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cyan · cool

#adf5ec

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Glacier

RGB
173, 245, 236
HSL
173°, 78%, 82%
CMYK
29, 0, 4, 4
Luminance
0.8025

#adf5ec is a light electric cyan, 173° on the wheel and 84/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (17.05:1). As text it scores 1.23:1 on white — use #108475 instead. Nearest name is Pale Turquoise, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(173 78% 82%)rgb(173 245 236)Base step 300AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adf5ec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adf5ec
Hue
173°
cyan
Saturation
78%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
88%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8025
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.05:1
Closest name
Pale Turquoise
ΔE2000 4
Chroma
24.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.920
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 18.5
Web-safe
#99FFFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue173° of 360°
Saturation78%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adf5ec.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red11%
Green81%
Blue8%

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

Every format

HEX#adf5ec
HEX (8-digit)#adf5ecff
RGBrgb(173, 245, 236)
RGBArgba(173, 245, 236, 1)
HSLhsl(173, 78%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(173, 29%, 96%)
HWBhwb(173 68% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(29%, 0%, 4%, 4%)
LABlab(91.8 -24.1 -2.8)
LCHlch(91.8 24.2 186.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.920 0.072 186.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(65.02, 80.24, 91.40)
Decimal11400684
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.961 0.925)
Web-safe#99FFFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adf5ec;
background-color: #adf5ec;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adf5ec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adf5ec] bg-[#adf5ec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adf5ec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.961, blue: 0.925)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.961, blue: 0.925, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADF5EC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADF5EC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADF5EC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 245, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 245, 236)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 245, 236)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 245, 236)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.9608f, 0.9255f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,245,236}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adf5ec 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adf5ec 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0E7265, #D3EEEB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adf5ec 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: #F3FCFB;
  --brand-100: #E6F9F7;
  --brand-200: #C7F5EF;
  --brand-300: #adf5ec;
  --brand-400: #69EDDC;
  --brand-500: #37E7D1;
  --brand-600: #1BDAC2;
  --brand-700: #16B6A2;
  --brand-800: #129182;
  --brand-900: #11695E;
  --brand-950: #0B423B;
  --brand: #adf5ec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4FAFA;
  --brand-border: #C0EDE7;
  --brand-hover: #8DF1E5;
  --brand-pressed: #6EEDDD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142422;
    --brand-ink: #D3EEEB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FCFB',
        100: '#E6F9F7',
        200: '#C7F5EF',
        300: '#adf5ec',
        400: '#69EDDC',
        500: '#37E7D1',
        600: '#1BDAC2',
        700: '#16B6A2',
        800: '#129182',
        900: '#11695E',
        950: '#0B423B',
        DEFAULT: '#adf5ec',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FCFB,
  '100': #E6F9F7,
  '200': #C7F5EF,
  '300': #adf5ec,
  '400': #69EDDC,
  '500': #37E7D1,
  '600': #1BDAC2,
  '700': #16B6A2,
  '800': #129182,
  '900': #11695E,
  '950': #0B423B,
);
$brand-base: #adf5ec;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FCFB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F9F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C7F5EF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#adf5ec", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#69EDDC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#37E7D1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#1BDAC2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#16B6A2", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#129182", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#11695E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0B423B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adf5ec · 17.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.23:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adf5ec as text scores 1.23:1 on white and 17.05:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0E7265 at 4.72:1.

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
#108475 · 4.59:1
AA on white−53% L
#108475
The quick fox
#0C6459 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−60% L
#0C6459
The quick fox
#adf5ec · 17.05:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adf5ec
The quick fox
#adf5ec · 17.05:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adf5ec

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #14A492 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
#adf5ec on white: 1.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adf5ec on black: 17.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adf5ec as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adf5ec.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.23:1AaAa
Slate 501.18:1AaAa
Slate 1001.12:1AaAa
Slate 2001.00:1AaAa
Slate 3001.21:1AaAa
Slate 4002.08:1AaAa
Slate 5003.86:1AaAa
Slate 6006.15:1AaAa
Slate 7008.41:1AaAa
Slate 80011.88:1AaAa
Slate 90014.49:1AaAa
Black17.05:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #EEEDEC
deuteranopia · #E0E3ED
tritanopia · #96F8F2

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. #adf5ec 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.

#F3FCFB
#E6F9F7
#C7F5EF
#adf5ec
#69EDDC
#37E7D1
#1BDAC2
#16B6A2
#129182
#11695E
#0B423B
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F3FCFBDarkest = 950 · #0B423BText step on white = 900
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 0.018 186.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 186.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 186.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.056 186.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 186.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 186.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 186.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 186.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 186.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 186.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 186.3);
}

Colors that work with #adf5ec

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#C0EDE7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B9B91
Captions on the surface
Accent#BA1252
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0E7265
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8FCFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142422
Dark-mode background
Hover#8DF1E5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6EEDDD
Two steps down
Disabled#F3F7F6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BCFBF3
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 #adf5ec

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #0E7265
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #14A492

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#F5ADB6
Analogous left#ADF5C8
Analogous right#ADDAF5
Split-complement 1#F5ADDA
Split-complement 2#F5C8AD
Triadic 1#ECADF5
Triadic 2#F5ECAD
Tetradic#C8ADF5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°173°

#adf5ec sits at 173°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green96.1%
Blue92.5%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
245
0xf5
B · 0–255
236
0xec

CMYK percentages

Cyan29.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow3.7%
Key (black)3.9%

Total ink coverage is 37%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#adf5ec text on a black background

contrast 17.05:1

Card sample

#adf5ec text on a white background

contrast 1.23:1

Card sample

#adf5ec on grey

1.12:1

#adf5ec on its own surface

1.17:1

#adf5ec on its dark surface

13.06:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adf5ec;
Background color
Panel with #adf5ec background
background-color: #adf5ec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adf5ec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 245, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 245, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adf5ec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adf5ec, #ADCEF5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adf5ec, #ADBCF5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adf5ec;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adf5ec;
caret-color: #adf5ec;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adf5ec;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8FCFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adf5ec;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adf5ec 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adf5ec 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(173, 245, 236, 0.5)
rgb(173 245 236 / 50%)
#adf5ec80
hsl(173 78% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adf5ec 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adf5ec1a#F7FEFD
20%#adf5ec33#EFFDFB
40%#adf5ec66#DEFBF7
60%#adf5ec99#CEF9F4
80%#adf5eccc#BDF7F0

Gradients from #adf5ec

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, #E4FCF9, #adf5ec 45%, #0E7265);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adf5ec, #92B6F2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adf5ec, #F5ADB6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F1FDFC 0%, #adf5ec 45%, #0E7265 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4FAFA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DBFBE4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8E2F8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0E7265 0%, transparent 65%), #adf5ec;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adf5ec

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.

#adf5ec 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 17.05:1.

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.

#adf5ec, answered

What color is #adf5ec?

#adf5ec is a light electric cyan, closest to Pale Turquoise (ΔE2000 4). It sits at 173° on the hue wheel with 78% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #adf5ec?

rgb(173, 245, 236) — 173 red, 245 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 96.1% / 92.5% by channel.

What is #adf5ec in HSL and HSV?

hsl(173, 78%, 82%) and hsv(173, 29%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adf5ec a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8025 and perceived brightness is 88%, so black text on it reaches 17.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adf5ec?

Black. It scores 17.05:1 against #adf5ec, versus 1.23:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adf5ec accessible on a white background?

#adf5ec on white scores 1.23:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #108475 to reach 4.5:1, or #0C6459 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adf5ec?

#F5ADB6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F5ADDA and #F5C8AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adf5ec?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0EDE7 for borders, #4B9B91 for secondary text, #BA1252 as an accent and #0E7265 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ADF5C8 and #ADDAF5 stays calm, while #F5ADB6 is the loudest partner.

What is #adf5ec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(29%, 0%, 4%, 4%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #adf5ec 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 #ADF5D2; nudged cooler, #ACE4F6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adf5ec?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 18.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adf5ec as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adf5ec in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adf5ec] or text-[#adf5ec], 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 #adf5ec with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 245, 236, 0.5), or #adf5ec80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6FAF6; over black, #577B76.

Is #adf5ec a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99FFFF, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adf5ec mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #adf5ec?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E4FCF9, #adf5ec 45%, #0E7265). For more colour, a short hue run to #92B6F2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adf5ec in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adf5ec at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.