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green · neutral

#87db21

a balanced, vivid green · neutral · closest name: Yellow Green

Token name suggestion: Studio Basil

RGB
135, 219, 33
HSL
87°, 74%, 49%
CMYK
38, 0, 85, 14
Luminance
0.5592

#87db21 is a balanced vivid green, 87° on the wheel and 48/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.18:1). As text it scores 1.72:1 on white — use #508214 instead. Nearest name is Yellow Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(87 74% 49%)rgb(135 219 33)Base step 600AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #87db21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#87db21
Hue
87°
green
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5592
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
48/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.18:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
89.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.807
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 3.6
Web-safe
#99CC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue87° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #87db21.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool48% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red9%
Green91%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#87db21
HEX (8-digit)#87db21ff
RGBrgb(135, 219, 33)
RGBArgba(135, 219, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(87, 74%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(87, 85%, 86%)
HWBhwb(87 13% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(38%, 0%, 85%, 14%)
LABlab(79.6 -51.5 73.5)
LCHlch(79.6 89.8 125.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.807 0.217 132.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.60, 55.92, 10.36)
Decimal8903457
Display P3color(display-p3 0.529 0.859 0.129)
Web-safe#99CC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #87db21;
background-color: #87db21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #87db21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#87db21] bg-[#87db21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #87db21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.529, green: 0.859, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.529, green: 0.859, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#87DB21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF87DB21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF87DB21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 219, 135)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(135, 219, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(135, 219, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 135, 219, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5294f, 0.8588f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{135,219,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #87db21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #87db21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#446F11, #E2EED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #87db21 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: #F8FCF3;
  --brand-100: #F1F9E7;
  --brand-200: #E0F3C8;
  --brand-300: #CBF09D;
  --brand-400: #B1E96D;
  --brand-500: #97E23C;
  --brand-600: #87db21;
  --brand-700: #6DB11B;
  --brand-800: #578E15;
  --brand-900: #416714;
  --brand-950: #29400C;
  --brand: #87db21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8FAF4;
  --brand-border: #D8EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #74BC1C;
  --brand-pressed: #619D18;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1D2414;
    --brand-ink: #E2EED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8FCF3',
        100: '#F1F9E7',
        200: '#E0F3C8',
        300: '#CBF09D',
        400: '#B1E96D',
        500: '#97E23C',
        600: '#87db21',
        700: '#6DB11B',
        800: '#578E15',
        900: '#416714',
        950: '#29400C',
        DEFAULT: '#87db21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8FCF3,
  '100': #F1F9E7,
  '200': #E0F3C8,
  '300': #CBF09D,
  '400': #B1E96D,
  '500': #97E23C,
  '600': #87db21,
  '700': #6DB11B,
  '800': #578E15,
  '900': #416714,
  '950': #29400C,
);
$brand-base: #87db21;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8FCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F9E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0F3C8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CBF09D", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B1E96D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#97E23C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#87db21", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6DB11B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#578E15", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#416714", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#29400C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #87db21 · 12.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.72:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #87db21 as text scores 1.72:1 on white and 12.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #446F11 at 3.45:1.

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
#508214 · 4.62:1
AA on white−20% L
#508214
The quick fox
#3D630F · 7.02:1
AAA on white−27% L
#3D630F
The quick fox
#87db21 · 12.18:1
AA on blackalready passes
#87db21
The quick fox
#87db21 · 12.18:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#87db21

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #63A118 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
#87db21 on white: 1.72:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#87db21 on black: 12.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #87db21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #87db21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.72:1AaAa
Slate 501.65:1AaAa
Slate 1001.57:1AaAa
Slate 2001.40:1AaAa
Slate 3001.16:1AaAa
Slate 4001.49:1AaAa
Slate 5002.76:1AaAa
Slate 6004.40:1AaAa
Slate 7006.01:1AaAa
Slate 8008.49:1AaAa
Slate 90010.36:1AaAa
Black12.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E4C900
deuteranopia · #D9C33A
tritanopia · #88D2BB

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. #87db21 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8FCF3
#F1F9E7
#E0F3C8
#CBF09D
#B1E96D
#97E23C
#87db21
#6DB11B
#578E15
#416714
#29400C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8FCF3Darkest = 950 · #29400CText 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 0.054 132.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.087 132.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.130 132.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.169 132.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.199 132.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.217 132.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.217 132.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.204 132.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.182 132.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.152 132.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.119 132.4);
}

Colors that work with #87db21

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#F8FAF4
Tinted page background
Border#D8EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#779B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#431CE0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#446F11
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3FCE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1D2414
Dark-mode background
Hover#74BC1C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#619D18
Two steps down
Disabled#B8C6A6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#92EC25
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 #87db21

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #446F11
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #63A118

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight51/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#7521DB
Analogous left#DBD221
Analogous right#2ADB21
Split-complement 1#212ADB
Split-complement 2#D221DB
Triadic 1#2187DB
Triadic 2#DB2187
Tetradic#21DBD2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°87°

#87db21 sits at 87°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.9%
Green85.9%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
135
0x87
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan38.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow84.9%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 137%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#87db21 text on a black background

contrast 12.18:1

Card sample

#87db21 text on a white background

contrast 1.72:1

Card sample

#87db21 on grey

1.57:1

#87db21 on its own surface

1.64:1

#87db21 on its dark surface

9.27:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #87db21;
Background color
Panel with #87db21 background
background-color: #87db21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #87db21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(135, 219, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(135, 219, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #87db21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #87db21, #21DB37);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #87db21, #21DB65);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #87db21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #87db21;
caret-color: #87db21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #87db21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3FCE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #87db21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#87db21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #87db21 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(135, 219, 33, 0.5)
rgb(135 219 33 / 50%)
#87db2180
hsl(87 74% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #87db21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#87db211a#F3FBE9
20%#87db2133#E7F8D3
40%#87db2166#CFF1A6
60%#87db2199#B7E97A
80%#87db21cc#9FE24D

Gradients from #87db21

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, #A4E554, #87db21 45%, #446F11);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #87db21, #1DC03E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #87db21, #7521DB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B2E96F 0%, #87db21 45%, #446F11 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8FAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E4D04B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #39E13F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #446F11 0%, transparent 65%), #87db21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #87db21

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.

#87db21 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 12.18:1.

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.

#87db21, answered

What color is #87db21?

#87db21 is a balanced vivid green, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 87° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #87db21?

rgb(135, 219, 33) — 135 red, 219 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 52.9% / 85.9% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #87db21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(87, 74%, 49%) and hsv(87, 85%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #87db21 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5592 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 12.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #87db21?

Black. It scores 12.18:1 against #87db21, versus 1.72:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #87db21 accessible on a white background?

#87db21 on white scores 1.72:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #508214 to reach 4.5:1, or #3D630F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #87db21?

#7521DB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #212ADB and #D221DB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #87db21?

For interface work: #F8FAF4 as the surface, #D8EDC0 for borders, #779B4B for secondary text, #431CE0 as an accent and #446F11 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DBD221 and #2ADB21 stays calm, while #7521DB is the loudest partner.

What is #87db21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(38%, 0%, 85%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #87db21 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 48 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBDB21; nudged cooler, #41DD1E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #87db21?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 3.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #87db21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #87db21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#87db21] or text-[#87db21], 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 #87db21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(135, 219, 33, 0.5), or #87db2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C3ED90; over black, #446E11.

Is #87db21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CC33, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #87db21 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #87db21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A4E554, #87db21 45%, #446F11). For more colour, a short hue run to #1DC03E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #87db21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #87db21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.