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Stable Patina

#15a198
Notes

Stable Patina (#15A198) is a true 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°, 77%, 36%) 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
#15a198
RGB
rgb(21, 161, 152)
HSL
hsl(176, 77%, 36%)
HWB
hwb(176 8% 37%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.0% 0.108 187.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.2922 0.6220 0.5942)
HSV
hsv(176, 87%, 63%)
LAB
lab(59.81% -35.87 -5.11)
LCH
lch(59.81% 36.23 188.11)
CMYK
cmyk(87%, 0%, 6%, 37%)

Etymology

Stable
adjective

Latin stabilis, standing-firm — sharing root with stand. As a color modifier, stable implies a clear-and-firm-and-unchanging quality where the hue carries the visual register of resistant-to-modulation-and-fade pigmentation. Sits at the crisp-and-firm end of the grid, parallel to steady and settled in usage.

Patina
noun

The thin corrosion layer that develops on copper, bronze, and other metals over time — sometimes copper carbonate (verdigris), sometimes copper sulfate, depending on environment. The color refers to mature exposed-bronze patina on a public statue: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Drabber than verdigris, cooler than celadon, with the slow-time weight of a surface that records its age.

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.

#15a198
Original
#989898
Protanopia
#868b99
Deuteranopia
#00a59e
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
3.19:1
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
6.58:1

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
##15A198
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.2922 0.6220 0.5942)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.108

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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