0.5), or #46dbd280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A3EDE9; over black, #236E69.

Is #46dbd2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCCC, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #46dbd2 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #46dbd2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #79E5DF, #46dbd2 45%, #156B66). For more colour, a short hue run to #2D61D6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #46dbd2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #46dbd2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.