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Folded Indicolite

#21a3d1
Notes

Folded Indicolite (#21A3D1) 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 (196°, 73%, 47%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. 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
#21a3d1
RGB
rgb(33, 163, 209)
HSL
hsl(196, 73%, 47%)
HWB
hwb(196 13% 18%)
OKLCH
oklch(67.0% 0.124 228.4)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3085 0.6299 0.8021)
HSV
hsv(196, 84%, 82%)
LAB
lab(62.61% -17.49 -32.86)
LCH
lch(62.61% 37.23 241.97)
CMYK
cmyk(84%, 22%, 0%, 18%)

Etymology

Folded
adjective

Old English fealdan, to fold — past-participle of fold. As a color modifier, folded implies a clear-and-creased-and-arranged quality where the hue carries the visual register of carefully-folded-and-neatly-arranged textile surface. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to pressed and trim in usage.

Indicolite
noun

A blue variety of tourmaline — colored by trace iron, mined principally in Brazil, Mozambique, and Pakistan. The color refers to a faceted Brazilian indicolite: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the gem's signature internal warmth. Cooler than aquamarine.

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.

#21a3d1
Original
#8ba0d3
Protanopia
#7490d0
Deuteranopia
#00b0b2
Tritanopia
#8b8b8b
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
7.22:1

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
##21A3D1
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3085 0.6299 0.8021)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.124

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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