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green · neutral

#9dab7e

a balanced, soft green · neutral · closest name: Dark Sea Green

Token name suggestion: Signal Basil

RGB
157, 171, 126
HSL
79°, 21%, 58%
CMYK
8, 0, 26, 33
Luminance
0.3780

#9dab7e is a balanced soft green, 79° on the wheel and 44/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.56:1). As text it scores 2.45:1 on white — use #6C794F instead. Nearest name is Dark Sea Green, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(79 21% 58%)rgb(157 171 126)Base step 500AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9dab7e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9dab7e
Hue
79°
green
Saturation
21%
soft
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3780
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
44/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.56:1
Closest name
Dark Sea Green
ΔE2000 8.2
Chroma
25.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.719
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 17.8
Web-safe
#999966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue79° of 360°
Saturation21%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9dab7e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool44% 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
Red19%
Green77%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#9dab7e
HEX (8-digit)#9dab7eff
RGBrgb(157, 171, 126)
RGBArgba(157, 171, 126, 1)
HSLhsl(79, 21%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(79, 26%, 67%)
HWBhwb(79 49% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(8%, 0%, 26%, 33%)
LABlab(67.9 -12.8 21.6)
LCHlch(67.9 25.1 120.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.719 0.064 122.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(32.23, 37.80, 25.33)
Decimal10333054
Display P3color(display-p3 0.616 0.671 0.494)
Web-safe#999966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9dab7e;
background-color: #9dab7e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9dab7e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9dab7e] bg-[#9dab7e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9dab7e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.616, green: 0.671, blue: 0.494)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.616, green: 0.671, blue: 0.494, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9DAB7E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9DAB7E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9DAB7E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(126, 171, 157)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(157, 171, 126)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(157, 171, 126)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 157, 171, 126)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6157f, 0.6706f, 0.4941f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{157,171,126}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9dab7e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9dab7e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#454D32, #E3E7DA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9dab7e 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: #F8F9F6;
  --brand-100: #F1F2ED;
  --brand-200: #E0E4D8;
  --brand-300: #CBD3BB;
  --brand-400: #B2BD99;
  --brand-500: #9dab7e;
  --brand-600: #849461;
  --brand-700: #6E7C50;
  --brand-800: #586340;
  --brand-900: #424931;
  --brand-950: #292E1F;
  --brand: #9dab7e;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F9F6;
  --brand-border: #D9DFCE;
  --brand-hover: #8C9D68;
  --brand-pressed: #7A8859;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E2216;
    --brand-ink: #E3E7DA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F9F6',
        100: '#F1F2ED',
        200: '#E0E4D8',
        300: '#CBD3BB',
        400: '#B2BD99',
        500: '#9dab7e',
        600: '#849461',
        700: '#6E7C50',
        800: '#586340',
        900: '#424931',
        950: '#292E1F',
        DEFAULT: '#9dab7e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F9F6,
  '100': #F1F2ED,
  '200': #E0E4D8,
  '300': #CBD3BB,
  '400': #B2BD99,
  '500': #9dab7e,
  '600': #849461,
  '700': #6E7C50,
  '800': #586340,
  '900': #424931,
  '950': #292E1F,
);
$brand-base: #9dab7e;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F2ED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0E4D8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CBD3BB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B2BD99", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9dab7e", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#849461", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6E7C50", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#586340", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#424931", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#292E1F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9dab7e · 8.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9dab7e as text scores 2.45:1 on white and 8.56:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #454D32 at 3.63:1.

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
#6C794F · 4.68:1
AA on white−19% L
#6C794F
The quick fox
#535D3D · 7.00:1
AAA on white−28% L
#535D3D
The quick fox
#9dab7e · 8.56:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9dab7e
The quick fox
#9dab7e · 8.56:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9dab7e

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8A9B65 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
#9dab7e on white: 2.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9dab7e on black: 8.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9dab7e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9dab7e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.45:1AaAa
Slate 502.34:1AaAa
Slate 1002.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.99:1AaAa
Slate 3001.65:1AaAa
Slate 4001.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.94:1AaAa
Slate 6003.09:1AaAa
Slate 7004.22:1AaAa
Slate 8005.96:1AaAa
Slate 9007.28:1AaAa
Black8.56:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B1A67B
deuteranopia · #AFA580
tritanopia · #A1A69F

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. #9dab7e 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.

#F8F9F6
#F1F2ED
#E0E4D8
#CBD3BB
#B2BD99
#9dab7e
#849461
#6E7C50
#586340
#424931
#292E1F
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F8F9F6Darkest = 950 · #292E1FText 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 0.016 122.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 122.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.039 122.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.050 122.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.059 122.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.064 122.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.064 122.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.061 122.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.054 122.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.045 122.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 122.1);
}

Colors that work with #9dab7e

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#F8F9F6
Tinted page background
Border#D9DFCE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7C8B5B
Captions on the surface
Accent#7D7AAF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#454D32
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F5F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E2216
Dark-mode background
Hover#8C9D68
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7A8859
Two steps down
Disabled#D1D7C2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#AABD81
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 #9dab7e

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 #454D32
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8A9B65

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
  • Weight42/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityHigh

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#8C7EAB
Analogous left#ABA27E
Analogous right#86AB7E
Split-complement 1#7E86AB
Split-complement 2#A27EAB
Triadic 1#7E9DAB
Triadic 2#AB7E9D
Tetradic#7EABA2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°79°

#9dab7e sits at 79°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red61.6%
Green67.1%
Blue49.4%
R · 0–255
157
0x9d
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
126
0x7e

CMYK percentages

Cyan8.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow26.3%
Key (black)32.9%

Total ink coverage is 67%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9dab7e text on a black background

contrast 8.56:1

Card sample

#9dab7e text on a white background

contrast 2.45:1

Card sample

#9dab7e on grey

2.24:1

#9dab7e on its own surface

2.32:1

#9dab7e on its dark surface

6.61:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9dab7e;
Background color
Panel with #9dab7e background
background-color: #9dab7e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9dab7e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(157, 171, 126, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(157, 171, 126, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9dab7e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9dab7e, #7FAB7E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9dab7e, #7EAB88);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9dab7e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9dab7e;
caret-color: #9dab7e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9dab7e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F5F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9dab7e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9dab7e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9dab7e 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(157, 171, 126, 0.5)
rgb(157 171 126 / 50%)
#9dab7e80
hsl(79 21% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9dab7e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9dab7e1a#F5F7F2
20%#9dab7e33#EBEEE5
40%#9dab7e66#D8DDCB
60%#9dab7e99#C4CDB2
80%#9dab7ecc#B1BC98

Gradients from #9dab7e

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, #B9C3A3, #9dab7e 45%, #454D32);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9dab7e, #6B9F6F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9dab7e, #8C7EAB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C7CFB6 0%, #9dab7e 45%, #454D32 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F9F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BFB69D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #94B790 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #454D32 0%, transparent 65%), #9dab7e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9dab7e

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.

#9dab7e 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 8.56:1.

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.

#9dab7e, answered

What color is #9dab7e?

#9dab7e is a balanced soft green, closest to Dark Sea Green (ΔE2000 8.2). It sits at 79° on the hue wheel with 21% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #9dab7e?

rgb(157, 171, 126) — 157 red, 171 green and 126 blue out of 255, or 61.6% / 67.1% / 49.4% by channel.

What is #9dab7e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(79, 21%, 58%) and hsv(79, 26%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9dab7e a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3780 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 8.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9dab7e?

Black. It scores 8.56:1 against #9dab7e, versus 2.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9dab7e accessible on a white background?

#9dab7e on white scores 2.45:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6C794F to reach 4.5:1, or #535D3D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9dab7e?

#8C7EAB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7E86AB and #A27EAB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9dab7e?

For interface work: #F8F9F6 as the surface, #D9DFCE for borders, #7C8B5B for secondary text, #7D7AAF as an accent and #454D32 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ABA27E and #86AB7E stays calm, while #8C7EAB is the loudest partner.

What is #9dab7e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(8%, 0%, 26%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9dab7e warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 44 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ABA87E; nudged cooler, #8CAD7C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9dab7e?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 17.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9dab7e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9dab7e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9dab7e] or text-[#9dab7e], 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 #9dab7e with 50% opacity?

rgba(157, 171, 126, 0.5), or #9dab7e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CED5BF; over black, #4F563F.

Is #9dab7e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999966, ΔE2000 6.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9dab7e 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 #9dab7e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B9C3A3, #9dab7e 45%, #454D32). For more colour, a short hue run to #6B9F6F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9dab7e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9dab7e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.