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cyan · cool

#72ecdb

a light, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Turquoise

Token name suggestion: Meadow Lagoon

RGB
114, 236, 219
HSL
172°, 76%, 69%
CMYK
52, 0, 7, 8
Luminance
0.6868

#72ecdb is a light electric cyan, 172° on the wheel and 84/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.74:1). As text it scores 1.43:1 on white — use #128575 instead. Nearest name is Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(172 76% 69%)rgb(114 236 219)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #72ecdb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#72ecdb
Hue
172°
cyan
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6868
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.74:1
Closest name
Turquoise
ΔE2000 4.1
Chroma
38.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.868
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 13.6
Web-safe
#66FFCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue172° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #72ecdb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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
Red5%
Green87%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#72ecdb
HEX (8-digit)#72ecdbff
RGBrgb(114, 236, 219)
RGBArgba(114, 236, 219, 1)
HSLhsl(172, 76%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(172, 52%, 93%)
HWBhwb(172 45% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(52%, 0%, 7%, 8%)
LABlab(86.3 -38.3 -2.2)
LCHlch(86.3 38.3 183.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.868 0.113 183.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.72, 68.68, 77.64)
Decimal7531739
Display P3color(display-p3 0.447 0.925 0.859)
Web-safe#66FFCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #72ecdb;
background-color: #72ecdb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #72ecdb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#72ecdb] bg-[#72ecdb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #72ecdb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.447, green: 0.925, blue: 0.859)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.447, green: 0.925, blue: 0.859, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#72ECDB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF72ECDB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF72ECDB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(219, 236, 114)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(114, 236, 219)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(114, 236, 219)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 114, 236, 219)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4471f, 0.9255f, 0.8588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{114,236,219}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #72ecdb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #72ecdb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0F7063, #D3EEEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #72ecdb 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: #F3FCFB;
  --brand-100: #E7F9F6;
  --brand-200: #C8F4EE;
  --brand-300: #9CF2E6;
  --brand-400: #72ecdb;
  --brand-500: #39E4CC;
  --brand-600: #1DD8BE;
  --brand-700: #18B49E;
  --brand-800: #13907E;
  --brand-900: #12685C;
  --brand-950: #0B413A;
  --brand: #72ecdb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0EDE6;
  --brand-hover: #52E8D3;
  --brand-pressed: #33E4CB;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142422;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FCFB',
        100: '#E7F9F6',
        200: '#C8F4EE',
        300: '#9CF2E6',
        400: '#72ecdb',
        500: '#39E4CC',
        600: '#1DD8BE',
        700: '#18B49E',
        800: '#13907E',
        900: '#12685C',
        950: '#0B413A',
        DEFAULT: '#72ecdb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FCFB,
  '100': #E7F9F6,
  '200': #C8F4EE,
  '300': #9CF2E6,
  '400': #72ecdb,
  '500': #39E4CC,
  '600': #1DD8BE,
  '700': #18B49E,
  '800': #13907E,
  '900': #12685C,
  '950': #0B413A,
);
$brand-base: #72ecdb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FCFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C8F4EE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9CF2E6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#72ecdb", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#39E4CC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1DD8BE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#18B49E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#13907E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#12685C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0B413A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #72ecdb · 14.74:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.43:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.74:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #72ecdb as text scores 1.43:1 on white and 14.74:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0F7063 at 4.19:1.

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
#128575 · 4.53:1
AA on white−39% L
#128575
The quick fox
#0D6155 · 7.35:1
AAA on white−47% L
#0D6155
The quick fox
#72ecdb · 14.74:1
AA on blackalready passes
#72ecdb
The quick fox
#72ecdb · 14.74:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#72ecdb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #16A591 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
#72ecdb on white: 1.43:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#72ecdb on black: 14.74:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #72ecdb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #72ecdb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.43:1AaAa
Slate 501.36:1AaAa
Slate 1001.30:1AaAa
Slate 2001.16:1AaAa
Slate 3001.04:1AaAa
Slate 4001.80:1AaAa
Slate 5003.34:1AaAa
Slate 6005.32:1AaAa
Slate 7007.27:1AaAa
Slate 80010.27:1AaAa
Slate 90012.53:1AaAa
Black14.74:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E2E0DA
deuteranopia · #CFD2DD
tritanopia · #27F0E7

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. #72ecdb is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FCFB
#E7F9F6
#C8F4EE
#9CF2E6
#72ecdb
#39E4CC
#1DD8BE
#18B49E
#13907E
#12685C
#0B413A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFBDarkest = 950 · #0B413AText step on white = 900
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 0.028 183.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 183.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.068 183.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.088 183.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.104 183.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.113 183.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.113 183.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.106 183.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.095 183.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.079 183.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 183.3);
}

Colors that work with #72ecdb

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#C0EDE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B90
Captions on the surface
Accent#B81454
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0F7063
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9FCF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
Dark-mode background
Hover#52E8D3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#33E4CB
Two steps down
Disabled#E2ECEB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#7DF5E5
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 #72ecdb

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • 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
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #0F7063
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #16A591

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight31/100
  • 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#EC7283
Analogous left#72EC9E
Analogous right#72C0EC
Split-complement 1#EC72C0
Split-complement 2#EC9E72
Triadic 1#DB72EC
Triadic 2#ECDB72
Tetradic#9E72EC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°172°

#72ecdb sits at 172°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red44.7%
Green92.5%
Blue85.9%
R · 0–255
114
0x72
G · 0–255
236
0xec
B · 0–255
219
0xdb

CMYK percentages

Cyan51.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow7.2%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 66%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#72ecdb text on a black background

contrast 14.74:1

Card sample

#72ecdb text on a white background

contrast 1.43:1

Card sample

#72ecdb on grey

1.30:1

#72ecdb on its own surface

1.35:1

#72ecdb on its dark surface

11.29:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #72ecdb;
Background color
Panel with #72ecdb background
background-color: #72ecdb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #72ecdb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(114, 236, 219, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(114, 236, 219, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #72ecdb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #72ecdb, #72ACEC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #72ecdb, #728DEC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #72ecdb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #72ecdb;
caret-color: #72ecdb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #72ecdb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9FCF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #72ecdb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#72ecdb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #72ecdb 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(114, 236, 219, 0.5)
rgb(114 236 219 / 50%)
#72ecdb80
hsl(172 76% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #72ecdb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#72ecdb1a#F1FDFB
20%#72ecdb33#E3FBF8
40%#72ecdb66#C7F7F1
60%#72ecdb99#AAF4E9
80%#72ecdbcc#8EF0E2

Gradients from #72ecdb

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, #A8F3E9, #72ecdb 45%, #0F7063);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #72ecdb, #5790E8);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #72ecdb, #EC7283);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C3F7F0 0%, #72ecdb 45%, #0F7063 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%, #9FF2B6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8DC4F0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0F7063 0%, transparent 65%), #72ecdb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #72ecdb

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.

#72ecdb 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 14.74:1.

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.

#72ecdb, answered

What color is #72ecdb?

#72ecdb is a light electric cyan, closest to Turquoise (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 172° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #72ecdb?

rgb(114, 236, 219) — 114 red, 236 green and 219 blue out of 255, or 44.7% / 92.5% / 85.9% by channel.

What is #72ecdb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(172, 76%, 69%) and hsv(172, 52%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #72ecdb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6868 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 14.74:1.

Should I use black or white text on #72ecdb?

Black. It scores 14.74:1 against #72ecdb, versus 1.43:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #72ecdb accessible on a white background?

#72ecdb on white scores 1.43:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #128575 to reach 4.5:1, or #0D6155 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #72ecdb?

#EC7283 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EC72C0 and #EC9E72, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #72ecdb?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE6 for borders, #4B9B90 for secondary text, #B81454 as an accent and #0F7063 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #72EC9E and #72C0EC stays calm, while #EC7283 is the loudest partner.

What is #72ecdb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(52%, 0%, 7%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #72ecdb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #72ECAE; nudged cooler, #70D1EE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #72ecdb?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 13.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #72ecdb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #72ecdb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#72ecdb] or text-[#72ecdb], 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 #72ecdb with 50% opacity?

rgba(114, 236, 219, 0.5), or #72ecdb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B9F6ED; over black, #39766E.

Is #72ecdb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #66FFCC, ΔE2000 9.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #72ecdb 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 #72ecdb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A8F3E9, #72ecdb 45%, #0F7063). For more colour, a short hue run to #5790E8 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #72ecdb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #72ecdb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.