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Balanced Beryl

#09ab8b
Notes

Balanced Beryl (#09AB8B) 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 (168°, 90%, 35%) 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
#09ab8b
RGB
rgb(9, 171, 139)
HSL
hsl(168, 90%, 35%)
HWB
hwb(168 4% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(66.1% 0.126 172.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3026 0.6605 0.5513)
HSV
hsv(168, 95%, 67%)
LAB
lab(62.55% -44.51 6.16)
LCH
lch(62.55% 44.93 172.12)
CMYK
cmyk(95%, 0%, 19%, 33%)

Etymology

Balanced
adjective

The past participle of balance, to weigh evenly. Used as a color modifier since the eighteenth century for hues that read as neither overcommitted nor restrained. Balanced sage, balanced taupe: moderate saturation combined with optical equilibrium. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside even.

Beryl
noun

The mineral Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆ — the gem family that includes emerald (chromium-tinted), aquamarine (iron-tinted), and morganite (manganese-tinted). The color beryl refers to the transparent yellow-green variety heliodor or pale common beryl: a soft, slightly muted yellow-green with the high refractive index of a faceted gem. Cleaner than sage, lighter than emerald, with the gem-trade specificity of a single mineral name.

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.

#09ab8b
Original
#a59f89
Protanopia
#93928d
Deuteranopia
#00ada2
Tritanopia
#868686
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
2.91:1
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
7.21:1

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
##09AB8B
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3026 0.6605 0.5513)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.126

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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