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#4af8fc

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

RGB
74, 248, 252
HSL
181°, 97%, 64%
CMYK
71, 2, 0, 1
Luminance
0.7562

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4af8fc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4af8fc
Hue
181°
cyan
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7562
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
88/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.12:1
Closest name
Cyan
ΔE2000 2.6
Where it sits
Hue181° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness64%
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.

Every format

HEX#4af8fc
RGBrgb(74, 248, 252)
HSLhsl(181, 97%, 64%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 2%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(89.7 -41.5 -14.7)
LCHlch(89.7 44.0 199.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.895 0.137 197.3)
Decimal4913404
Display P3color(display-p3 0.290 0.973 0.988)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4af8fc;
background-color: #4af8fc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4af8fc] bg-[#4af8fc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4af8fc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.290, green: 0.973, blue: 0.988)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4af8fc")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4AF8FC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(252, 248, 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 #4af8fc · 16.12:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.30:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4af8fc as text scores 1.30:1 on white and 16.12:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4af8fc on white: 1.30:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4af8fc on black: 16.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E7ECFD
deuteranopia · #CDD9FD
tritanopia · #00FFF9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4af8fc is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1FDFD
#E4FBFC
#C1F9FB
#91FBFD
#4af8fc
#22F7FB
#04ECF1
#03C4C9
#039DA1
#077174
#044748
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F1FDFDDarkest = 950 · #044748
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FDFD;
  --brand-100: #E4FBFC;
  --brand-200: #C1F9FB;
  --brand-300: #91FBFD;
  --brand-400: #4af8fc;
  --brand-500: #22F7FB;
  --brand-600: #04ECF1;
  --brand-700: #03C4C9;
  --brand-800: #039DA1;
  --brand-900: #077174;
  --brand-950: #044748;
  --brand: #4af8fc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4af8fc

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#C0ECED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B999B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF4771
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#027B7D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6FEFF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
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 #4af8fc

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#FC4E4A
Analogous left#4AFCA7
Analogous right#4A9FFC
Split-complement 1#FC4A9F
Split-complement 2#FCA74A
Triadic 1#FC4AF8
Triadic 2#F8FC4A
Tetradic#A74AFC

RGB percentages

Red29.0%
Green97.3%
Blue98.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan70.6%
Magenta1.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#4af8fc text on a black background

contrast 16.12:1

Card sample

#4af8fc text on a white background

contrast 1.30:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4af8fc;
Background color
Panel with #4af8fc background
background-color: #4af8fc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4af8fc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(74, 248, 252, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(74, 248, 252, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4af8fc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4af8fc, #4A81FC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4af8fc

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.

#4af8fc 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.

#4af8fc, answered

What color is #4af8fc?

#4af8fc is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Cyan (ΔE2000 2.6). It sits at 181° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4af8fc?

rgb(74, 248, 252) — 74 red, 248 green and 252 blue out of 255, or 29% / 97.3% / 98.8% by channel.

Is #4af8fc a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7562 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 16.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4af8fc?

Black. It scores 16.12:1 against #4af8fc, versus 1.30:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4af8fc?

#FC4E4A sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FC4A9F and #FCA74A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4af8fc?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0ECED for borders, #4B999B for secondary text, #FF4771 as an accent and #027B7D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4AFCA7 and #4A9FFC stays calm, while #FC4E4A is the loudest partner.

What is #4af8fc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 2%, 0%, 1%). 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 #4af8fc 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 #4AFCBF; nudged cooler, #48CAFE.

Work with #4af8fc in the Color Lab