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green · cool

#78bc9f

a balanced, soft green · cool · closest name: Medium Aqua Marine

Token name suggestion: Atlas Fern

RGB
120, 188, 159
HSL
154°, 34%, 60%
CMYK
36, 0, 15, 26
Luminance
0.4246

#78bc9f is a balanced soft green, 154° on the wheel and 76/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.49:1). As text it scores 2.21:1 on white — use #418367 instead. Nearest name is Medium Aqua Marine, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(154 34% 60%)rgb(120 188 159)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #78bc9f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#78bc9f
Hue
154°
green
Saturation
34%
soft
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4246
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
76/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.49:1
Closest name
Medium Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 5.4
Chroma
29.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.742
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 9.1
Web-safe
#66CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue154° of 360°
Saturation34%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #78bc9f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool76% 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
Red9%
Green85%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#78bc9f
HEX (8-digit)#78bc9fff
RGBrgb(120, 188, 159)
RGBArgba(120, 188, 159, 1)
HSLhsl(154, 34%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(154, 36%, 74%)
HWBhwb(154 47% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(36%, 0%, 15%, 26%)
LABlab(71.2 -28.0 7.9)
LCHlch(71.2 29.1 164.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.742 0.081 165.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(31.98, 42.46, 39.30)
Decimal7912607
Display P3color(display-p3 0.471 0.737 0.624)
Web-safe#66CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #78bc9f;
background-color: #78bc9f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #78bc9f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#78bc9f] bg-[#78bc9f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #78bc9f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.471, green: 0.737, blue: 0.624)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.471, green: 0.737, blue: 0.624, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#78BC9F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF78BC9F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF78BC9F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(159, 188, 120)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(120, 188, 159)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(120, 188, 159)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 120, 188, 159)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4706f, 0.7373f, 0.6235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{120,188,159}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #78bc9f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #78bc9f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2A5543, #D6EBE2);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #78bc9f 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: #F5F9F8;
  --brand-100: #ECF4F0;
  --brand-200: #D4E8DF;
  --brand-300: #B4DACA;
  --brand-400: #8EC7AF;
  --brand-500: #78bc9f;
  --brand-600: #51A480;
  --brand-700: #44886B;
  --brand-800: #366D56;
  --brand-900: #2A5040;
  --brand-950: #1A3228;
  --brand: #78bc9f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5FAF8;
  --brand-border: #C8E4D8;
  --brand-hover: #60B08E;
  --brand-pressed: #4E9E7C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #14241D;
    --brand-ink: #D6EBE2;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9F8',
        100: '#ECF4F0',
        200: '#D4E8DF',
        300: '#B4DACA',
        400: '#8EC7AF',
        500: '#78bc9f',
        600: '#51A480',
        700: '#44886B',
        800: '#366D56',
        900: '#2A5040',
        950: '#1A3228',
        DEFAULT: '#78bc9f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9F8,
  '100': #ECF4F0,
  '200': #D4E8DF,
  '300': #B4DACA,
  '400': #8EC7AF,
  '500': #78bc9f,
  '600': #51A480,
  '700': #44886B,
  '800': #366D56,
  '900': #2A5040,
  '950': #1A3228,
);
$brand-base: #78bc9f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F9F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECF4F0", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4E8DF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B4DACA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8EC7AF", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#78bc9f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#51A480", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#44886B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#366D56", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A5040", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A3228", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #78bc9f · 9.49:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.49:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #78bc9f as text scores 2.21:1 on white and 9.49:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2A5543 at 3.83:1.

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
#418367 · 4.50:1
AA on white−22% L
#418367
The quick fox
#30614C · 7.14:1
AAA on white−32% L
#30614C
The quick fox
#78bc9f · 9.49:1
AA on blackalready passes
#78bc9f
The quick fox
#78bc9f · 9.49:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#78bc9f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #50A27F 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
#78bc9f on white: 2.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#78bc9f on black: 9.49:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #78bc9f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #78bc9f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.21:1AaAa
Slate 502.11:1AaAa
Slate 1002.02:1AaAa
Slate 2001.79:1AaAa
Slate 3001.49:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5002.15:1AaAa
Slate 6003.43:1AaAa
Slate 7004.68:1AaAa
Slate 8006.61:1AaAa
Slate 9008.07:1AaAa
Black9.49:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9B39E
deuteranopia · #AEABA1
tritanopia · #67BCB4

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. #78bc9f 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.

#F5F9F8
#ECF4F0
#D4E8DF
#B4DACA
#8EC7AF
#78bc9f
#51A480
#44886B
#366D56
#2A5040
#1A3228
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F9F8Darkest = 950 · #1A3228Text 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 0.020 165.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 165.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.049 165.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.063 165.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.075 165.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.081 165.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.081 165.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.077 165.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.068 165.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.057 165.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.045 165.5);
}

Colors that work with #78bc9f

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#F5FAF8
Tinted page background
Border#C8E4D8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4C9978
Captions on the surface
Accent#C074A7
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2A5543
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF7F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#14241D
Dark-mode background
Hover#60B08E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#4E9E7C
Two steps down
Disabled#C8DCD4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#7DCCAA
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 #78bc9f

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
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • 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 #2A5543
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #50A27F

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

safegrowingnaturalpermissive

Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed.

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

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#BC7895
Analogous left#78BC7D
Analogous right#78B7BC
Split-complement 1#BC78B7
Split-complement 2#BC7D78
Triadic 1#9F78BC
Triadic 2#BC9F78
Tetradic#7D78BC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°154°

#78bc9f sits at 154°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red47.1%
Green73.7%
Blue62.4%
R · 0–255
120
0x78
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
159
0x9f

CMYK percentages

Cyan36.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow15.4%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 78%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#78bc9f text on a black background

contrast 9.49:1

Card sample

#78bc9f text on a white background

contrast 2.21:1

Card sample

#78bc9f on grey

2.02:1

#78bc9f on its own surface

2.10:1

#78bc9f on its dark surface

7.30:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #78bc9f;
Background color
Panel with #78bc9f background
background-color: #78bc9f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #78bc9f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(120, 188, 159, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(120, 188, 159, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #78bc9f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #78bc9f, #78ACBC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78bc9f, #789BBC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #78bc9f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #78bc9f;
caret-color: #78bc9f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #78bc9f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF7F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #78bc9f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#78bc9f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #78bc9f 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(120, 188, 159, 0.5)
rgb(120 188 159 / 50%)
#78bc9f80
hsl(154 34% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #78bc9f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#78bc9f1a#F2F8F5
20%#78bc9f33#E4F2EC
40%#78bc9f66#C9E4D9
60%#78bc9f99#AED7C5
80%#78bc9fcc#93C9B2

Gradients from #78bc9f

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, #A1D0BC, #78bc9f 45%, #2A5543);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #78bc9f, #6499B2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #78bc9f, #BC7895);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B5DACB 0%, #78bc9f 45%, #2A5543 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5FAF8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9BCD9A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8CBDC6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2A5543 0%, transparent 65%), #78bc9f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #78bc9f

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.

#78bc9f in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
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 9.49:1.

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.

#78bc9f, answered

What color is #78bc9f?

#78bc9f is a balanced soft green, closest to Medium Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 5.4). It sits at 154° on the hue wheel with 34% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #78bc9f?

rgb(120, 188, 159) — 120 red, 188 green and 159 blue out of 255, or 47.1% / 73.7% / 62.4% by channel.

What is #78bc9f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(154, 34%, 60%) and hsv(154, 36%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #78bc9f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4246 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 9.49:1.

Should I use black or white text on #78bc9f?

Black. It scores 9.49:1 against #78bc9f, versus 2.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #78bc9f accessible on a white background?

#78bc9f on white scores 2.21:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #418367 to reach 4.5:1, or #30614C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #78bc9f?

#BC7895 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BC78B7 and #BC7D78, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #78bc9f?

For interface work: #F5FAF8 as the surface, #C8E4D8 for borders, #4C9978 for secondary text, #C074A7 as an accent and #2A5543 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #78BC7D and #78B7BC stays calm, while #BC7895 is the loudest partner.

What is #78bc9f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(36%, 0%, 15%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #78bc9f warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 76 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #78BC86; nudged cooler, #76BEBA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #78bc9f?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 9.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #78bc9f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #78bc9f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#78bc9f] or text-[#78bc9f], 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 #78bc9f with 50% opacity?

rgba(120, 188, 159, 0.5), or #78bc9f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BCDECF; over black, #3C5E50.

Is #78bc9f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #66CC99, ΔE2000 6.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #78bc9f mean?

As a green, it reads safe, growing, natural. Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #78bc9f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A1D0BC, #78bc9f 45%, #2A5543). For more colour, a short hue run to #6499B2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #78bc9f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #78bc9f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.