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green · cool

#53af56

a balanced, soft green · cool · closest name: Medium Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Signal Basil

RGB
83, 175, 86
HSL
122°, 37%, 51%
CMYK
53, 0, 51, 31
Luminance
0.3317

#53af56 is a balanced soft green, 122° on the wheel and 63/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.63:1). As text it scores 2.75:1 on white — use #3D833F instead. Nearest name is Medium Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is green.

hsl(122 37% 51%)rgb(83 175 86)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #53af56 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#53af56
Hue
122°
green
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3317
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
63/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.63:1
Closest name
Medium Sea Green
ΔE2000 5.8
Chroma
59.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.677
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
green
500 · ΔE 6.6
Web-safe
#669966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue122° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #53af56.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool63% 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
Red6%
Green92%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#53af56
HEX (8-digit)#53af56ff
RGBrgb(83, 175, 86)
RGBArgba(83, 175, 86, 1)
HSLhsl(122, 37%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(122, 53%, 69%)
HWBhwb(122 33% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(53%, 0%, 51%, 31%)
LABlab(64.3 -45.9 37.2)
LCHlch(64.3 59.1 141.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.677 0.154 144.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.58, 33.17, 14.12)
Decimal5484374
Display P3color(display-p3 0.325 0.686 0.337)
Web-safe#669966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #53af56;
background-color: #53af56;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #53af56;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#53af56] bg-[#53af56]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #53af56;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.325, green: 0.686, blue: 0.337)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.325, green: 0.686, blue: 0.337, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#53AF56</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF53AF56)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF53AF56)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(86, 175, 83)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(83, 175, 86)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(83, 175, 86)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 83, 175, 86)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3255f, 0.6863f, 0.3373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{83,175,86}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #53af56 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #53af56 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#28572A, #D5ECD6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #53af56 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: #F5FAF5;
  --brand-100: #EBF4EC;
  --brand-200: #D3E8D4;
  --brand-300: #B2DBB4;
  --brand-400: #8CCA8E;
  --brand-500: #66B869;
  --brand-600: #53af56;
  --brand-700: #418B43;
  --brand-800: #346F36;
  --brand-900: #29522A;
  --brand-950: #19331A;
  --brand: #53af56;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5FAF5;
  --brand-border: #C7E5C8;
  --brand-hover: #479849;
  --brand-pressed: #3B7F3E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142414;
    --brand-ink: #D5ECD6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5FAF5',
        100: '#EBF4EC',
        200: '#D3E8D4',
        300: '#B2DBB4',
        400: '#8CCA8E',
        500: '#66B869',
        600: '#53af56',
        700: '#418B43',
        800: '#346F36',
        900: '#29522A',
        950: '#19331A',
        DEFAULT: '#53af56',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5FAF5,
  '100': #EBF4EC,
  '200': #D3E8D4,
  '300': #B2DBB4,
  '400': #8CCA8E,
  '500': #66B869,
  '600': #53af56,
  '700': #418B43,
  '800': #346F36,
  '900': #29522A,
  '950': #19331A,
);
$brand-base: #53af56;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5FAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBF4EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D3E8D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B2DBB4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8CCA8E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#66B869", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#53af56", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#418B43", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#346F36", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#29522A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#19331A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #53af56 · 7.63:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.75:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.63:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #53af56 as text scores 2.75:1 on white and 7.63:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #28572A at 3.07:1.

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
#3D833F · 4.65:1
AA on white−13% L
#3D833F
The quick fox
#2E6430 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−22% L
#2E6430
The quick fox
#53af56 · 7.63:1
AA on blackalready passes
#53af56
The quick fox
#53af56 · 7.63:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#53af56

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #4DA650 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
#53af56 on white: 2.75:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#53af56 on black: 7.63:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #53af56 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #53af56.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.75:1AaAa
Slate 502.63:1AaAa
Slate 1002.51:1AaAa
Slate 2002.23:1AaAa
Slate 3001.85:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.73:1AaAa
Slate 6002.75:1AaAa
Slate 7003.76:1AaAa
Slate 8005.32:1AaAa
Slate 9006.49:1AaAa
Black7.63:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B2A14E
deuteranopia · #A6995C
tritanopia · #45AB9A

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. #53af56 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.

#F5FAF5
#EBF4EC
#D3E8D4
#B2DBB4
#8CCA8E
#66B869
#53af56
#418B43
#346F36
#29522A
#19331A
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5FAF5Darkest = 950 · #19331AText 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 0.038 144.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 144.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.092 144.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.120 144.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.141 144.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.154 144.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.154 144.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.144 144.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.129 144.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.108 144.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 144.2);
}

Colors that work with #53af56

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#F5FAF5
Tinted page background
Border#C7E5C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B4D
Captions on the surface
Accent#9E4EB4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#28572A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF7EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142414
Dark-mode background
Hover#479849
One step down in lightness
Pressed#3B7F3E
Two steps down
Disabled#AAC9AB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#55C159
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 #53af56

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • 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 #28572A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #4DA650

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

safegrowingnaturalpermissive

Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight49/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#AF53AC
Analogous left#7EAF53
Analogous right#53AF84
Split-complement 1#8453AF
Split-complement 2#AF537E
Triadic 1#5653AF
Triadic 2#AF5653
Tetradic#537EAF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°122°

#53af56 sits at 122°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red32.5%
Green68.6%
Blue33.7%
R · 0–255
83
0x53
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
86
0x56

CMYK percentages

Cyan52.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow50.9%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 135%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#53af56 text on a black background

contrast 7.63:1

Card sample

#53af56 text on a white background

contrast 2.75:1

Card sample

#53af56 on grey

2.51:1

#53af56 on its own surface

2.60:1

#53af56 on its dark surface

5.91:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #53af56;
Background color
Panel with #53af56 background
background-color: #53af56;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #53af56;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(83, 175, 86, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(83, 175, 86, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #53af56;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #53af56, #53AF93);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #53af56, #53AFAA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #53af56;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #53af56;
caret-color: #53af56;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #53af56;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF7EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #53af56;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#53af56 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #53af56 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(83, 175, 86, 0.5)
rgb(83 175 86 / 50%)
#53af5680
hsl(122 37% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #53af56 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#53af561a#EEF7EE
20%#53af5633#DDEFDD
40%#53af5666#BADFBB
60%#53af5699#98CF9A
80%#53af56cc#75BF78

Gradients from #53af56

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, #7DC27F, #53af56 45%, #28572A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #53af56, #489B89);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #53af56, #AF53AC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #92CC94 0%, #53af56 45%, #28572A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5FAF5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9EBF76 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #68B99A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #28572A 0%, transparent 65%), #53af56;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #53af56

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.

#53af56 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
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 7.63:1.

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.

#53af56, answered

What color is #53af56?

#53af56 is a balanced soft green, closest to Medium Sea Green (ΔE2000 5.8). It sits at 122° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #53af56?

rgb(83, 175, 86) — 83 red, 175 green and 86 blue out of 255, or 32.5% / 68.6% / 33.7% by channel.

What is #53af56 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(122, 37%, 51%) and hsv(122, 53%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #53af56 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3317 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 7.63:1.

Should I use black or white text on #53af56?

Black. It scores 7.63:1 against #53af56, versus 2.75:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #53af56 accessible on a white background?

#53af56 on white scores 2.75:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3D833F to reach 4.5:1, or #2E6430 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #53af56?

#AF53AC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8453AF and #AF537E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #53af56?

For interface work: #F5FAF5 as the surface, #C7E5C8 for borders, #4B9B4D for secondary text, #9E4EB4 as an accent and #28572A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7EAF53 and #53AF84 stays calm, while #AF53AC is the loudest partner.

What is #53af56 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(53%, 0%, 51%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #53af56 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 63 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #72AF53; nudged cooler, #51B277.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #53af56?

The green family — its 500 step is #22c55e, ΔE2000 6.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #53af56 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #53af56 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#53af56] or text-[#53af56], 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 #53af56 with 50% opacity?

rgba(83, 175, 86, 0.5), or #53af5680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A9D7AB; over black, #2A582B.

Is #53af56 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #669966, ΔE2000 9.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #53af56 mean?

As a green, it reads safe, growing, natural. Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #53af56?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #7DC27F, #53af56 45%, #28572A). For more colour, a short hue run to #489B89 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #53af56 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #53af56 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.