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#55ebdf

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

RGB
85, 235, 223
HSL
175°, 79%, 63%
CMYK
64, 0, 5, 8
Luminance
0.6668

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #55ebdf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#55ebdf
Hue
175°
cyan
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
63%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6668
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.34:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 3.1
Where it sits
Hue175° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness63%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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#55ebdf
RGBrgb(85, 235, 223)
HSLhsl(175, 79%, 63%)
CMYKcmyk(64%, 0%, 5%, 8%)
LABlab(85.3 -42.1 -5.9)
LCHlch(85.3 42.5 188.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.858 0.127 187.5)
Decimal5630943
Display P3color(display-p3 0.333 0.922 0.875)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #55ebdf;
background-color: #55ebdf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#55ebdf] bg-[#55ebdf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #55ebdf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.333, green: 0.922, blue: 0.875)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#55ebdf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF55EBDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 235, 85)

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 #55ebdf · 14.34:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.46:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #55ebdf as text scores 1.46:1 on white and 14.34:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#55ebdf on white: 1.46:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#55ebdf on black: 14.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #DFDFDF
deuteranopia · #C8CEE1
tritanopia · #00F0E7

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #55ebdf 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.

#F3FCFB
#E6F9F8
#C7F5F1
#9BF3EC
#55ebdf
#36E7D9
#1ADBCC
#16B6AA
#119288
#116A63
#0A423E
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFBDarkest = 950 · #0A423E
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FCFB;
  --brand-100: #E6F9F8;
  --brand-200: #C7F5F1;
  --brand-300: #9BF3EC;
  --brand-400: #55ebdf;
  --brand-500: #36E7D9;
  --brand-600: #1ADBCC;
  --brand-700: #16B6AA;
  --brand-800: #119288;
  --brand-900: #116A63;
  --brand-950: #0A423E;
  --brand: #55ebdf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #55ebdf

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#C0EDE9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B94
Captions on the surface
Accent#EF5185
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D726A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FCFB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142423
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 #55ebdf

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#EB5561
Analogous left#55EB94
Analogous right#55ACEB
Split-complement 1#EB55AC
Split-complement 2#EB9455
Triadic 1#DF55EB
Triadic 2#EBDF55
Tetradic#9455EB

RGB percentages

Red33.3%
Green92.2%
Blue87.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan63.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow5.1%
Key (black)7.8%

Color previews

#55ebdf text on a black background

contrast 14.34:1

Card sample

#55ebdf text on a white background

contrast 1.46:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #55ebdf;
Background color
Panel with #55ebdf background
background-color: #55ebdf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #55ebdf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(85, 235, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(85, 235, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #55ebdf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #55ebdf, #5593EB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #55ebdf

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.

#55ebdf 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.

#55ebdf, answered

What color is #55ebdf?

#55ebdf is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 175° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 63% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #55ebdf?

rgb(85, 235, 223) — 85 red, 235 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 33.3% / 92.2% / 87.5% by channel.

Is #55ebdf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6668 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 14.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #55ebdf?

Black. It scores 14.34:1 against #55ebdf, versus 1.46:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #55ebdf?

#EB5561 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EB55AC and #EB9455, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #55ebdf?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE9 for borders, #4B9B94 for secondary text, #EF5185 as an accent and #0D726A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #55EB94 and #55ACEB stays calm, while #EB5561 is the loudest partner.

What is #55ebdf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(64%, 0%, 5%, 8%). 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 #55ebdf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #55EBA8; nudged cooler, #53C3ED.

Work with #55ebdf in the Color Lab