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green · neutral

#bdf9a3

a light, electric green · neutral · closest name: Pale Green

Token name suggestion: Meadow Moss

RGB
189, 249, 163
HSL
102°, 88%, 81%
CMYK
24, 0, 35, 2
Luminance
0.8121

#bdf9a3 is a light electric green, 102° on the wheel and 55/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (17.24:1). As text it scores 1.22:1 on white — use #2E8509 instead. Nearest name is Pale Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(102 88% 81%)rgb(189 249 163)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bdf9a3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bdf9a3
Hue
102°
green
Saturation
88%
electric
Lightness
81%
light
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
88%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8121
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
55/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.24:1
Closest name
Pale Green
ΔE2000 5
Chroma
49.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.921
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 15.6
Web-safe
#CCFF99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue102° of 360°
Saturation88%
Lightness81%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bdf9a3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool55% 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
Red13%
Green83%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#bdf9a3
HEX (8-digit)#bdf9a3ff
RGBrgb(189, 249, 163)
RGBArgba(189, 249, 163, 1)
HSLhsl(102, 88%, 81%)
HSV / HSBhsv(102, 35%, 98%)
HWBhwb(102 64% 2%)
CMYKcmyk(24%, 0%, 35%, 2%)
LABlab(92.2 -34.1 35.4)
LCHlch(92.2 49.1 134.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.921 0.128 136.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(61.47, 81.21, 47.08)
Decimal12450211
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.976 0.639)
Web-safe#CCFF99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bdf9a3;
background-color: #bdf9a3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bdf9a3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bdf9a3] bg-[#bdf9a3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bdf9a3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.976, blue: 0.639)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.741, green: 0.976, blue: 0.639, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BDF9A3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBDF9A3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDF9A3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(163, 249, 189)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(189, 249, 163)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(189, 249, 163)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 189, 249, 163)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7412f, 0.9765f, 0.6392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{189,249,163}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bdf9a3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bdf9a3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2A7808, #DBEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bdf9a3 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: #F5FDF2;
  --brand-100: #EBFAE5;
  --brand-200: #D4F8C4;
  --brand-300: #bdf9a3;
  --brand-400: #8EF561;
  --brand-500: #68F12C;
  --brand-600: #50E60F;
  --brand-700: #42C00C;
  --brand-800: #35990A;
  --brand-900: #2A6F0C;
  --brand-950: #1A4507;
  --brand: #bdf9a3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6FAF4;
  --brand-border: #CDEDC0;
  --brand-hover: #A5F782;
  --brand-pressed: #8DF560;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #192414;
    --brand-ink: #DBEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5FDF2',
        100: '#EBFAE5',
        200: '#D4F8C4',
        300: '#bdf9a3',
        400: '#8EF561',
        500: '#68F12C',
        600: '#50E60F',
        700: '#42C00C',
        800: '#35990A',
        900: '#2A6F0C',
        950: '#1A4507',
        DEFAULT: '#bdf9a3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5FDF2,
  '100': #EBFAE5,
  '200': #D4F8C4,
  '300': #bdf9a3,
  '400': #8EF561,
  '500': #68F12C,
  '600': #50E60F,
  '700': #42C00C,
  '800': #35990A,
  '900': #2A6F0C,
  '950': #1A4507,
);
$brand-base: #bdf9a3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5FDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBFAE5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D4F8C4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#bdf9a3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8EF561", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#68F12C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#50E60F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#42C00C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#35990A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2A6F0C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A4507", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bdf9a3 · 17.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.22:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bdf9a3 as text scores 1.22:1 on white and 17.24:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2A7808 at 4.55:1.

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
#2E8509 · 4.69:1
AA on white−53% L
#2E8509
The quick fox
#236406 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−60% L
#236406
The quick fox
#bdf9a3 · 17.24:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bdf9a3
The quick fox
#bdf9a3 · 17.24:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bdf9a3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3AA70B 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
#bdf9a3 on white: 1.22:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bdf9a3 on black: 17.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bdf9a3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bdf9a3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.22:1AaAa
Slate 501.16:1AaAa
Slate 1001.11:1AaAa
Slate 2001.01:1AaAa
Slate 3001.22:1AaAa
Slate 4002.11:1AaAa
Slate 5003.91:1AaAa
Slate 6006.22:1AaAa
Slate 7008.50:1AaAa
Slate 80012.01:1AaAa
Slate 90014.66:1AaAa
Black17.24:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FFEC9D
deuteranopia · #F6E7A8
tritanopia · #BCF3E3

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. #bdf9a3 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.

#F5FDF2
#EBFAE5
#D4F8C4
#bdf9a3
#8EF561
#68F12C
#50E60F
#42C00C
#35990A
#2A6F0C
#1A4507
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F5FDF2Darkest = 950 · #1A4507Text 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 0.032 136.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.051 136.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.077 136.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.100 136.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.118 136.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.128 136.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.128 136.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.120 136.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.108 136.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.090 136.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.070 136.6);
}

Colors that work with #bdf9a3

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#F6FAF4
Tinted page background
Border#CDEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#639B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5C08C4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2A7808
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEFDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#192414
Dark-mode background
Hover#A5F782
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8DF560
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F7F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C9FEB2
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 #bdf9a3

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
  • 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 #2A7808
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #3AA70B

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.

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

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight19/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#DFA3F9
Analogous left#E8F9A3
Analogous right#A3F9B4
Split-complement 1#B4A3F9
Split-complement 2#F9A3E8
Triadic 1#A3BDF9
Triadic 2#F9A3BD
Tetradic#A3E8F9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°102°

#bdf9a3 sits at 102°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green97.6%
Blue63.9%
R · 0–255
189
0xbd
G · 0–255
249
0xf9
B · 0–255
163
0xa3

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow34.5%
Key (black)2.4%

Total ink coverage is 61%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bdf9a3 text on a black background

contrast 17.24:1

Card sample

#bdf9a3 text on a white background

contrast 1.22:1

Card sample

#bdf9a3 on grey

1.11:1

#bdf9a3 on its own surface

1.15:1

#bdf9a3 on its dark surface

13.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bdf9a3;
Background color
Panel with #bdf9a3 background
background-color: #bdf9a3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bdf9a3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 249, 163, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 249, 163, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bdf9a3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bdf9a3, #A3F9C2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdf9a3, #A3F9D8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bdf9a3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bdf9a3;
caret-color: #bdf9a3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bdf9a3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEFDE7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bdf9a3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bdf9a3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bdf9a3 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(189, 249, 163, 0.5)
rgb(189 249 163 / 50%)
#bdf9a380
hsl(102 88% 81% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bdf9a3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bdf9a31a#F8FEF6
20%#bdf9a333#F2FEED
40%#bdf9a366#E5FDDA
60%#bdf9a399#D7FBC8
80%#bdf9a3cc#CAFAB5

Gradients from #bdf9a3

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, #E6FDDD, #bdf9a3 45%, #2A7808);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bdf9a3, #86F7B9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdf9a3, #DFA3F9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5FEF1 0%, #bdf9a3 45%, #2A7808 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6FAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F7FCD3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C0FBD0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2A7808 0%, transparent 65%), #bdf9a3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bdf9a3

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.

#bdf9a3 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

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 17.24:1.

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.

#bdf9a3, answered

What color is #bdf9a3?

#bdf9a3 is a light electric green, closest to Pale Green (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 102° on the hue wheel with 88% saturation and 81% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #bdf9a3?

rgb(189, 249, 163) — 189 red, 249 green and 163 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 97.6% / 63.9% by channel.

What is #bdf9a3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(102, 88%, 81%) and hsv(102, 35%, 98%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bdf9a3 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8121 and perceived brightness is 88%, so black text on it reaches 17.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bdf9a3?

Black. It scores 17.24:1 against #bdf9a3, versus 1.22:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bdf9a3 accessible on a white background?

#bdf9a3 on white scores 1.22:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #2E8509 to reach 4.5:1, or #236406 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bdf9a3?

#DFA3F9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B4A3F9 and #F9A3E8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bdf9a3?

For interface work: #F6FAF4 as the surface, #CDEDC0 for borders, #639B4B for secondary text, #5C08C4 as an accent and #2A7808 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #E8F9A3 and #A3F9B4 stays calm, while #DFA3F9 is the loudest partner.

What is #bdf9a3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(24%, 0%, 35%, 2%). 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 #bdf9a3 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 55 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDF9A3; nudged cooler, #A2FAA8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bdf9a3?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 15.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bdf9a3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bdf9a3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bdf9a3] or text-[#bdf9a3], 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 #bdf9a3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(189, 249, 163, 0.5), or #bdf9a380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEFCD1; over black, #5F7D52.

Is #bdf9a3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCFF99, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bdf9a3 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #bdf9a3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6FDDD, #bdf9a3 45%, #2A7808). For more colour, a short hue run to #86F7B9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bdf9a3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bdf9a3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.