Skip to content

#74dfee

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

RGB
116, 223, 238
HSL
187°, 78%, 69%
CMYK
51, 6, 0, 7
Luminance
0.6266

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #74dfee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#74dfee
Hue
187°
cyan
Saturation
78%
electric
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6266
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.53:1
Closest name
Pale Turquoise
ΔE2000 8
Where it sits
Hue187° of 360°
Saturation78%
Lightness69%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#74dfee
RGBrgb(116, 223, 238)
HSLhsl(187, 78%, 69%)
CMYKcmyk(51%, 6%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(83.3 -26.9 -16.8)
LCHlch(83.3 31.7 212.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.845 0.101 207.4)
Decimal7659502
Display P3color(display-p3 0.455 0.875 0.933)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #74dfee;
background-color: #74dfee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#74dfee] bg-[#74dfee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #74dfee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.455, green: 0.875, blue: 0.933)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#74dfee")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF74DFEE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 223, 116)

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 #74dfee · 13.53:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.55:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.53:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #74dfee as text scores 1.55:1 on white and 13.53:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#74dfee on white: 1.55:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#74dfee on black: 13.53:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D0D8EF
deuteranopia · #BCC9EE
tritanopia · #19E7E3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #74dfee 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.

#F3FBFC
#E6F7F9
#C7EFF5
#9BE8F3
#74dfee
#37D1E7
#1BC3DA
#16A2B6
#128291
#115E69
#0B3B42
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFCDarkest = 950 · #0B3B42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FBFC;
  --brand-100: #E6F7F9;
  --brand-200: #C7EFF5;
  --brand-300: #9BE8F3;
  --brand-400: #74dfee;
  --brand-500: #37D1E7;
  --brand-600: #1BC3DA;
  --brand-700: #16A2B6;
  --brand-800: #128291;
  --brand-900: #115E69;
  --brand-950: #0B3B42;
  --brand: #74dfee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #74dfee

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#C0E7ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B919B
Captions on the surface
Accent#BA1227
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0E6572
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FAFC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #74dfee

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

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#EE8374
Analogous left#74EEC0
Analogous right#74A2EE
Split-complement 1#EE74A2
Split-complement 2#EEC074
Triadic 1#EE74DF
Triadic 2#DFEE74
Tetradic#C074EE

RGB percentages

Red45.5%
Green87.5%
Blue93.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan51.3%
Magenta6.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#74dfee text on a black background

contrast 13.53:1

Card sample

#74dfee text on a white background

contrast 1.55:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #74dfee;
Background color
Panel with #74dfee background
background-color: #74dfee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #74dfee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(116, 223, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(116, 223, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #74dfee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #74dfee, #748EEE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #74dfee

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.

#74dfee 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.

#74dfee, answered

What color is #74dfee?

#74dfee is a light electric cyan, closest to Pale Turquoise (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 187° on the hue wheel with 78% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #74dfee?

rgb(116, 223, 238) — 116 red, 223 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 45.5% / 87.5% / 93.3% by channel.

Is #74dfee a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6266 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 13.53:1.

Should I use black or white text on #74dfee?

Black. It scores 13.53:1 against #74dfee, versus 1.55:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #74dfee?

#EE8374 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EE74A2 and #EEC074, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #74dfee?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E7ED for borders, #4B919B for secondary text, #BA1227 as an accent and #0E6572 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #74EEC0 and #74A2EE stays calm, while #EE8374 is the loudest partner.

What is #74dfee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(51%, 6%, 0%, 7%). 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 #74dfee warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #74EED0; nudged cooler, #72C1F0.

Work with #74dfee in the Color Lab