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Pulsing Morningglory

#32bafa
Notes

Pulsing Morningglory (#32BAFA) is a true cyan with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (199°, 95%, 59%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#32bafa
RGB
rgb(50, 186, 250)
HSL
hsl(199, 95%, 59%)
HWB
hwb(199 20% 2%)
OKLCH
oklch(74.6% 0.144 234.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3709 0.7192 0.9577)
HSV
hsv(199, 80%, 98%)
LAB
lab(71.35% -14.32 -41.69)
LCH
lch(71.35% 44.08 251.04)
CMYK
cmyk(80%, 26%, 0%, 2%)

Etymology

Pulsing
adjective

The progressive participle of pulse, to throb. Used as a color modifier for hues that read as if they were alternating between two states of luminance — the vibration of a high-saturation color against a contrasting background. Sits in the bright-bucket center alongside electric, with the implication of optical motion rather than static luminance.

Morningglory
noun

The family Convolvulaceae — particularly Ipomoea purpurea, the climbing annual whose blue-purple morning-blooming trumpet flowers close by midday. The color refers to a fresh Ipomoea flower in early morning: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the satin finish of single-day trumpet bloom.

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.

#32bafa
Original
#9bb9fd
Protanopia
#80a7f9
Deuteranopia
#00cbd0
Tritanopia
#a2a2a2
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
2.20:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
9.54:1

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
##32BAFA
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3709 0.7192 0.9577)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.144

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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