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Quiet Bora-Bora

#03a69c
Notes

Quiet Bora-Bora (#03A69C) is a deep cyan with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (176°, 96%, 33%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#03a69c
RGB
rgb(3, 166, 156)
HSL
hsl(176, 96%, 33%)
HWB
hwb(176 1% 35%)
OKLCH
oklch(65.3% 0.114 187.2)
HSV
hsv(176, 98%, 65%)
LAB
lab(61.39% -37.80 -5.05)
LCH
lch(61.39% 38.14 187.61)
CMYK
cmyk(98%, 0%, 6%, 35%)

Etymology

Quiet
adjective

Latin quietus, at rest — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as restrained. Quiet pink, quiet blue: low saturation combined with optical calmness. Sits across the crisp and hushed buckets where the color is present but doesn't ask for attention.

Bora-Bora
noun

The volcanic atoll in French Polynesia — and the saturated turquoise of its central lagoon ringed by motu coral islets. Bora-Bora color refers to the lagoon at sunset: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical complexity of light filtering through volcanic-ringed water.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

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Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#03a69c
Original
#9c9c9c
Protanopia
#8a8e9d
Deuteranopia
#00aaa3
Tritanopia
#838383
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon White
3.03:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
6.94:1

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