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cyan · cool

#4abbab

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Teal

RGB
74, 187, 171
HSL
172°, 45%, 51%
CMYK
60, 0, 9, 27
Luminance
0.3994

#4abbab is a balanced vivid cyan, 172° on the wheel and 84/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.99:1). As text it scores 2.34:1 on white — use #318377 instead. Nearest name is Light Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(172 45% 51%)rgb(74 187 171)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4abbab is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4abbab
Hue
172°
cyan
Saturation
45%
vivid
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3994
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.99:1
Closest name
Light Sea Green
ΔE2000 4.3
Chroma
35.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.723
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 2.8
Web-safe
#33CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue172° 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 #4abbab.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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%
Green89%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#4abbab
HEX (8-digit)#4abbabff
RGBrgb(74, 187, 171)
RGBArgba(74, 187, 171, 1)
HSLhsl(172, 45%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(172, 60%, 73%)
HWBhwb(172 29% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(60%, 0%, 9%, 27%)
LABlab(69.4 -35.7 -1.4)
LCHlch(69.4 35.8 182.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.723 0.105 182.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.94, 39.93, 44.76)
Decimal4897707
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.733 0.671)
Web-safe#33CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #4abbab;
background-color: #4abbab;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #4abbab;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4abbab] bg-[#4abbab]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4abbab;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.733, blue: 0.671)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.290, green: 0.733, blue: 0.671, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#4ABBAB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF4ABBAB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4ABBAB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(171, 187, 74)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(74, 187, 171)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(74, 187, 171)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 74, 187, 171)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2902f, 0.7333f, 0.6706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{74,187,171}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #4abbab 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #4abbab 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#235D54, #D3EEEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #4abbab 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: #F5FAF9;
  --brand-100: #EAF5F4;
  --brand-200: #D1EBE7;
  --brand-300: #ADE0D9;
  --brand-400: #85D1C6;
  --brand-500: #5CC2B3;
  --brand-600: #4abbab;
  --brand-700: #389487;
  --brand-800: #2D776C;
  --brand-900: #245750;
  --brand-950: #163632;
  --brand: #4abbab;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C4E9E3;
  --brand-hover: #3EA495;
  --brand-pressed: #348A7E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142422;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5FAF9',
        100: '#EAF5F4',
        200: '#D1EBE7',
        300: '#ADE0D9',
        400: '#85D1C6',
        500: '#5CC2B3',
        600: '#4abbab',
        700: '#389487',
        800: '#2D776C',
        900: '#245750',
        950: '#163632',
        DEFAULT: '#4abbab',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5FAF9,
  '100': #EAF5F4,
  '200': #D1EBE7,
  '300': #ADE0D9,
  '400': #85D1C6,
  '500': #5CC2B3,
  '600': #4abbab,
  '700': #389487,
  '800': #2D776C,
  '900': #245750,
  '950': #163632,
);
$brand-base: #4abbab;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5FAF9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF5F4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1EBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ADE0D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#85D1C6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5CC2B3", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4abbab", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#389487", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2D776C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#245750", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#163632", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #4abbab · 8.99:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.99:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4abbab as text scores 2.34:1 on white and 8.99:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #235D54 at 3.25:1.

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
#318377 · 4.52:1
AA on white−16% L
#318377
The quick fox
#246159 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−25% L
#246159
The quick fox
#4abbab · 8.99:1
AA on blackalready passes
#4abbab
The quick fox
#4abbab · 8.99:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#4abbab

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3EA495 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
#4abbab on white: 2.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4abbab on black: 8.99:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #4abbab as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #4abbab.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.34:1AaAa
Slate 502.23:1AaAa
Slate 1002.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.90:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.04:1AaAa
Slate 6003.24:1AaAa
Slate 7004.43:1AaAa
Slate 8006.26:1AaAa
Slate 9007.64:1AaAa
Black8.99:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3B1AA
deuteranopia · #A2A4AC
tritanopia · #00BEB6

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. #4abbab 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.

#F5FAF9
#EAF5F4
#D1EBE7
#ADE0D9
#85D1C6
#5CC2B3
#4abbab
#389487
#2D776C
#245750
#163632
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5FAF9Darkest = 950 · #163632Text 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 0.026 182.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.042 182.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.063 182.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.082 182.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.096 182.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.105 182.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.105 182.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.098 182.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.088 182.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.073 182.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.058 182.4);
}

Colors that work with #4abbab

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#C4E9E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#C04575
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#235D54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF8F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
Dark-mode background
Hover#3EA495
One step down in lightness
Pressed#348A7E
Two steps down
Disabled#ACCAC5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4DCCBA
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 #4abbab

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 #235D54
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #3EA495

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#BB4A5A
Analogous left#4ABB73
Analogous right#4A93BB
Split-complement 1#BB4A93
Split-complement 2#BB734A
Triadic 1#AB4ABB
Triadic 2#BBAB4A
Tetradic#734ABB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°172°

#4abbab sits at 172°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green73.3%
Blue67.1%
R · 0–255
74
0x4a
G · 0–255
187
0xbb
B · 0–255
171
0xab

CMYK percentages

Cyan60.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow8.6%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 96%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#4abbab text on a black background

contrast 8.99:1

Card sample

#4abbab text on a white background

contrast 2.34:1

Card sample

#4abbab on grey

2.13:1

#4abbab on its own surface

2.21:1

#4abbab on its dark surface

6.89:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4abbab;
Background color
Panel with #4abbab background
background-color: #4abbab;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4abbab;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 187, 171, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 187, 171, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4abbab;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4abbab, #4A80BB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #4abbab, #4A63BB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #4abbab;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #4abbab;
caret-color: #4abbab;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #4abbab;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF8F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #4abbab;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#4abbab 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #4abbab 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(74, 187, 171, 0.5)
rgb(74 187 171 / 50%)
#4abbab80
hsl(172 45% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #4abbab 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#4abbab1a#EDF8F7
20%#4abbab33#DBF1EE
40%#4abbab66#B7E4DD
60%#4abbab99#92D6CD
80%#4abbabcc#6EC9BC

Gradients from #4abbab

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, #77CCC0, #4abbab 45%, #235D54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #4abbab, #3F68A8);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #4abbab, #BB4A5A);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #8DD4CA 0%, #4abbab 45%, #235D54 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%, #6FC988 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #6098C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #235D54 0%, transparent 65%), #4abbab;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4abbab

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.

#4abbab 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 8.99:1.

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.

#4abbab, answered

What color is #4abbab?

#4abbab is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Light Sea Green (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 172° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4abbab?

rgb(74, 187, 171) — 74 red, 187 green and 171 blue out of 255, or 29% / 73.3% / 67.1% by channel.

What is #4abbab in HSL and HSV?

hsl(172, 45%, 51%) and hsv(172, 60%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #4abbab a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3994 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.99:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4abbab?

Black. It scores 8.99:1 against #4abbab, versus 2.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #4abbab accessible on a white background?

#4abbab on white scores 2.34:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #318377 to reach 4.5:1, or #246159 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #4abbab?

#BB4A5A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BB4A93 and #BB734A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4abbab?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C4E9E3 for borders, #4B9B90 for secondary text, #C04575 as an accent and #235D54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4ABB73 and #4A93BB stays calm, while #BB4A5A is the loudest partner.

What is #4abbab in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(60%, 0%, 9%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #4abbab warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #4ABB82; nudged cooler, #48A3BE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #4abbab?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 2.8 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #4abbab in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#4abbab] or text-[#4abbab], 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 #4abbab with 50% opacity?

rgba(74, 187, 171, 0.5), or #4abbab80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A5DDD5; over black, #255E56.

Is #4abbab a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CC99, ΔE2000 10.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #4abbab 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 #4abbab?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #77CCC0, #4abbab 45%, #235D54). For more colour, a short hue run to #3F68A8 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #4abbab in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #4abbab at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.