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cyan · cool

#53afb1

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Teal

RGB
83, 175, 177
HSL
181°, 38%, 51%
CMYK
53, 1, 0, 31
Luminance
0.3567

#53afb1 is a balanced soft cyan, 181° on the wheel and 88/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.13:1). As text it scores 2.58:1 on white — use #3B8082 instead. Nearest name is Light Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(181 38% 51%)rgb(83 175 177)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #53afb1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#53afb1
Hue
181°
cyan
Saturation
38%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3567
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
88/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.13:1
Closest name
Light Sea Green
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
28.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.699
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 8.8
Web-safe
#669999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue181° of 360°
Saturation38%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #53afb1.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red5%
Green86%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#53afb1
HEX (8-digit)#53afb1ff
RGBrgb(83, 175, 177)
RGBArgba(83, 175, 177, 1)
HSLhsl(181, 38%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(181, 53%, 69%)
HWBhwb(181 33% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(53%, 1%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(66.3 -26.6 -9.4)
LCHlch(66.3 28.2 199.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.699 0.087 197.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.83, 35.67, 47.06)
Decimal5484465
Display P3color(display-p3 0.325 0.686 0.694)
Web-safe#669999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #53afb1;
background-color: #53afb1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #53afb1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#53afb1] bg-[#53afb1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #53afb1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.325, green: 0.686, blue: 0.694)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.325, green: 0.686, blue: 0.694, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#53AFB1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF53AFB1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF53AFB1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(177, 175, 83)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(83, 175, 177)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(83, 175, 177)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 83, 175, 177)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3255f, 0.6863f, 0.6941f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{83,175,177}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #53afb1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #53afb1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#285758, #D5EBEC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #53afb1 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: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF4F4;
  --brand-200: #D3E8E9;
  --brand-300: #B2DBDC;
  --brand-400: #8BC9CA;
  --brand-500: #65B7B9;
  --brand-600: #53afb1;
  --brand-700: #408B8C;
  --brand-800: #336F70;
  --brand-900: #285152;
  --brand-950: #193333;
  --brand: #53afb1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C7E5E6;
  --brand-hover: #46999A;
  --brand-pressed: #3B8082;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142424;
    --brand-ink: #D5EBEC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9FA',
        100: '#EBF4F4',
        200: '#D3E8E9',
        300: '#B2DBDC',
        400: '#8BC9CA',
        500: '#65B7B9',
        600: '#53afb1',
        700: '#408B8C',
        800: '#336F70',
        900: '#285152',
        950: '#193333',
        DEFAULT: '#53afb1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9FA,
  '100': #EBF4F4,
  '200': #D3E8E9,
  '300': #B2DBDC,
  '400': #8BC9CA,
  '500': #65B7B9,
  '600': #53afb1,
  '700': #408B8C,
  '800': #336F70,
  '900': #285152,
  '950': #193333,
);
$brand-base: #53afb1;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F9FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBF4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D3E8E9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B2DBDC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8BC9CA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#65B7B9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#53afb1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#408B8C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#336F70", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#285152", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#193333", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #53afb1 · 8.13:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.58:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.13:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #53afb1 as text scores 2.58:1 on white and 8.13:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #285758 at 3.14:1.

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
#3B8082 · 4.57:1
AA on white−14% L
#3B8082
The quick fox
#2D6162 · 7.01:1
AAA on white−23% L
#2D6162
The quick fox
#53afb1 · 8.13:1
AA on blackalready passes
#53afb1
The quick fox
#53afb1 · 8.13:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#53afb1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #499FA1 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
#53afb1 on white: 2.58:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#53afb1 on black: 8.13:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #53afb1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #53afb1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.58:1AaAa
Slate 502.47:1AaAa
Slate 1002.36:1AaAa
Slate 2002.09:1AaAa
Slate 3001.74:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.84:1AaAa
Slate 6002.94:1AaAa
Slate 7004.01:1AaAa
Slate 8005.67:1AaAa
Slate 9006.92:1AaAa
Black8.13:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A5A8B1
deuteranopia · #959CB2
tritanopia · #00B4AF

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. #53afb1 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF4F4
#D3E8E9
#B2DBDC
#8BC9CA
#65B7B9
#53afb1
#408B8C
#336F70
#285152
#193333
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #193333Text 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 0.022 197.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.035 197.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.052 197.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.068 197.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.080 197.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.087 197.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.087 197.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.082 197.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.073 197.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.061 197.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.048 197.3);
}

Colors that work with #53afb1

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#C7E5E6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B999B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B64E66
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#285758
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF7F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
Hover#46999A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#3B8082
Two steps down
Disabled#ABC9C9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#56C1C3
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 #53afb1

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
  • 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 #285758
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #499FA1

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.

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

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • 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#B15553
Analogous left#53B184
Analogous right#5380B1
Split-complement 1#B15380
Split-complement 2#B18453
Triadic 1#B153AF
Triadic 2#AFB153
Tetradic#8453B1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°181°

#53afb1 sits at 181°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red32.5%
Green68.6%
Blue69.4%
R · 0–255
83
0x53
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
177
0xb1

CMYK percentages

Cyan53.1%
Magenta1.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)30.6%

Total ink coverage is 85%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#53afb1 text on a black background

contrast 8.13:1

Card sample

#53afb1 text on a white background

contrast 2.58:1

Card sample

#53afb1 on grey

2.36:1

#53afb1 on its own surface

2.45:1

#53afb1 on its dark surface

6.22:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #53afb1;
Background color
Panel with #53afb1 background
background-color: #53afb1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #53afb1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(83, 175, 177, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(83, 175, 177, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #53afb1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #53afb1, #5370B1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #53afb1, #5359B1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #53afb1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #53afb1;
caret-color: #53afb1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #53afb1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF7F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #53afb1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#53afb1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #53afb1 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, 177, 0.5)
rgb(83 175 177 / 50%)
#53afb180
hsl(181 38% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #53afb1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#53afb11a#EEF7F7
20%#53afb133#DDEFEF
40%#53afb166#BADFE0
60%#53afb199#98CFD0
80%#53afb1cc#75BFC1

Gradients from #53afb1

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, #7DC3C4, #53afb1 45%, #285758);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #53afb1, #485B9E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #53afb1, #B15553);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #92CCCE 0%, #53afb1 45%, #285758 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%, #76C197 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #6889BB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #285758 0%, transparent 65%), #53afb1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #53afb1

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.

#53afb1 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 8.13:1.

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.

#53afb1, answered

What color is #53afb1?

#53afb1 is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Light Sea Green (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 181° on the hue wheel with 38% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #53afb1?

rgb(83, 175, 177) — 83 red, 175 green and 177 blue out of 255, or 32.5% / 68.6% / 69.4% by channel.

What is #53afb1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(181, 38%, 51%) and hsv(181, 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 #53afb1 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3567 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 8.13:1.

Should I use black or white text on #53afb1?

Black. It scores 8.13:1 against #53afb1, versus 2.58:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #53afb1 accessible on a white background?

#53afb1 on white scores 2.58:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3B8082 to reach 4.5:1, or #2D6162 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #53afb1?

#B15553 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B15380 and #B18453, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #53afb1?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C7E5E6 for borders, #4B999B for secondary text, #B64E66 as an accent and #285758 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #53B184 and #5380B1 stays calm, while #B15553 is the loudest partner.

What is #53afb1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(53%, 1%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #53afb1 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 #53B191; nudged cooler, #5190B4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #53afb1?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 8.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #53afb1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #53afb1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#53afb1] or text-[#53afb1], 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 #53afb1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(83, 175, 177, 0.5), or #53afb180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A9D7D8; over black, #2A5859.

Is #53afb1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #669999, ΔE2000 7.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #53afb1 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #53afb1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #7DC3C4, #53afb1 45%, #285758). For more colour, a short hue run to #485B9E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #53afb1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #53afb1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.