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#4aefd9

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

RGB
74, 239, 217
HSL
172°, 84%, 61%
CMYK
69, 0, 9, 6
Luminance
0.6820

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4aefd9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4aefd9
Hue
172°
cyan
Saturation
84%
electric
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6820
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.64:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue172° of 360°
Saturation84%
Lightness61%
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.

Every format

HEX#4aefd9
RGBrgb(74, 239, 217)
HSLhsl(172, 84%, 61%)
CMYKcmyk(69%, 0%, 9%, 6%)
LABlab(86.1 -46.9 -1.6)
LCHlch(86.1 47.0 182.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.863 0.137 182.2)
Decimal4911065
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.937 0.851)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4aefd9;
background-color: #4aefd9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4aefd9] bg-[#4aefd9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4aefd9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.937, blue: 0.851)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4aefd9")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4AEFD9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(217, 239, 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 #4aefd9 · 14.64:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.43:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.64:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4aefd9 as text scores 1.43:1 on white and 14.64:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4aefd9 on white: 1.43:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4aefd9 on black: 14.64:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E4E1D8
deuteranopia · #CDD0DB
tritanopia · #00F4E8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4aefd9 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.

#F2FCFB
#E6FAF7
#C5F6F0
#98F6E9
#64F1DF
#4aefd9
#14E1C6
#11BBA5
#0D9684
#0E6C60
#09443C
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2FCFBDarkest = 950 · #09443C
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FCFB;
  --brand-100: #E6FAF7;
  --brand-200: #C5F6F0;
  --brand-300: #98F6E9;
  --brand-400: #64F1DF;
  --brand-500: #4aefd9;
  --brand-600: #14E1C6;
  --brand-700: #11BBA5;
  --brand-800: #0D9684;
  --brand-900: #0E6C60;
  --brand-950: #09443C;
  --brand: #4aefd9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4aefd9

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#C0EDE7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#F34688
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0A7567
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FDFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
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 #4aefd9

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#EF4A60
Analogous left#4AEF87
Analogous right#4AB3EF
Split-complement 1#EF4AB3
Split-complement 2#EF874A
Triadic 1#D94AEF
Triadic 2#EFD94A
Tetradic#874AEF

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green93.7%
Blue85.1%

CMYK percentages

Cyan69.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow9.2%
Key (black)6.3%

Color previews

#4aefd9 text on a black background

contrast 14.64:1

Card sample

#4aefd9 text on a white background

contrast 1.43:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4aefd9;
Background color
Panel with #4aefd9 background
background-color: #4aefd9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4aefd9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 239, 217, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 239, 217, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4aefd9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4aefd9, #4A97EF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4aefd9

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.

#4aefd9 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#4aefd9, answered

What color is #4aefd9?

#4aefd9 is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 172° on the hue wheel with 84% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4aefd9?

rgb(74, 239, 217) — 74 red, 239 green and 217 blue out of 255, or 29% / 93.7% / 85.1% by channel.

Is #4aefd9 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6820 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 14.64:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4aefd9?

Black. It scores 14.64:1 against #4aefd9, versus 1.43:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4aefd9?

#EF4A60 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EF4AB3 and #EF874A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4aefd9?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE7 for borders, #4B9B90 for secondary text, #F34688 as an accent and #0A7567 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4AEF87 and #4AB3EF stays calm, while #EF4A60 is the loudest partner.

What is #4aefd9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(69%, 0%, 9%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #4aefd9 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 #4AEF9D; nudged cooler, #48CAF1.

Work with #4aefd9 in the Color Lab