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Quickening Bora-Bora

#03b97d
Notes

Quickening Bora-Bora (#03B97D) is a true teal 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 (160°, 97%, 37%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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
#03b97d
RGB
rgb(3, 185, 125)
HSL
hsl(160, 97%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(160 1% 27%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.4% 0.154 161.2)
HSV
hsv(160, 98%, 73%)
LAB
lab(66.67% -53.65 19.62)
LCH
lch(66.67% 57.12 159.91)
CMYK
cmyk(98%, 0%, 32%, 27%)

Etymology

Quickening
adjective

Old English cwic, living / lively — present-participle of quicken. As a color modifier, quickening implies a saturated-and-coming-alive-and-active quality where the hue accelerates visual engagement. Sits at the bright-and-active end of the grid, parallel to animated and invigorating in usage.

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.

#03b97d
Original
#b6aa79
Protanopia
#a49d81
Deuteranopia
#00b8a9
Tritanopia
#8e8e8e
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).
Failon White
2.55:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
8.24:1

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