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Phosphorescent Wave Eucalyptus

#32c997
Notes

Phosphorescent Wave Eucalyptus (#32C997) is a true teal with a cool character. It leans cool, sitting on the blue, green, and violet side of the wheel. Quiet and dependable, a fit for product UI and data visualization. Its HSL profile (160°, 60%, 49%) 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
#32c997
RGB
rgb(50, 201, 151)
HSL
hsl(160, 60%, 49%)
HWB
hwb(160 20% 21%)
OKLCH
oklch(74.7% 0.143 165.5)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3958 0.7771 0.6052)
HSV
hsv(160, 75%, 79%)
LAB
lab(72.68% -50.41 14.05)
LCH
lch(72.68% 52.34 164.42)
CMYK
cmyk(75%, 0%, 25%, 21%)

Etymology

Phosphorescent
adjective

Greek phōsphóros, light-bringer — adjectival suffix -escent. As a color modifier, phosphorescent implies a saturated-and-cool-glow-after-stimulation quality, the bright cool-green-blue color of Cu-doped-ZnS glow-in-the-dark photoluminescent surfaces. Sits at the bright-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to fluorescent and luminous in usage.

Wave
modifier

Old English wagian, to move to and fro. As a color modifier, wave implies a periodic-and-rolling quality, the visual register of Pacific-and-Atlantic mid-ocean wind-driven rolling-swell-and-foam mid-distance horizon surfaces under open sky. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to surge and tide in usage.

Eucalyptus
noun

The genus Eucalyptus, the gum trees that dominate the Australian forest canopy and have been planted across the world for fast-growth timber and the menthol-camphor oil. The color refers to mature eucalyptus leaves with their pale waxy bloom: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the matte finish of cuticle that reflects more light than typical foliage. Cooler than sage, warmer than mint.

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.

#32c997
Original
#c5ba94
Protanopia
#b2ad9a
Deuteranopia
#00c9bb
Tritanopia
#a5a5a5
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
2.11:1
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
9.94:1

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
##32C997
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3958 0.7771 0.6052)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.143

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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