Skip to content
cyan · cool

#59cddb

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Turquoise

Token name suggestion: Atlas Glacier

RGB
89, 205, 219
HSL
187°, 64%, 60%
CMYK
59, 6, 0, 14
Luminance
0.5090

#59cddb is a balanced vivid cyan, 187° on the wheel and 90/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.18:1). As text it scores 1.88:1 on white — use #1E808C instead. Nearest name is Dark Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(187 64% 60%)rgb(89 205 219)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #59cddb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#59cddb
Hue
187°
cyan
Saturation
64%
vivid
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5090
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.18:1
Closest name
Dark Turquoise
ΔE2000 5.9
Chroma
33.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.787
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 8
Web-safe
#66CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue187° of 360°
Saturation64%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #59cddb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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
Red4%
Green86%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#59cddb
HEX (8-digit)#59cddbff
RGBrgb(89, 205, 219)
RGBArgba(89, 205, 219, 1)
HSLhsl(187, 64%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(186, 59%, 86%)
HWBhwb(187 35% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(59%, 6%, 0%, 14%)
LABlab(76.6 -28.5 -16.8)
LCHlch(76.6 33.1 210.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.787 0.105 206.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.73, 50.90, 74.79)
Decimal5885403
Display P3color(display-p3 0.349 0.804 0.859)
Web-safe#66CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #59cddb;
background-color: #59cddb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #59cddb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#59cddb] bg-[#59cddb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #59cddb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.349, green: 0.804, blue: 0.859)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.349, green: 0.804, blue: 0.859, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#59CDDB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF59CDDB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF59CDDB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(219, 205, 89)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(89, 205, 219)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(89, 205, 219)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 89, 205, 219)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3490f, 0.8039f, 0.8588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{89,205,219}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #59cddb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #59cddb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#176069, #D3EBEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #59cddb 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: #F4FAFB;
  --brand-100: #E8F6F7;
  --brand-200: #CBEDF1;
  --brand-300: #A3E3EB;
  --brand-400: #75D5E1;
  --brand-500: #59cddb;
  --brand-600: #2CB8C9;
  --brand-700: #2499A8;
  --brand-800: #1D7B86;
  --brand-900: #195A61;
  --brand-950: #10383D;
  --brand: #59cddb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0E8ED;
  --brand-hover: #3CC4D5;
  --brand-pressed: #2AB2C3;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142324;
    --brand-ink: #D3EBEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4FAFB',
        100: '#E8F6F7',
        200: '#CBEDF1',
        300: '#A3E3EB',
        400: '#75D5E1',
        500: '#59cddb',
        600: '#2CB8C9',
        700: '#2499A8',
        800: '#1D7B86',
        900: '#195A61',
        950: '#10383D',
        DEFAULT: '#59cddb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4FAFB,
  '100': #E8F6F7,
  '200': #CBEDF1,
  '300': #A3E3EB,
  '400': #75D5E1,
  '500': #59cddb,
  '600': #2CB8C9,
  '700': #2499A8,
  '800': #1D7B86,
  '900': #195A61,
  '950': #10383D,
);
$brand-base: #59cddb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4FAFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F6F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CBEDF1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A3E3EB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#75D5E1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#59cddb", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2CB8C9", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2499A8", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#1D7B86", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#195A61", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#10383D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #59cddb · 11.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.88:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #59cddb as text scores 1.88:1 on white and 11.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #176069 at 3.84:1.

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
#1E808C · 4.64:1
AA on white−27% L
#1E808C
The quick fox
#17616A · 7.11:1
AAA on white−35% L
#17616A
The quick fox
#59cddb · 11.18:1
AA on blackalready passes
#59cddb
The quick fox
#59cddb · 11.18:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#59cddb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #26A3B2 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
#59cddb on white: 1.88:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#59cddb on black: 11.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #59cddb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #59cddb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.88:1AaAa
Slate 501.80:1AaAa
Slate 1001.71:1AaAa
Slate 2001.52:1AaAa
Slate 3001.27:1AaAa
Slate 4001.37:1AaAa
Slate 5002.53:1AaAa
Slate 6004.03:1AaAa
Slate 7005.51:1AaAa
Slate 8007.79:1AaAa
Slate 9009.50:1AaAa
Black11.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BEC6DC
deuteranopia · #AAB7DB
tritanopia · #00D5D1

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. #59cddb 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.

#F4FAFB
#E8F6F7
#CBEDF1
#A3E3EB
#75D5E1
#59cddb
#2CB8C9
#2499A8
#1D7B86
#195A61
#10383D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4FAFBDarkest = 950 · #10383DText 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 0.026 206.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.042 206.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.063 206.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.082 206.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.097 206.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.105 206.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.105 206.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.099 206.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.089 206.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.074 206.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.058 206.1);
}

Colors that work with #59cddb

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#C0E8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B929B
Captions on the surface
Accent#DF5569
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#176069
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAF9FA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
Dark-mode background
Hover#3CC4D5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#2AB2C3
Two steps down
Disabled#C8DADC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#61D9E8
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 #59cddb

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #176069
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #26A3B2

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#DB6759
Analogous left#59DBA8
Analogous right#598CDB
Split-complement 1#DB598C
Split-complement 2#DBA859
Triadic 1#DB59CD
Triadic 2#CDDB59
Tetradic#A859DB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°187°

#59cddb sits at 187°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red34.9%
Green80.4%
Blue85.9%
R · 0–255
89
0x59
G · 0–255
205
0xcd
B · 0–255
219
0xdb

CMYK percentages

Cyan59.4%
Magenta6.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 80%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#59cddb text on a black background

contrast 11.18:1

Card sample

#59cddb text on a white background

contrast 1.88:1

Card sample

#59cddb on grey

1.71:1

#59cddb on its own surface

1.78:1

#59cddb on its dark surface

8.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #59cddb;
Background color
Panel with #59cddb background
background-color: #59cddb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #59cddb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(89, 205, 219, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(89, 205, 219, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #59cddb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #59cddb, #5976DB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #59cddb, #5C59DB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #59cddb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #59cddb;
caret-color: #59cddb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #59cddb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EAF9FA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #59cddb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#59cddb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #59cddb 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(89, 205, 219, 0.5)
rgb(89 205 219 / 50%)
#59cddb80
hsl(187 64% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #59cddb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#59cddb1a#EEFAFB
20%#59cddb33#DEF5F8
40%#59cddb66#BDEBF1
60%#59cddb99#9BE1E9
80%#59cddbcc#7AD7E2

Gradients from #59cddb

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, #8BDCE6, #59cddb 45%, #176069);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #59cddb, #4055D6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #59cddb, #DB6759);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #A4E4EB 0%, #59cddb 45%, #176069 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%, #83E4B6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7294E0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #176069 0%, transparent 65%), #59cddb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #59cddb

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.

#59cddb 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 11.18:1.

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.

#59cddb, answered

What color is #59cddb?

#59cddb is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Dark Turquoise (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 187° on the hue wheel with 64% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #59cddb?

rgb(89, 205, 219) — 89 red, 205 green and 219 blue out of 255, or 34.9% / 80.4% / 85.9% by channel.

What is #59cddb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(187, 64%, 60%) and hsv(186, 59%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #59cddb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5090 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 11.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #59cddb?

Black. It scores 11.18:1 against #59cddb, versus 1.88:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #59cddb accessible on a white background?

#59cddb on white scores 1.88:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1E808C to reach 4.5:1, or #17616A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #59cddb?

#DB6759 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DB598C and #DBA859, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #59cddb?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E8ED for borders, #4B929B for secondary text, #DF5569 as an accent and #176069 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #59DBA8 and #598CDB stays calm, while #DB6759 is the loudest partner.

What is #59cddb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(59%, 6%, 0%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #59cddb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #59DBB9; nudged cooler, #57ADDD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #59cddb?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #59cddb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #59cddb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#59cddb] or text-[#59cddb], 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 #59cddb with 50% opacity?

rgba(89, 205, 219, 0.5), or #59cddb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #ACE6ED; over black, #2D676E.

Is #59cddb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #66CCCC, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #59cddb mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #59cddb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #8BDCE6, #59cddb 45%, #176069). For more colour, a short hue run to #4055D6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #59cddb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #59cddb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.