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cyan · cool

#68acac

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

Token name suggestion: True Lagoon

RGB
104, 172, 172
HSL
180°, 29%, 54%
CMYK
40, 0, 0, 33
Luminance
0.3543

#68acac is a balanced soft cyan, 180° on the wheel and 81/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.09:1). As text it scores 2.60:1 on white — use #457D7D instead. Nearest name is Cadet Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(180 29% 54%)rgb(104 172 172)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #68acac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#68acac
Hue
180°
cyan
Saturation
29%
soft
Lightness
54%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
61%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3543
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
81/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.09:1
Closest name
Cadet Blue
ΔE2000 4.3
Chroma
22.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.700
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 9.9
Web-safe
#669999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue180° of 360°
Saturation29%
Lightness54%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #68acac.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red8%
Green83%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#68acac
HEX (8-digit)#68acacff
RGBrgb(104, 172, 172)
RGBArgba(104, 172, 172, 1)
HSLhsl(180, 29%, 54%)
HSV / HSBhsv(180, 40%, 67%)
HWBhwb(180 41% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(40%, 0%, 0%, 33%)
LABlab(66.1 -21.5 -6.8)
LCHlch(66.1 22.5 197.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.700 0.069 195.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.91, 35.42, 44.39)
Decimal6859948
Display P3color(display-p3 0.408 0.675 0.675)
Web-safe#669999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #68acac;
background-color: #68acac;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #68acac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#68acac] bg-[#68acac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #68acac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.408, green: 0.675, blue: 0.675)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.408, green: 0.675, blue: 0.675, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#68ACAC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF68ACAC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF68ACAC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 172, 104)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(104, 172, 172)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(104, 172, 172)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 104, 172, 172)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4078f, 0.6745f, 0.6745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{104,172,172}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #68acac 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #68acac 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2D5252, #D7E9E9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #68acac 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: #F6F9F9;
  --brand-100: #ECF3F3;
  --brand-200: #D5E6E6;
  --brand-300: #B7D7D7;
  --brand-400: #92C3C3;
  --brand-500: #68acac;
  --brand-600: #579E9E;
  --brand-700: #488484;
  --brand-800: #3A6969;
  --brand-900: #2D4E4E;
  --brand-950: #1C3030;
  --brand: #68acac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5FAFA;
  --brand-border: #CAE2E2;
  --brand-hover: #559B9B;
  --brand-pressed: #488484;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142424;
    --brand-ink: #D7E9E9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F9F9',
        100: '#ECF3F3',
        200: '#D5E6E6',
        300: '#B7D7D7',
        400: '#92C3C3',
        500: '#68acac',
        600: '#579E9E',
        700: '#488484',
        800: '#3A6969',
        900: '#2D4E4E',
        950: '#1C3030',
        DEFAULT: '#68acac',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F9F9,
  '100': #ECF3F3,
  '200': #D5E6E6,
  '300': #B7D7D7,
  '400': #92C3C3,
  '500': #68acac,
  '600': #579E9E,
  '700': #488484,
  '800': #3A6969,
  '900': #2D4E4E,
  '950': #1C3030,
);
$brand-base: #68acac;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F9F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECF3F3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5E6E6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B7D7D7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#92C3C3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#68acac", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#579E9E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#488484", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3A6969", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2D4E4E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C3030", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #68acac · 8.09:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.60:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #68acac as text scores 2.60:1 on white and 8.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2D5252 at 3.31:1.

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
#457D7D · 4.68:1
AA on white−16% L
#457D7D
The quick fox
#356060 · 7.02:1
AAA on white−25% L
#356060
The quick fox
#68acac · 8.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#68acac
The quick fox
#68acac · 8.09:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#68acac

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #579E9E 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
#68acac on white: 2.60:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#68acac on black: 8.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #68acac as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #68acac.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.60:1AaAa
Slate 502.48:1AaAa
Slate 1002.37:1AaAa
Slate 2002.11:1AaAa
Slate 3001.75:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.83:1AaAa
Slate 6002.92:1AaAa
Slate 7003.99:1AaAa
Slate 8005.63:1AaAa
Slate 9006.87:1AaAa
Black8.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A4A6AC
deuteranopia · #989DAD
tritanopia · #4AB0AC

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. #68acac 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.

#F6F9F9
#ECF3F3
#D5E6E6
#B7D7D7
#92C3C3
#68acac
#579E9E
#488484
#3A6969
#2D4E4E
#1C3030
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F9F9Darkest = 950 · #1C3030Text 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 0.017 195.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 195.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.041 195.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.054 195.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.064 195.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.069 195.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.069 195.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.065 195.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.058 195.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.048 195.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 195.7);
}

Colors that work with #68acac

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#F5FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#CAE2E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#519494
Captions on the surface
Accent#B16377
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2D5252
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF6F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142424
Dark-mode background
Hover#559B9B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#488484
Two steps down
Disabled#B5CFCF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#6ABEBE
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 #68acac

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #2D5252
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #579E9E

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight46/100
  • 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#AC6868
Analogous left#68AC8A
Analogous right#688AAC
Split-complement 1#AC688A
Split-complement 2#AC8A68
Triadic 1#AC68AC
Triadic 2#ACAC68
Tetradic#8A68AC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°180°

#68acac sits at 180°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red40.8%
Green67.5%
Blue67.5%
R · 0–255
104
0x68
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
172
0xac

CMYK percentages

Cyan39.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)32.5%

Total ink coverage is 72%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#68acac text on a black background

contrast 8.09:1

Card sample

#68acac text on a white background

contrast 2.60:1

Card sample

#68acac on grey

2.37:1

#68acac on its own surface

2.47:1

#68acac on its dark surface

6.18:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #68acac;
Background color
Panel with #68acac background
background-color: #68acac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #68acac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(104, 172, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(104, 172, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #68acac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #68acac, #687FAC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #68acac, #686EAC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #68acac;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #68acac;
caret-color: #68acac;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #68acac;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF6F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #68acac;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#68acac 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #68acac 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(104, 172, 172, 0.5)
rgb(104 172 172 / 50%)
#68acac80
hsl(180 29% 54% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #68acac 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#68acac1a#F0F7F7
20%#68acac33#E1EEEE
40%#68acac66#C3DEDE
60%#68acac99#A4CDCD
80%#68acaccc#86BDBD

Gradients from #68acac

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, #8FC2C2, #68acac 45%, #2D5252);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #68acac, #57699E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #68acac, #AC6868);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #A3CDCD 0%, #68acac 45%, #2D5252 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #89BE9F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7C94B7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2D5252 0%, transparent 65%), #68acac;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #68acac

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.

#68acac 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 8.09:1.

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.

#68acac, answered

What color is #68acac?

#68acac is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Cadet Blue (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 180° on the hue wheel with 29% saturation and 54% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #68acac?

rgb(104, 172, 172) — 104 red, 172 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 40.8% / 67.5% / 67.5% by channel.

What is #68acac in HSL and HSV?

hsl(180, 29%, 54%) and hsv(180, 40%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #68acac a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3543 and perceived brightness is 61%, so black text on it reaches 8.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #68acac?

Black. It scores 8.09:1 against #68acac, versus 2.60:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #68acac accessible on a white background?

#68acac on white scores 2.60:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #457D7D to reach 4.5:1, or #356060 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #68acac?

#AC6868 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AC688A and #AC8A68, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #68acac?

For interface work: #F5FAFA as the surface, #CAE2E2 for borders, #519494 for secondary text, #B16377 as an accent and #2D5252 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #68AC8A and #688AAC stays calm, while #AC6868 is the loudest partner.

What is #68acac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(40%, 0%, 0%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #68acac 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 #68AC93; nudged cooler, #6694AE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #68acac?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 9.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #68acac as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #68acac in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#68acac] or text-[#68acac], 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 #68acac with 50% opacity?

rgba(104, 172, 172, 0.5), or #68acac80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B4D6D6; over black, #345656.

Is #68acac a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #669999, ΔE2000 6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #68acac mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #68acac?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #8FC2C2, #68acac 45%, #2D5252). For more colour, a short hue run to #57699E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #68acac in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #68acac at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.