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Spectral Kona

#21d59e
Notes

Spectral Kona (#21D59E) is a true teal with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (162°, 73%, 48%) 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 red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#21d59e
RGB
rgb(33, 213, 158)
HSL
hsl(162, 73%, 48%)
HWB
hwb(162 13% 16%)
OKLCH
oklch(77.6% 0.157 165.5)
HSV
hsv(162, 85%, 84%)
LAB
lab(76.30% -55.20 15.36)
LCH
lch(76.30% 57.29 164.45)
CMYK
cmyk(85%, 0%, 26%, 16%)

Etymology

Spectral
adjective

Latin spectrum, appearance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, spectral implies a saturated-and-rainbow-decomposed-and-pure quality, the bright color of Newton-prism sunlight-decomposed seven-color spectrum band. Sits at the bright-and-pure end of the grid, parallel to prismatic and pure in usage.

Kona
noun

The leeward (western) coast of the Big Island of Hawaii — and the deep blue-green of Kona's Kealakekua Bay and Honaunau coves. Kona color refers to the bay water at midday: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical clarity of cold Pacific water against volcanic black-sand beaches.

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

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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.

#21d59e
Original
#d0c59b
Protanopia
#bcb6a2
Deuteranopia
#00d5c6
Tritanopia
#ababab
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
1.90:1
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
11.08:1

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