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Level Curaçao

#0a5e7e
Notes

Level Curaçao (#0A5E7E) 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 (197°, 85%, 27%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#0a5e7e
RGB
rgb(10, 94, 126)
HSL
hsl(197, 85%, 27%)
HWB
hwb(197 4% 51%)
OKLCH
oklch(45.3% 0.088 231.3)
P3
color(display-p3 0.1616 0.3629 0.4824)
HSV
hsv(197, 92%, 49%)
LAB
lab(37.07% -10.61 -24.36)
LCH
lch(37.07% 26.57 246.46)
CMYK
cmyk(92%, 25%, 0%, 51%)

Etymology

Level
adjective

Latin libella, small-balance / level-tool — sharing root with libra (balance). As a color modifier, level implies a clear-and-horizontal-true quality where the hue carries the visual register of gravity-perpendicular-and-perfectly-horizontal surface. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to plumb and flat in usage.

Curaçao
noun

The Caribbean liqueur made from the dried peel of the Citrus aurantium currassuviensis (Laraha orange) — produced on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao since 1896. Blue Curaçao refers to the artificially-colored bright blue variant: a saturated, slightly cool electric blue with the optical clarity of citrus liqueur.

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.

#0a5e7e
Original
#4e5d80
Protanopia
#3f537e
Deuteranopia
#006769
Tritanopia
#4e4e4e
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).
AAAon White
7.20:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.92:1

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
##0A5E7E
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.1616 0.3629 0.4824)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.088

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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