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#7bbcbd

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

RGB
123, 188, 189
HSL
181°, 33%, 61%
CMYK
35, 1, 0, 26
Luminance
0.4385

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #7bbcbd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#7bbcbd
Hue
181°
cyan
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4385
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
86/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.77:1
Closest name
Medium Turquoise
ΔE2000 8.4
Where it sits
Hue181° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness61%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool86% 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#7bbcbd
RGBrgb(123, 188, 189)
HSLhsl(181, 33%, 61%)
CMYKcmyk(35%, 1%, 0%, 26%)
LABlab(72.1 -20.3 -7.1)
LCHlch(72.1 21.5 199.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.752 0.066 197.1)
Decimal8109245
Display P3color(display-p3 0.482 0.737 0.741)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #7bbcbd;
background-color: #7bbcbd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#7bbcbd] bg-[#7bbcbd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #7bbcbd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.482, green: 0.737, blue: 0.741)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#7bbcbd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF7BBCBD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(189, 188, 123)

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 #7bbcbd · 9.77:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.15:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #7bbcbd as text scores 2.15:1 on white and 9.77:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#7bbcbd on white: 2.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#7bbcbd on black: 9.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B4B6BD
deuteranopia · #A8ADBE
tritanopia · #61C0BC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #7bbcbd 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.

#F5F9F9
#ECF4F4
#D4E7E8
#B4D9DA
#8FC6C7
#7bbcbd
#52A2A3
#448788
#366C6D
#2A4F50
#1B3232
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F9F9Darkest = 950 · #1B3232
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9F9;
  --brand-100: #ECF4F4;
  --brand-200: #D4E7E8;
  --brand-300: #B4D9DA;
  --brand-400: #8FC6C7;
  --brand-500: #7bbcbd;
  --brand-600: #52A2A3;
  --brand-700: #448788;
  --brand-800: #366C6D;
  --brand-900: #2A4F50;
  --brand-950: #1B3232;
  --brand: #7bbcbd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #7bbcbd

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#C9E3E4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4D9899
Captions on the surface
Accent#C17789
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B5455
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF6F6
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 #7bbcbd

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
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

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#BD7C7B
Analogous left#7BBD9D
Analogous right#7B9BBD
Split-complement 1#BD7B9B
Split-complement 2#BD9D7B
Triadic 1#BD7BBC
Triadic 2#BCBD7B
Tetradic#9D7BBD

RGB percentages

Red48.2%
Green73.7%
Blue74.1%

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.9%
Magenta0.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)25.9%

Color previews

#7bbcbd text on a black background

contrast 9.77:1

Card sample

#7bbcbd text on a white background

contrast 2.15:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #7bbcbd;
Background color
Panel with #7bbcbd background
background-color: #7bbcbd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #7bbcbd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(123, 188, 189, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(123, 188, 189, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #7bbcbd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #7bbcbd, #7B90BD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #7bbcbd

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.

#7bbcbd 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.

#7bbcbd, answered

What color is #7bbcbd?

#7bbcbd is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Medium Turquoise (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 181° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #7bbcbd?

rgb(123, 188, 189) — 123 red, 188 green and 189 blue out of 255, or 48.2% / 73.7% / 74.1% by channel.

Is #7bbcbd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4385 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #7bbcbd?

Black. It scores 9.77:1 against #7bbcbd, versus 2.15:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #7bbcbd?

#BD7C7B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BD7B9B and #BD9D7B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #7bbcbd?

For interface work: #F5FAFA as the surface, #C9E3E4 for borders, #4D9899 for secondary text, #C17789 as an accent and #2B5455 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7BBD9D and #7B9BBD stays calm, while #BD7C7B is the loudest partner.

What is #7bbcbd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(35%, 1%, 0%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #7bbcbd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 86 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #7BBDA6; nudged cooler, #79A4BF.

Work with #7bbcbd in the Color Lab