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#5ab69f

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Medium Aqua Marine

RGB
90, 182, 159
HSL
165°, 39%, 53%
CMYK
51, 0, 13, 29
Luminance
0.3813

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #5ab69f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#5ab69f
Hue
165°
cyan
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3813
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
81/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.63:1
Closest name
Medium Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 6.7
Where it sits
Hue165° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness53%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool81% 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#5ab69f
RGBrgb(90, 182, 159)
HSLhsl(165, 39%, 53%)
CMYKcmyk(51%, 0%, 13%, 29%)
LABlab(68.1 -33.1 3.3)
LCHlch(68.1 33.3 174.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.713 0.095 175.0)
Decimal5944991
Display P3color(display-p3 0.353 0.714 0.624)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #5ab69f;
background-color: #5ab69f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#5ab69f] bg-[#5ab69f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #5ab69f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.353, green: 0.714, blue: 0.624)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#5ab69f")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF5AB69F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(159, 182, 90)

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 #5ab69f · 8.63:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.43:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.63:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #5ab69f as text scores 2.43:1 on white and 8.63:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#5ab69f on white: 2.43:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#5ab69f on black: 8.63:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B1AC9E
deuteranopia · #A2A2A1
tritanopia · #31B8AF

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #5ab69f 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.

#F5FAF9
#EBF4F2
#D3E9E3
#B1DDD2
#8ACBBB
#5ab69f
#4BAA92
#3F8D7A
#327161
#275348
#19342D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5FAF9Darkest = 950 · #19342D
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5FAF9;
  --brand-100: #EBF4F2;
  --brand-200: #D3E9E3;
  --brand-300: #B1DDD2;
  --brand-400: #8ACBBB;
  --brand-500: #5ab69f;
  --brand-600: #4BAA92;
  --brand-700: #3F8D7A;
  --brand-800: #327161;
  --brand-900: #275348;
  --brand-950: #19342D;
  --brand: #5ab69f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #5ab69f

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#F4FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C6E6DE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B87
Captions on the surface
Accent#BB5588
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#27584C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF7F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142420
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 #5ab69f

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
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

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#B65A71
Analogous left#5AB671
Analogous right#5A9FB6
Split-complement 1#B65A9F
Split-complement 2#B6715A
Triadic 1#9F5AB6
Triadic 2#B69F5A
Tetradic#715AB6

RGB percentages

Red35.3%
Green71.4%
Blue62.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan50.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow12.6%
Key (black)28.6%

Color previews

#5ab69f text on a black background

contrast 8.63:1

Card sample

#5ab69f text on a white background

contrast 2.43:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #5ab69f;
Background color
Panel with #5ab69f background
background-color: #5ab69f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #5ab69f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(90, 182, 159, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(90, 182, 159, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #5ab69f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #5ab69f, #5A90B6);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #5ab69f

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.

#5ab69f 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.

#5ab69f, answered

What color is #5ab69f?

#5ab69f is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Medium Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 165° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #5ab69f?

rgb(90, 182, 159) — 90 red, 182 green and 159 blue out of 255, or 35.3% / 71.4% / 62.4% by channel.

Is #5ab69f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3813 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 8.63:1.

Should I use black or white text on #5ab69f?

Black. It scores 8.63:1 against #5ab69f, versus 2.43:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #5ab69f?

#B65A71 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B65A9F and #B6715A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #5ab69f?

For interface work: #F4FAF9 as the surface, #C6E6DE for borders, #4B9B87 for secondary text, #BB5588 as an accent and #27584C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5AB671 and #5A9FB6 stays calm, while #B65A71 is the loudest partner.

What is #5ab69f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(51%, 0%, 13%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #5ab69f warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 81 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #5AB67D; nudged cooler, #57ADB8.

Work with #5ab69f in the Color Lab