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Stable Forgetmenot

#3ae0ea
Notes

Stable Forgetmenot (#3AE0EA) 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 (183°, 81%, 57%) 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 red. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3ae0ea
RGB
rgb(58, 224, 234)
HSL
hsl(183, 81%, 57%)
HWB
hwb(183 23% 8%)
OKLCH
oklch(83.0% 0.130 201.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4456 0.8661 0.9083)
HSV
hsv(183, 75%, 92%)
LAB
lab(81.92% -37.49 -16.88)
LCH
lch(81.92% 41.12 204.23)
CMYK
cmyk(75%, 4%, 0%, 8%)

Etymology

Stable
adjective

Latin stabilis, standing-firm — sharing root with stand. As a color modifier, stable implies a clear-and-firm-and-unchanging quality where the hue carries the visual register of resistant-to-modulation-and-fade pigmentation. Sits at the crisp-and-firm end of the grid, parallel to steady and settled in usage.

Forgetmenot
noun

Myosotis sylvatica, the European forget-me-not — a small woodland-and-streamside wildflower whose pale blue five-petaled flowers symbolize remembrance and faithful love in European folk tradition. The color refers to a fresh forget-me-not flower: a soft, slightly cool pale blue with the matte finish of small five-petaled flower with yellow center.

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.

#3ae0ea
Original
#cfd6eb
Protanopia
#b6c4eb
Deuteranopia
#00e9e3
Tritanopia
#bdbdbd
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
1.61:1
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
13.03:1

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
##3AE0EA
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4456 0.8661 0.9083)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.130

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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