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Sizzling Mistral Turquoise

#03dfd6
Notes

Sizzling Mistral Turquoise (#03DFD6) is a true cyan with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (178°, 97%, 44%) 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
#03dfd6
RGB
rgb(3, 223, 214)
HSL
hsl(178, 97%, 44%)
HWB
hwb(178 1% 13%)
OKLCH
oklch(81.5% 0.141 189.6)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3984 0.8615 0.8355)
HSV
hsv(178, 99%, 87%)
LAB
lab(80.54% -45.99 -8.36)
LCH
lch(80.54% 46.74 190.30)
CMYK
cmyk(99%, 0%, 4%, 13%)

Etymology

Sizzling
adjective

Imitative-onomatopoeic origin — present-participle of sizzle, with sound-and-action mimicry. As a color modifier, sizzling implies a saturated-and-hot-and-active quality, the bright color of Spanish-tapas-tapa hot-griddle iron-skillet surface-emission. Sits at the bright-and-warm end of the grid, parallel to searing and scorching in usage.

Mistral
modifier

Provençal mistral, cold-northwest-wind-of-Provence. As a color modifier, mistral implies a cold-Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-wind quality, the visual register of Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-mistral hand-cold-Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-wind Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-mistral-and-Alpilles mistral-and-cold-Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-wind surfaces under Provençal-and-Rhône-Valley-mistral-and-Alpilles Avignon-and-Saint-Rémy-and-Camargue cold-Rhône-Valley-wind-light. Sits at the modifier-and-weather end of the grid, parallel to sirocco and gust in usage.

Turquoise
noun

The hydrated copper-aluminum phosphate mined in Persia and the American Southwest for thousands of years — the firuze of Iran, the chalchihuitl of Mesoamerica, the heart of Pueblo and Navajo silverwork. The color refers to a fine Sleeping Beauty turquoise from Arizona: a saturated, slightly green-shifted blue with the slight matrix of host-rock veining. Brighter than persian, lighter than cerulean.

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

Click any swatch to explore

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.

#03dfd6
Original
#d1d2d6
Protanopia
#b8c0d8
Deuteranopia
#00e5dc
Tritanopia
#b0b0b0
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
1.68:1
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
12.53:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##03DFD6
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3984 0.8615 0.8355)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.141

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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