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#65cdce

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

RGB
101, 205, 206
HSL
181°, 52%, 60%
CMYK
51, 1, 0, 19
Luminance
0.5089

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #65cdce is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#65cdce
Hue
181°
cyan
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5089
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
88/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.18:1
Closest name
Medium Turquoise
ΔE2000 3.5
Where it sits
Hue181° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness60%
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.

Every format

HEX#65cdce
RGBrgb(101, 205, 206)
HSLhsl(181, 52%, 60%)
CMYKcmyk(51%, 1%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(76.6 -29.8 -9.8)
LCHlch(76.6 31.3 198.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.787 0.097 196.2)
Decimal6671822
Display P3color(display-p3 0.396 0.804 0.808)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #65cdce;
background-color: #65cdce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#65cdce] bg-[#65cdce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #65cdce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.396, green: 0.804, blue: 0.808)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#65cdce")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF65CDCE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 205, 101)

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 #65cdce · 11.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
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: #65cdce as text scores 1.88:1 on white and 11.18:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#65cdce on white: 1.88:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#65cdce on black: 11.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #C1C5CE
deuteranopia · #B0B7CF
tritanopia · #12D3CD

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #65cdce 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.

#F4FAFA
#EAF6F6
#CFEDED
#AAE3E4
#7FD5D6
#65cdce
#3BB8BA
#319A9B
#277B7C
#205A5A
#143838
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4FAFADarkest = 950 · #143838
:root {
  --brand-50: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-100: #EAF6F6;
  --brand-200: #CFEDED;
  --brand-300: #AAE3E4;
  --brand-400: #7FD5D6;
  --brand-500: #65cdce;
  --brand-600: #3BB8BA;
  --brand-700: #319A9B;
  --brand-800: #277B7C;
  --brand-900: #205A5A;
  --brand-950: #143838;
  --brand: #65cdce;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #65cdce

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#C1EBEB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D2617C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1F6061
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF9F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
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 #65cdce

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#CE6665
Analogous left#65CE9B
Analogous right#6598CE
Split-complement 1#CE6598
Split-complement 2#CE9B65
Triadic 1#CE65CD
Triadic 2#CDCE65
Tetradic#9B65CE

RGB percentages

Red39.6%
Green80.4%
Blue80.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan51.0%
Magenta0.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Color previews

#65cdce text on a black background

contrast 11.18:1

Card sample

#65cdce text on a white background

contrast 1.88:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #65cdce;
Background color
Panel with #65cdce background
background-color: #65cdce;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #65cdce;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(101, 205, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(101, 205, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #65cdce;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #65cdce, #6587CE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #65cdce

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.

#65cdce 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.

#65cdce, answered

What color is #65cdce?

#65cdce is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Medium Turquoise (ΔE2000 3.5). It sits at 181° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #65cdce?

rgb(101, 205, 206) — 101 red, 205 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 39.6% / 80.4% / 80.8% by channel.

Is #65cdce a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5089 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 11.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #65cdce?

Black. It scores 11.18:1 against #65cdce, versus 1.88:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #65cdce?

#CE6665 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CE6598 and #CE9B65, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #65cdce?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C1EBEB for borders, #4B9A9B for secondary text, #D2617C as an accent and #1F6061 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #65CE9B and #6598CE stays calm, while #CE6665 is the loudest partner.

What is #65cdce in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(51%, 1%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #65cdce 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 #65CEA9; nudged cooler, #63AAD0.

Work with #65cdce in the Color Lab