Skip to content

#a4eee3

a light, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Pale Turquoise

RGB
164, 238, 227
HSL
171°, 69%, 79%
CMYK
31, 0, 5, 7
Luminance
0.7459

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a4eee3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a4eee3
Hue
171°
cyan
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
79%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
85%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7459
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
15.92:1
Closest name
Pale Turquoise
ΔE2000 4.7
Where it sits
Hue171° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness79%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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#a4eee3
RGBrgb(164, 238, 227)
HSLhsl(171, 69%, 79%)
CMYKcmyk(31%, 0%, 5%, 7%)
LABlab(89.2 -25.1 -2.0)
LCHlch(89.2 25.2 184.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.897 0.075 184.4)
Decimal10809059
Display P3color(display-p3 0.643 0.933 0.890)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #a4eee3;
background-color: #a4eee3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a4eee3] bg-[#a4eee3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a4eee3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.643, green: 0.933, blue: 0.890)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#a4eee3")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA4EEE3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(227, 238, 164)

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 #a4eee3 · 15.92:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.32:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.92:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a4eee3 as text scores 1.32:1 on white and 15.92:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#a4eee3 on white: 1.32:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a4eee3 on black: 15.92:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E7E6E3
deuteranopia · #D9DCE4
tritanopia · #8CF1EA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #a4eee3 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F3FBFA
#E8F8F5
#CAF2EC
#a4eee3
#71E4D3
#42DCC5
#27CEB5
#20AC97
#1A8979
#176458
#0E3E37
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3FBFADarkest = 950 · #0E3E37
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3FBFA;
  --brand-100: #E8F8F5;
  --brand-200: #CAF2EC;
  --brand-300: #a4eee3;
  --brand-400: #71E4D3;
  --brand-500: #42DCC5;
  --brand-600: #27CEB5;
  --brand-700: #20AC97;
  --brand-800: #1A8979;
  --brand-900: #176458;
  --brand-950: #0E3E37;
  --brand: #a4eee3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #a4eee3

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0EDE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B8F
Captions on the surface
Accent#B01C57
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#146B5E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EAFBF8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
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 #a4eee3

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • 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#EEA4AF
Analogous left#A4EEBE
Analogous right#A4D4EE
Split-complement 1#EEA4D4
Split-complement 2#EEBEA4
Triadic 1#E3A4EE
Triadic 2#EEE3A4
Tetradic#BEA4EE

RGB percentages

Red64.3%
Green93.3%
Blue89.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan31.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow4.6%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#a4eee3 text on a black background

contrast 15.92:1

Card sample

#a4eee3 text on a white background

contrast 1.32:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a4eee3;
Background color
Panel with #a4eee3 background
background-color: #a4eee3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a4eee3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(164, 238, 227, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(164, 238, 227, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a4eee3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a4eee3, #A4C8EE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a4eee3

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.

#a4eee3 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.

#a4eee3, answered

What color is #a4eee3?

#a4eee3 is a light vivid cyan, closest to Pale Turquoise (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 171° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 79% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #a4eee3?

rgb(164, 238, 227) — 164 red, 238 green and 227 blue out of 255, or 64.3% / 93.3% / 89% by channel.

Is #a4eee3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7459 and perceived brightness is 85%, so black text on it reaches 15.92:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a4eee3?

Black. It scores 15.92:1 against #a4eee3, versus 1.32:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #a4eee3?

#EEA4AF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EEA4D4 and #EEBEA4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a4eee3?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE6 for borders, #4B9B8F for secondary text, #B01C57 as an accent and #146B5E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A4EEBE and #A4D4EE stays calm, while #EEA4AF is the loudest partner.

What is #a4eee3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(31%, 0%, 5%, 7%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a4eee3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A4EEC8; nudged cooler, #A3DEEF.

Work with #a4eee3 in the Color Lab