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#5eb2ba

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Cadet Blue

RGB
94, 178, 186
HSL
185°, 40%, 55%
CMYK
50, 4, 0, 27
Luminance
0.3777

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #5eb2ba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#5eb2ba
Hue
185°
cyan
Saturation
40%
soft
Lightness
55%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3777
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.55:1
Closest name
Cadet Blue
ΔE2000 6.4
Where it sits
Hue185° of 360°
Saturation40%
Lightness55%
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.

Every format

HEX#5eb2ba
RGBrgb(94, 178, 186)
HSLhsl(185, 40%, 55%)
CMYKcmyk(50%, 4%, 0%, 27%)
LABlab(67.8 -23.3 -11.9)
LCHlch(67.8 26.2 207.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.714 0.082 203.6)
Decimal6206138
Display P3color(display-p3 0.369 0.698 0.729)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #5eb2ba;
background-color: #5eb2ba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#5eb2ba] bg-[#5eb2ba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #5eb2ba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.369, green: 0.698, blue: 0.729)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#5eb2ba")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF5EB2BA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 178, 94)

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 #5eb2ba · 8.55:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.46:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.55:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #5eb2ba as text scores 2.46:1 on white and 8.55:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#5eb2ba on white: 2.46:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#5eb2ba on black: 8.55:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A7ACBB
deuteranopia · #98A1BA
tritanopia · #25B8B4

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #5eb2ba 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF4F4
#D2E7EA
#B0D9DD
#89C7CD
#5eb2ba
#49A3AB
#3D888F
#316D72
#275054
#183234
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #183234
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF4F4;
  --brand-200: #D2E7EA;
  --brand-300: #B0D9DD;
  --brand-400: #89C7CD;
  --brand-500: #5eb2ba;
  --brand-600: #49A3AB;
  --brand-700: #3D888F;
  --brand-800: #316D72;
  --brand-900: #275054;
  --brand-950: #183234;
  --brand: #5eb2ba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #5eb2ba

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#C6E4E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B949B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BF596A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#265559
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF6F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142324
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 #5eb2ba

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#BA665E
Analogous left#5EBA94
Analogous right#5E84BA
Split-complement 1#BA5E84
Split-complement 2#BA945E
Triadic 1#BA5EB2
Triadic 2#B2BA5E
Tetradic#945EBA

RGB percentages

Red36.9%
Green69.8%
Blue72.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan49.5%
Magenta4.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)27.1%

Color previews

#5eb2ba text on a black background

contrast 8.55:1

Card sample

#5eb2ba text on a white background

contrast 2.46:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #5eb2ba;
Background color
Panel with #5eb2ba background
background-color: #5eb2ba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #5eb2ba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(94, 178, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(94, 178, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #5eb2ba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #5eb2ba, #5E75BA);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #5eb2ba

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.

#5eb2ba 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.

#5eb2ba, answered

What color is #5eb2ba?

#5eb2ba is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Cadet Blue (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 185° on the hue wheel with 40% saturation and 55% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #5eb2ba?

rgb(94, 178, 186) — 94 red, 178 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 36.9% / 69.8% / 72.9% by channel.

Is #5eb2ba a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3777 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 8.55:1.

Should I use black or white text on #5eb2ba?

Black. It scores 8.55:1 against #5eb2ba, versus 2.46:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #5eb2ba?

#BA665E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BA5E84 and #BA945E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #5eb2ba?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C6E4E7 for borders, #4B949B for secondary text, #BF596A as an accent and #265559 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5EBA94 and #5E84BA stays calm, while #BA665E is the loudest partner.

What is #5eb2ba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(50%, 4%, 0%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #5eb2ba 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 #5EBAA0; nudged cooler, #5C97BC.

Work with #5eb2ba in the Color Lab