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#4ac3ac

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Medium Aqua Marine

RGB
74, 195, 172
HSL
169°, 50%, 53%
CMYK
62, 0, 12, 24
Luminance
0.4346

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4ac3ac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4ac3ac
Hue
169°
cyan
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
76%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4346
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
83/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.69:1
Closest name
Medium Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 5
Where it sits
Hue169° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness53%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool83% 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#4ac3ac
RGBrgb(74, 195, 172)
HSLhsl(169, 50%, 53%)
CMYKcmyk(62%, 0%, 12%, 24%)
LABlab(71.9 -39.1 1.6)
LCHlch(71.9 39.2 177.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.743 0.113 178.2)
Decimal4899756
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.765 0.675)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4ac3ac;
background-color: #4ac3ac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4ac3ac] bg-[#4ac3ac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4ac3ac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.765, blue: 0.675)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4ac3ac")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4AC3AC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 195, 74)

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 #4ac3ac · 9.69:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.69:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4ac3ac as text scores 2.17:1 on white and 9.69:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4ac3ac on white: 2.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4ac3ac on black: 9.69:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #BCB8AB
deuteranopia · #AAABAE
tritanopia · #00C6BC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4ac3ac 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.

#F4FAF9
#EAF6F3
#CFECE7
#ABE3D8
#81D5C5
#4ac3ac
#3DB8A0
#339986
#297B6B
#21594F
#153831
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4FAF9Darkest = 950 · #153831
:root {
  --brand-50: #F4FAF9;
  --brand-100: #EAF6F3;
  --brand-200: #CFECE7;
  --brand-300: #ABE3D8;
  --brand-400: #81D5C5;
  --brand-500: #4ac3ac;
  --brand-600: #3DB8A0;
  --brand-700: #339986;
  --brand-800: #297B6B;
  --brand-900: #21594F;
  --brand-950: #153831;
  --brand: #4ac3ac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4ac3ac

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#F4FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C2EBE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8C
Captions on the surface
Accent#C8457F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#206054
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF9F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142421
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 #4ac3ac

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#C34A61
Analogous left#4AC36F
Analogous right#4A9DC3
Split-complement 1#C34A9D
Split-complement 2#C36F4A
Triadic 1#AC4AC3
Triadic 2#C3AC4A
Tetradic#6F4AC3

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green76.5%
Blue67.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan62.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow11.8%
Key (black)23.5%

Color previews

#4ac3ac text on a black background

contrast 9.69:1

Card sample

#4ac3ac text on a white background

contrast 2.17:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4ac3ac;
Background color
Panel with #4ac3ac background
background-color: #4ac3ac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4ac3ac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 195, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 195, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4ac3ac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4ac3ac, #4A89C3);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4ac3ac

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.

#4ac3ac 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.

#4ac3ac, answered

What color is #4ac3ac?

#4ac3ac is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Medium Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 169° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4ac3ac?

rgb(74, 195, 172) — 74 red, 195 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 29% / 76.5% / 67.5% by channel.

Is #4ac3ac a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4346 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 9.69:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4ac3ac?

Black. It scores 9.69:1 against #4ac3ac, versus 2.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4ac3ac?

#C34A61 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C34A9D and #C36F4A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4ac3ac?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C2EBE3 for borders, #4B9B8C for secondary text, #C8457F as an accent and #206054 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4AC36F and #4A9DC3 stays calm, while #C34A61 is the loudest partner.

What is #4ac3ac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(62%, 0%, 12%, 24%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #4ac3ac warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 83 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #4AC380; nudged cooler, #47AFC5.

Work with #4ac3ac in the Color Lab