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Functional Lane Kingfisher

#339cb2
Notes

Functional Lane Kingfisher (#339CB2) is a true cyan with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (190°, 55%, 45%) 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
#339cb2
RGB
rgb(51, 156, 178)
HSL
hsl(190, 55%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(190 20% 30%)
OKLCH
oklch(64.3% 0.098 214.7)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3250 0.6034 0.6872)
HSV
hsv(190, 71%, 70%)
LAB
lab(59.61% -22.27 -20.07)
LCH
lch(59.61% 29.98 222.03)
CMYK
cmyk(71%, 12%, 0%, 30%)

Etymology

Functional
adjective

Latin fūnctiō, performance — adjectival suffix -al. As a color modifier, functional implies a clear-and-purpose-fit-and-utilitarian quality, the crisp color of Mid-Century-Modern and Bauhaus form-follows-function design-aesthetic. Sits at the crisp-and-functional end of the grid, parallel to practical and utilitarian in usage.

Lane
modifier

Old English lane, narrow path / way. As a color modifier, lane implies a narrow-rural-track quality, the visual register of Devon-and-Cornish-and-Welsh deep-cut hedge-banked rural-back-lane sunken-track surfaces under West-Country-and-Welsh-back-lane filtered-and-sunken light. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to path and road in usage.

Kingfisher
noun

The family Alcedinidae — particularly Alcedo atthis, the European common kingfisher whose iridescent turquoise-blue plumage gives the color its name. The color refers to a male European kingfisher's wing: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the iridescent satin finish of structurally colored feathers.

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.

#339cb2
Original
#8c97b3
Protanopia
#7b8ab2
Deuteranopia
#00a4a3
Tritanopia
#878787
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
3.21:1
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
6.54:1

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
##339CB2
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3250 0.6034 0.6872)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.098

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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