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cyan · cool

#49baba

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Light Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Signal Reef

RGB
73, 186, 186
HSL
180°, 45%, 51%
CMYK
61, 0, 0, 27
Luminance
0.4008

#49baba is a balanced vivid cyan, 180° on the wheel and 88/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.02:1). As text it scores 2.33:1 on white — use #318181 instead. Nearest name is Light Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(180 45% 51%)rgb(73 186 186)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #49baba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#49baba
Hue
180°
cyan
Saturation
45%
vivid
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4008
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
88/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.02:1
Closest name
Light Sea Green
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
32.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.726
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 7.3
Web-safe
#33CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue180° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #49baba.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool88% 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
Red4%
Green88%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#49baba
HEX (8-digit)#49babaff
RGBrgb(73, 186, 186)
RGBArgba(73, 186, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(180, 45%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(180, 61%, 73%)
HWBhwb(180 29% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(61%, 0%, 0%, 27%)
LABlab(69.5 -31.4 -9.5)
LCHlch(69.5 32.8 196.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.726 0.101 195.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.17, 40.08, 52.64)
Decimal4831930
Display P3color(display-p3 0.286 0.729 0.729)
Web-safe#33CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #49baba;
background-color: #49baba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #49baba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#49baba] bg-[#49baba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #49baba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.286, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.286, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#49BABA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF49BABA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF49BABA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 186, 73)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(73, 186, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(73, 186, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 73, 186, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2863f, 0.7294f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{73,186,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #49baba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #49baba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#235C5C, #D3EEEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #49baba 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: #F5FAFA;
  --brand-100: #EAF5F5;
  --brand-200: #D1EBEB;
  --brand-300: #AEE0E0;
  --brand-400: #85D1D1;
  --brand-500: #5CC1C1;
  --brand-600: #49baba;
  --brand-700: #389494;
  --brand-800: #2D7676;
  --brand-900: #245757;
  --brand-950: #163636;
  --brand: #49baba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C4E9E9;
  --brand-hover: #3DA2A2;
  --brand-pressed: #348888;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142424;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5FAFA',
        100: '#EAF5F5',
        200: '#D1EBEB',
        300: '#AEE0E0',
        400: '#85D1D1',
        500: '#5CC1C1',
        600: '#49baba',
        700: '#389494',
        800: '#2D7676',
        900: '#245757',
        950: '#163636',
        DEFAULT: '#49baba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5FAFA,
  '100': #EAF5F5,
  '200': #D1EBEB,
  '300': #AEE0E0,
  '400': #85D1D1,
  '500': #5CC1C1,
  '600': #49baba,
  '700': #389494,
  '800': #2D7676,
  '900': #245757,
  '950': #163636,
);
$brand-base: #49baba;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5FAFA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF5F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1EBEB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AEE0E0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#85D1D1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5CC1C1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#49baba", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#389494", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2D7676", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#245757", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#163636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #49baba · 9.02:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.33:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #49baba as text scores 2.33:1 on white and 9.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #235C5C at 3.27:1.

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
#318181 · 4.58:1
AA on white−16% L
#318181
The quick fox
#245F5F · 7.30:1
AAA on white−25% L
#245F5F
The quick fox
#49baba · 9.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#49baba
The quick fox
#49baba · 9.02:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#49baba

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3DA2A2 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
#49baba on white: 2.33:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#49baba on black: 9.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #49baba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #49baba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.33:1AaAa
Slate 502.23:1AaAa
Slate 1002.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.89:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.04:1AaAa
Slate 6003.25:1AaAa
Slate 7004.45:1AaAa
Slate 8006.28:1AaAa
Slate 9007.66:1AaAa
Black9.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AFB2BA
deuteranopia · #9DA4BB
tritanopia · #00C0BA

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. #49baba is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5FAFA
#EAF5F5
#D1EBEB
#AEE0E0
#85D1D1
#5CC1C1
#49baba
#389494
#2D7676
#245757
#163636
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5FAFADarkest = 950 · #163636Text 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 0.025 195.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.040 195.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.061 195.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.079 195.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.093 195.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.101 195.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.101 195.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.095 195.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.085 195.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.071 195.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.056 195.2);
}

Colors that work with #49baba

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#C4E9E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BF4463
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#235C5C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF8F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
Hover#3DA2A2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#348888
Two steps down
Disabled#AAC9C9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4CCBCB
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 #49baba

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 #235C5C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #3DA2A2

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
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#BA4949
Analogous left#49BA82
Analogous right#4982BA
Split-complement 1#BA4982
Split-complement 2#BA8249
Triadic 1#BA49BA
Triadic 2#BABA49
Tetradic#8249BA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°180°

#49baba sits at 180°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red28.6%
Green72.9%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
73
0x49
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan60.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)27.1%

Total ink coverage is 88%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#49baba text on a black background

contrast 9.02:1

Card sample

#49baba text on a white background

contrast 2.33:1

Card sample

#49baba on grey

2.13:1

#49baba on its own surface

2.21:1

#49baba on its dark surface

6.90:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #49baba;
Background color
Panel with #49baba background
background-color: #49baba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #49baba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(73, 186, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(73, 186, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #49baba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #49baba, #496FBA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #49baba, #4952BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #49baba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #49baba;
caret-color: #49baba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #49baba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF8F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #49baba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#49baba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #49baba 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(73, 186, 186, 0.5)
rgb(73 186 186 / 50%)
#49baba80
hsl(180 45% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #49baba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#49baba1a#EDF8F8
20%#49baba33#DBF1F1
40%#49baba66#B6E3E3
60%#49baba99#92D6D6
80%#49babacc#6DC8C8

Gradients from #49baba

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, #75CBCB, #49baba 45%, #235C5C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #49baba, #3F59A6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #49baba, #BA4949);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #8CD3D3 0%, #49baba 45%, #235C5C 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%, #6EC894 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5F89C2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #235C5C 0%, transparent 65%), #49baba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #49baba

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.

#49baba 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 9.02:1.

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.

#49baba, answered

What color is #49baba?

#49baba is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Light Sea Green (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 180° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #49baba?

rgb(73, 186, 186) — 73 red, 186 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 28.6% / 72.9% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #49baba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(180, 45%, 51%) and hsv(180, 61%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #49baba a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4008 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 9.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #49baba?

Black. It scores 9.02:1 against #49baba, versus 2.33:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #49baba accessible on a white background?

#49baba on white scores 2.33:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #318181 to reach 4.5:1, or #245F5F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #49baba?

#BA4949 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BA4982 and #BA8249, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #49baba?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C4E9E9 for borders, #4B9B9B for secondary text, #BF4463 as an accent and #235C5C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #49BA82 and #4982BA stays calm, while #BA4949 is the loudest partner.

What is #49baba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(61%, 0%, 0%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #49baba warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 88 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #49BA91; nudged cooler, #4795BD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #49baba?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 7.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #49baba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #49baba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#49baba] or text-[#49baba], 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 #49baba with 50% opacity?

rgba(73, 186, 186, 0.5), or #49baba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A4DDDD; over black, #255D5D.

Is #49baba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCCC, ΔE2000 4.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #49baba 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 #49baba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #75CBCB, #49baba 45%, #235C5C). For more colour, a short hue run to #3F59A6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #49baba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #49baba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.