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cyan · cool

#48c2ba

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Reef

RGB
72, 194, 186
HSL
176°, 50%, 52%
CMYK
63, 0, 4, 24
Luminance
0.4351

#48c2ba is a balanced vivid cyan, 176° on the wheel and 86/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.70:1). As text it scores 2.16:1 on white — use #2C837D instead. Nearest name is Medium Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(176 50% 52%)rgb(72 194 186)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #48c2ba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#48c2ba
Hue
176°
cyan
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
76%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4351
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.70:1
Closest name
Medium Turquoise
ΔE2000 4
Chroma
35.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.745
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 5.3
Web-safe
#33CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue176° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #48c2ba.

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
Red3%
Green89%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#48c2ba
HEX (8-digit)#48c2baff
RGBrgb(72, 194, 186)
RGBArgba(72, 194, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(176, 50%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(176, 63%, 76%)
HWBhwb(176 28% 24%)
CMYKcmyk(63%, 0%, 4%, 24%)
LABlab(71.9 -35.3 -6.0)
LCHlch(71.9 35.9 189.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.745 0.108 189.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.82, 43.50, 53.22)
Decimal4768442
Display P3color(display-p3 0.282 0.761 0.729)
Web-safe#33CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #48c2ba;
background-color: #48c2ba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #48c2ba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#48c2ba] bg-[#48c2ba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #48c2ba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.282, green: 0.761, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.282, green: 0.761, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#48C2BA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF48C2BA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF48C2BA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 194, 72)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(72, 194, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(72, 194, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 72, 194, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2824f, 0.7608f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{72,194,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #48c2ba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #48c2ba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#20605B, #D3EEEC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #48c2ba 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: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-100: #EAF6F5;
  --brand-200: #CFECEB;
  --brand-300: #ABE3DF;
  --brand-400: #81D5CF;
  --brand-500: #48c2ba;
  --brand-600: #3DB8B0;
  --brand-700: #339992;
  --brand-800: #297A75;
  --brand-900: #215956;
  --brand-950: #153836;
  --brand: #48c2ba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C2EBE8;
  --brand-hover: #3AADA5;
  --brand-pressed: #31928C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142423;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FAFA',
        100: '#EAF6F5',
        200: '#CFECEB',
        300: '#ABE3DF',
        400: '#81D5CF',
        500: '#48c2ba',
        600: '#3DB8B0',
        700: '#339992',
        800: '#297A75',
        900: '#215956',
        950: '#153836',
        DEFAULT: '#48c2ba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FAFA,
  '100': #EAF6F5,
  '200': #CFECEB,
  '300': #ABE3DF,
  '400': #81D5CF,
  '500': #48c2ba,
  '600': #3DB8B0,
  '700': #339992,
  '800': #297A75,
  '900': #215956,
  '950': #153836,
);
$brand-base: #48c2ba;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FAFA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF6F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CFECEB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ABE3DF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#81D5CF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#48c2ba", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3DB8B0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#339992", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#297A75", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#215956", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#153836", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #48c2ba · 9.70:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.16:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.70:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #48c2ba as text scores 2.16:1 on white and 9.70:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #20605B at 3.36:1.

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
#2C837D · 4.52:1
AA on white−18% L
#2C837D
The quick fox
#20605C · 7.27:1
AAA on white−27% L
#20605C
The quick fox
#48c2ba · 9.70:1
AA on blackalready passes
#48c2ba
The quick fox
#48c2ba · 9.70:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#48c2ba

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #36A19A 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
#48c2ba on white: 2.16:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#48c2ba on black: 9.70:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #48c2ba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #48c2ba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.16:1AaAa
Slate 502.07:1AaAa
Slate 1001.98:1AaAa
Slate 2001.76:1AaAa
Slate 3001.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.18:1AaAa
Slate 5002.20:1AaAa
Slate 6003.50:1AaAa
Slate 7004.78:1AaAa
Slate 8006.76:1AaAa
Slate 9008.25:1AaAa
Black9.70:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8B8BA
deuteranopia · #A5AABB
tritanopia · #00C7BF

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. #48c2ba 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.

#F4FAFA
#EAF6F5
#CFECEB
#ABE3DF
#81D5CF
#48c2ba
#3DB8B0
#339992
#297A75
#215956
#153836
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4FAFADarkest = 950 · #153836Text 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 0.027 189.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 189.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.065 189.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.084 189.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.099 189.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.108 189.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.108 189.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.101 189.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.090 189.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.075 189.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.059 189.0);
}

Colors that work with #48c2ba

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#C2EBE8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B96
Captions on the surface
Accent#C7436D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#20605B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF9F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142423
Dark-mode background
Hover#3AADA5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#31928C
Two steps down
Disabled#AFCCCA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4CD2CA
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 #48c2ba

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 #20605B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #36A19A

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
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#C24850
Analogous left#48C27D
Analogous right#488DC2
Split-complement 1#C2488D
Split-complement 2#C27D48
Triadic 1#BA48C2
Triadic 2#C2BA48
Tetradic#7D48C2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°176°

#48c2ba sits at 176°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red28.2%
Green76.1%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
72
0x48
G · 0–255
194
0xc2
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan62.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow4.1%
Key (black)23.9%

Total ink coverage is 91%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#48c2ba text on a black background

contrast 9.70:1

Card sample

#48c2ba text on a white background

contrast 2.16:1

Card sample

#48c2ba on grey

1.98:1

#48c2ba on its own surface

2.05:1

#48c2ba on its dark surface

7.43:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #48c2ba;
Background color
Panel with #48c2ba background
background-color: #48c2ba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #48c2ba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(72, 194, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(72, 194, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #48c2ba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #48c2ba, #4879C2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #48c2ba, #485AC2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #48c2ba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #48c2ba;
caret-color: #48c2ba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #48c2ba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF9F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #48c2ba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#48c2ba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #48c2ba 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(72, 194, 186, 0.5)
rgb(72 194 186 / 50%)
#48c2ba80
hsl(176 50% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #48c2ba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#48c2ba1a#EDF9F8
20%#48c2ba33#DAF3F1
40%#48c2ba66#B6E7E3
60%#48c2ba99#91DAD6
80%#48c2bacc#6DCEC8

Gradients from #48c2ba

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, #76D1CB, #48c2ba 45%, #20605B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #48c2ba, #3B60B1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #48c2ba, #C24850);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #8DD9D4 0%, #48c2ba 45%, #20605B 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%, #6ECF90 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5F92CA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #20605B 0%, transparent 65%), #48c2ba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #48c2ba

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.

#48c2ba 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 9.70:1.

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.

#48c2ba, answered

What color is #48c2ba?

#48c2ba is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Medium Turquoise (ΔE2000 4). It sits at 176° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #48c2ba?

rgb(72, 194, 186) — 72 red, 194 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 28.2% / 76.1% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #48c2ba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(176, 50%, 52%) and hsv(176, 63%, 76%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #48c2ba a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4351 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 9.70:1.

Should I use black or white text on #48c2ba?

Black. It scores 9.70:1 against #48c2ba, versus 2.16:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #48c2ba accessible on a white background?

#48c2ba on white scores 2.16:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #2C837D to reach 4.5:1, or #20605C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #48c2ba?

#C24850 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C2488D and #C27D48, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #48c2ba?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C2EBE8 for borders, #4B9B96 for secondary text, #C7436D as an accent and #20605B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #48C27D and #488DC2 stays calm, while #C24850 is the loudest partner.

What is #48c2ba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(63%, 0%, 4%, 24%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #48c2ba 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 #48C28D; nudged cooler, #469EC4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #48c2ba?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 5.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #48c2ba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #48c2ba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#48c2ba] or text-[#48c2ba], 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 #48c2ba with 50% opacity?

rgba(72, 194, 186, 0.5), or #48c2ba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A4E1DD; over black, #24615D.

Is #48c2ba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCCC, ΔE2000 4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #48c2ba 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 #48c2ba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #76D1CB, #48c2ba 45%, #20605B). For more colour, a short hue run to #3B60B1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #48c2ba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #48c2ba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.