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cyan · cool

#9acdbf

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Medium Aqua Marine

Token name suggestion: Meadow Glacier

RGB
154, 205, 191
HSL
164°, 34%, 70%
CMYK
25, 0, 7, 20
Luminance
0.5429

#9acdbf is a light soft cyan, 164° on the wheel and 80/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.86:1). As text it scores 1.77:1 on white — use #3F806E instead. Nearest name is Medium Aqua Marine, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(164 34% 70%)rgb(154 205 191)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9acdbf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9acdbf
Hue
164°
cyan
Saturation
34%
soft
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5429
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
80/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.86:1
Closest name
Medium Aqua Marine
ΔE2000 9.3
Chroma
19.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.809
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 13
Web-safe
#99CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue164° of 360°
Saturation34%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9acdbf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool80% 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
Red13%
Green80%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#9acdbf
HEX (8-digit)#9acdbfff
RGBrgb(154, 205, 191)
RGBArgba(154, 205, 191, 1)
HSLhsl(164, 34%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(164, 25%, 80%)
HWBhwb(164 60% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(25%, 0%, 7%, 20%)
LABlab(78.6 -19.5 1.6)
LCHlch(78.6 19.5 175.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.809 0.057 176.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.56, 54.29, 57.41)
Decimal10145215
Display P3color(display-p3 0.604 0.804 0.749)
Web-safe#99CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9acdbf;
background-color: #9acdbf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9acdbf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9acdbf] bg-[#9acdbf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9acdbf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.604, green: 0.804, blue: 0.749)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.604, green: 0.804, blue: 0.749, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9ACDBF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9ACDBF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9ACDBF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(191, 205, 154)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(154, 205, 191)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(154, 205, 191)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 154, 205, 191)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6039f, 0.8039f, 0.7490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{154,205,191}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9acdbf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9acdbf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2A5549, #D6EBE5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9acdbf 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: #ECF4F2;
  --brand-200: #D4E8E2;
  --brand-300: #B4DACF;
  --brand-400: #9acdbf;
  --brand-500: #69B5A0;
  --brand-600: #51A48D;
  --brand-700: #448876;
  --brand-800: #366D5E;
  --brand-900: #2A5046;
  --brand-950: #1A322C;
  --brand: #9acdbf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5FAF9;
  --brand-border: #C8E4DC;
  --brand-hover: #82C1B0;
  --brand-pressed: #6AB5A1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142420;
    --brand-ink: #D6EBE5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9F8',
        100: '#ECF4F2',
        200: '#D4E8E2',
        300: '#B4DACF',
        400: '#9acdbf',
        500: '#69B5A0',
        600: '#51A48D',
        700: '#448876',
        800: '#366D5E',
        900: '#2A5046',
        950: '#1A322C',
        DEFAULT: '#9acdbf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9F8,
  '100': #ECF4F2,
  '200': #D4E8E2,
  '300': #B4DACF,
  '400': #9acdbf,
  '500': #69B5A0,
  '600': #51A48D,
  '700': #448876,
  '800': #366D5E,
  '900': #2A5046,
  '950': #1A322C,
);
$brand-base: #9acdbf;
$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": "#ECF4F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4E8E2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B4DACF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9acdbf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#69B5A0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#51A48D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#448876", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#366D5E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A5046", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A322C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9acdbf · 11.86:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.77:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9acdbf as text scores 1.77:1 on white and 11.86:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2A5549 at 4.75:1.

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
#3F806E · 4.64:1
AA on white−33% L
#3F806E
The quick fox
#306153 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−42% L
#306153
The quick fox
#9acdbf · 11.86:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9acdbf
The quick fox
#9acdbf · 11.86:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9acdbf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #50A28B 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
#9acdbf on white: 1.77:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9acdbf on black: 11.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9acdbf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9acdbf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.77:1AaAa
Slate 501.69:1AaAa
Slate 1001.62:1AaAa
Slate 2001.44:1AaAa
Slate 3001.19:1AaAa
Slate 4001.45:1AaAa
Slate 5002.69:1AaAa
Slate 6004.28:1AaAa
Slate 7005.85:1AaAa
Slate 8008.26:1AaAa
Slate 90010.08:1AaAa
Black11.86:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9C7BE
deuteranopia · #C0C0C0
tritanopia · #8DCEC9

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. #9acdbf 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.

#F5F9F8
#ECF4F2
#D4E8E2
#B4DACF
#9acdbf
#69B5A0
#51A48D
#448876
#366D5E
#2A5046
#1A322C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F9F8Darkest = 950 · #1A322CText 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 0.014 176.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 176.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 176.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 176.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 176.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.057 176.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.057 176.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.053 176.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.048 176.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.040 176.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 176.1);
}

Colors that work with #9acdbf

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#F5FAF9
Tinted page background
Border#C8E4DC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4C9A84
Captions on the surface
Accent#8C4068
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2A5549
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF7F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142420
Dark-mode background
Hover#82C1B0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6AB5A1
Two steps down
Disabled#E7F0EE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A1DACB
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 #9acdbf

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #2A5549
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #50A28B

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#CD9AA8
Analogous left#9ACDA5
Analogous right#9AC2CD
Split-complement 1#CD9AC2
Split-complement 2#CDA59A
Triadic 1#BF9ACD
Triadic 2#CDBF9A
Tetradic#A59ACD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°164°

#9acdbf sits at 164°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red60.4%
Green80.4%
Blue74.9%
R · 0–255
154
0x9a
G · 0–255
205
0xcd
B · 0–255
191
0xbf

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow6.8%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 51%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9acdbf text on a black background

contrast 11.86:1

Card sample

#9acdbf text on a white background

contrast 1.77:1

Card sample

#9acdbf on grey

1.62:1

#9acdbf on its own surface

1.68:1

#9acdbf on its dark surface

9.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9acdbf;
Background color
Panel with #9acdbf background
background-color: #9acdbf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9acdbf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(154, 205, 191, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(154, 205, 191, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9acdbf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9acdbf, #9AB9CD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9acdbf, #9AACCD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9acdbf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9acdbf;
caret-color: #9acdbf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9acdbf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF7F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9acdbf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9acdbf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9acdbf 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(154, 205, 191, 0.5)
rgb(154 205 191 / 50%)
#9acdbf80
hsl(164 34% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9acdbf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9acdbf1a#F5FAF9
20%#9acdbf33#EBF5F2
40%#9acdbf66#D7EBE5
60%#9acdbf99#C2E1D9
80%#9acdbfcc#AED7CC

Gradients from #9acdbf

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, #C3E1D9, #9acdbf 45%, #2A5549);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9acdbf, #86A6C3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9acdbf, #CD9AA8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D7EBE6 0%, #9acdbf 45%, #2A5549 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5FAF9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BCDEC1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AECBD7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2A5549 0%, transparent 65%), #9acdbf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9acdbf

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.

#9acdbf 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

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 11.86:1.

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.

#9acdbf, answered

What color is #9acdbf?

#9acdbf is a light soft cyan, closest to Medium Aqua Marine (ΔE2000 9.3). It sits at 164° on the hue wheel with 34% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #9acdbf?

rgb(154, 205, 191) — 154 red, 205 green and 191 blue out of 255, or 60.4% / 80.4% / 74.9% by channel.

What is #9acdbf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(164, 34%, 70%) and hsv(164, 25%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9acdbf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5429 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9acdbf?

Black. It scores 11.86:1 against #9acdbf, versus 1.77:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9acdbf accessible on a white background?

#9acdbf on white scores 1.77:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3F806E to reach 4.5:1, or #306153 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9acdbf?

#CD9AA8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD9AC2 and #CDA59A, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9acdbf?

For interface work: #F5FAF9 as the surface, #C8E4DC for borders, #4C9A84 for secondary text, #8C4068 as an accent and #2A5549 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9ACDA5 and #9AC2CD stays calm, while #CD9AA8 is the loudest partner.

What is #9acdbf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(25%, 0%, 7%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9acdbf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 80 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9ACDAC; nudged cooler, #98CACF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9acdbf?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 13 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9acdbf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9acdbf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9acdbf] or text-[#9acdbf], 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 #9acdbf with 50% opacity?

rgba(154, 205, 191, 0.5), or #9acdbf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CDE6DF; over black, #4D6760.

Is #9acdbf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CCCC, ΔE2000 5.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9acdbf 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 #9acdbf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C3E1D9, #9acdbf 45%, #2A5549). For more colour, a short hue run to #86A6C3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9acdbf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9acdbf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.