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cyan · cool

#94b0ac

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Cadet Blue

Token name suggestion: True Lagoon

RGB
148, 176, 172
HSL
171°, 15%, 64%
CMYK
16, 0, 2, 31
Luminance
0.4033

#94b0ac is a balanced soft cyan, 171° on the wheel and 65/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.07:1). As text it scores 2.32:1 on white — use #5C7D78 instead. Nearest name is Cadet Blue, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(171 15% 64%)rgb(148 176 172)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #94b0ac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#94b0ac
Hue
171°
cyan
Saturation
15%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4033
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
65/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.07:1
Closest name
Cadet Blue
ΔE2000 10.4
Chroma
10.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.735
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 15.4
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue171° of 360°
Saturation15%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #94b0ac.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool65% 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
Red16%
Green77%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#94b0ac
HEX (8-digit)#94b0acff
RGBrgb(148, 176, 172)
RGBArgba(148, 176, 172, 1)
HSLhsl(171, 15%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(171, 16%, 69%)
HWBhwb(171 58% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 0%, 2%, 31%)
LABlab(69.7 -10.4 -1.2)
LCHlch(69.7 10.4 186.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.735 0.031 186.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.18, 40.32, 44.95)
Decimal9744556
Display P3color(display-p3 0.580 0.690 0.675)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #94b0ac;
background-color: #94b0ac;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #94b0ac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#94b0ac] bg-[#94b0ac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #94b0ac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.580, green: 0.690, blue: 0.675)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.580, green: 0.690, blue: 0.675, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#94B0AC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF94B0AC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF94B0AC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 176, 148)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(148, 176, 172)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(148, 176, 172)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 148, 176, 172)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5804f, 0.6902f, 0.6745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{148,176,172}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #94b0ac 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #94b0ac 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#364947, #DCE5E4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #94b0ac 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF2F1;
  --brand-200: #D9E2E1;
  --brand-300: #BECFCD;
  --brand-400: #94b0ac;
  --brand-500: #7EA09B;
  --brand-600: #688D88;
  --brand-700: #577571;
  --brand-800: #455E5A;
  --brand-900: #354643;
  --brand-950: #212C2A;
  --brand: #94b0ac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F9F8;
  --brand-border: #D0DCDB;
  --brand-hover: #7FA19C;
  --brand-pressed: #6B918C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #18201F;
    --brand-ink: #DCE5E4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EEF2F1',
        200: '#D9E2E1',
        300: '#BECFCD',
        400: '#94b0ac',
        500: '#7EA09B',
        600: '#688D88',
        700: '#577571',
        800: '#455E5A',
        900: '#354643',
        950: '#212C2A',
        DEFAULT: '#94b0ac',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EEF2F1,
  '200': #D9E2E1,
  '300': #BECFCD,
  '400': #94b0ac,
  '500': #7EA09B,
  '600': #688D88,
  '700': #577571,
  '800': #455E5A,
  '900': #354643,
  '950': #212C2A,
);
$brand-base: #94b0ac;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF2F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9E2E1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BECFCD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#94b0ac", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7EA09B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#688D88", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#577571", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#455E5A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#354643", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#212C2A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #94b0ac · 9.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #94b0ac as text scores 2.32:1 on white and 9.07:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #364947 at 4.12:1.

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
#5C7D78 · 4.51:1
AA on white−21% L
#5C7D78
The quick fox
#445C59 · 7.19:1
AAA on white−32% L
#445C59
The quick fox
#94b0ac · 9.07:1
AA on blackalready passes
#94b0ac
The quick fox
#94b0ac · 9.07:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#94b0ac

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #779A95 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
#94b0ac on white: 2.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#94b0ac on black: 9.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #94b0ac as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #94b0ac.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.32:1AaAa
Slate 502.21:1AaAa
Slate 1002.11:1AaAa
Slate 2001.88:1AaAa
Slate 3001.56:1AaAa
Slate 4001.11:1AaAa
Slate 5002.05:1AaAa
Slate 6003.27:1AaAa
Slate 7004.47:1AaAa
Slate 8006.31:1AaAa
Slate 9007.71:1AaAa
Black9.07:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #ADADAC
deuteranopia · #A7A9AC
tritanopia · #8DB1AF

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. #94b0ac 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.

#F6F8F8
#EEF2F1
#D9E2E1
#BECFCD
#94b0ac
#7EA09B
#688D88
#577571
#455E5A
#354643
#212C2A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #212C2AText step on white = 700
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 0.008 186.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 186.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.019 186.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.024 186.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.029 186.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.031 186.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.031 186.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.029 186.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.026 186.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.022 186.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.017 186.0);
}

Colors that work with #94b0ac

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#F6F9F8
Tinted page background
Border#D0DCDB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#61847F
Captions on the surface
Accent#7A5262
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#364947
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F4F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#18201F
Dark-mode background
Hover#7FA19C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6B918C
Two steps down
Disabled#D4E0DE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#97C1BB
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 #94b0ac

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
  • 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 #364947
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #779A95

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.

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

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight37/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • 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#B09498
Analogous left#94B09E
Analogous right#94A6B0
Split-complement 1#B094A6
Split-complement 2#B09E94
Triadic 1#AC94B0
Triadic 2#B0AC94
Tetradic#9E94B0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°171°

#94b0ac sits at 171°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red58.0%
Green69.0%
Blue67.5%
R · 0–255
148
0x94
G · 0–255
176
0xb0
B · 0–255
172
0xac

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow2.3%
Key (black)31.0%

Total ink coverage is 49%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#94b0ac text on a black background

contrast 9.07:1

Card sample

#94b0ac text on a white background

contrast 2.32:1

Card sample

#94b0ac on grey

2.11:1

#94b0ac on its own surface

2.19:1

#94b0ac on its dark surface

7.16:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #94b0ac;
Background color
Panel with #94b0ac background
background-color: #94b0ac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #94b0ac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(148, 176, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(148, 176, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #94b0ac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #94b0ac, #94A1B0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #94b0ac, #949AB0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #94b0ac;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #94b0ac;
caret-color: #94b0ac;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #94b0ac;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F4F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #94b0ac;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#94b0ac 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #94b0ac 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(148, 176, 172, 0.5)
rgb(148 176 172 / 50%)
#94b0ac80
hsl(171 15% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #94b0ac 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#94b0ac1a#F4F7F7
20%#94b0ac33#EAEFEE
40%#94b0ac66#D4DFDE
60%#94b0ac99#BFD0CD
80%#94b0accc#A9C0BD

Gradients from #94b0ac

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, #B7CAC7, #94b0ac 45%, #364947);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #94b0ac, #828FA3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #94b0ac, #B09498);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C9D7D5 0%, #94b0ac 45%, #364947 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F9F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B1C6B7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A5B3BD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #364947 0%, transparent 65%), #94b0ac;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #94b0ac

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.

#94b0ac 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.

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 9.07:1.

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.

#94b0ac, answered

What color is #94b0ac?

#94b0ac is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Cadet Blue (ΔE2000 10.4). It sits at 171° on the hue wheel with 15% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #94b0ac?

rgb(148, 176, 172) — 148 red, 176 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 58% / 69% / 67.5% by channel.

What is #94b0ac in HSL and HSV?

hsl(171, 15%, 64%) and hsv(171, 16%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #94b0ac a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4033 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 9.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #94b0ac?

Black. It scores 9.07:1 against #94b0ac, versus 2.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #94b0ac accessible on a white background?

#94b0ac on white scores 2.32:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5C7D78 to reach 4.5:1, or #445C59 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #94b0ac?

#B09498 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B094A6 and #B09E94, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #94b0ac?

For interface work: #F6F9F8 as the surface, #D0DCDB for borders, #61847F for secondary text, #7A5262 as an accent and #364947 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #94B09E and #94A6B0 stays calm, while #B09498 is the loudest partner.

What is #94b0ac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 0%, 2%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #94b0ac warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 65 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #94B0A2; nudged cooler, #92ABB2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #94b0ac?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 15.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #94b0ac as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #94b0ac in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#94b0ac] or text-[#94b0ac], 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 #94b0ac with 50% opacity?

rgba(148, 176, 172, 0.5), or #94b0ac80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CAD8D6; over black, #4A5856.

Is #94b0ac a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 12.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #94b0ac mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #94b0ac?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B7CAC7, #94b0ac 45%, #364947). For more colour, a short hue run to #828FA3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #94b0ac in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #94b0ac at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.