Skip to content

#abca97

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

RGB
171, 202, 151
HSL
97°, 33%, 69%
CMYK
15, 0, 25, 21
Luminance
0.5313

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #abca97 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#abca97
Hue
97°
green
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5313
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
53/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.63:1
Closest name
Dark Sea Green
ΔE2000 5.6
Where it sits
Hue97° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness69%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool53% cool

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

Every format

HEX#abca97
RGBrgb(171, 202, 151)
HSLhsl(97, 33%, 69%)
CMYKcmyk(15%, 0%, 25%, 21%)
LABlab(78.0 -19.6 22.1)
LCHlch(78.0 29.6 131.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.803 0.077 133.4)
Decimal11258519
Display P3color(display-p3 0.671 0.792 0.592)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #abca97;
background-color: #abca97;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#abca97] bg-[#abca97]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #abca97;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.671, green: 0.792, blue: 0.592)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#abca97")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFABCA97)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(151, 202, 171)

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 #abca97 · 11.63:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.81:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.63:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #abca97 as text scores 1.81:1 on white and 11.63:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#abca97 on white: 1.81:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#abca97 on black: 11.63:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #CEC294
deuteranopia · #CAC099
tritanopia · #ACC6BC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #abca97 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.

#F7F9F5
#EFF4EC
#DCE7D4
#C3D9B5
#abca97
#87B36A
#72A253
#5F8745
#4C6C37
#394F2B
#24321B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F9F5Darkest = 950 · #24321B
:root {
  --brand-50: #F7F9F5;
  --brand-100: #EFF4EC;
  --brand-200: #DCE7D4;
  --brand-300: #C3D9B5;
  --brand-400: #abca97;
  --brand-500: #87B36A;
  --brand-600: #72A253;
  --brand-700: #5F8745;
  --brand-800: #4C6C37;
  --brand-900: #394F2B;
  --brand-950: #24321B;
  --brand: #abca97;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #abca97

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#F7FAF5
Tinted page background
Border#D3E3C9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#6B984D
Captions on the surface
Accent#5B418B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3B542B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1A2414
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 #abca97

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
  • 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#B697CA
Analogous left#C4CA97
Analogous right#97CA9C
Split-complement 1#9C97CA
Split-complement 2#CA97C4
Triadic 1#97ABCA
Triadic 2#CA97AB
Tetradic#97C4CA

RGB percentages

Red67.1%
Green79.2%
Blue59.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan15.3%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow25.2%
Key (black)20.8%

Color previews

#abca97 text on a black background

contrast 11.63:1

Card sample

#abca97 text on a white background

contrast 1.81:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #abca97;
Background color
Panel with #abca97 background
background-color: #abca97;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #abca97;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(171, 202, 151, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(171, 202, 151, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #abca97;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #abca97, #97CAA5);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #abca97

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.

#abca97 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#abca97, answered

What color is #abca97?

#abca97 is a light soft green, closest to Dark Sea Green (ΔE2000 5.6). It sits at 97° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #abca97?

rgb(171, 202, 151) — 171 red, 202 green and 151 blue out of 255, or 67.1% / 79.2% / 59.2% by channel.

Is #abca97 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5313 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.63:1.

Should I use black or white text on #abca97?

Black. It scores 11.63:1 against #abca97, versus 1.81:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #abca97?

#B697CA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9C97CA and #CA97C4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #abca97?

For interface work: #F7FAF5 as the surface, #D3E3C9 for borders, #6B984D for secondary text, #5B418B as an accent and #3B542B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4CA97 and #97CA9C stays calm, while #B697CA is the loudest partner.

What is #abca97 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(15%, 0%, 25%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #abca97 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 53 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BECA97; nudged cooler, #97CC95.

Work with #abca97 in the Color Lab