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Pure Chrysocolla

#3c9d4d
Notes

Pure Chrysocolla (#3C9D4D) is a true green 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 (131°, 45%, 43%) 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 magenta. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3c9d4d
RGB
rgb(60, 157, 77)
HSL
hsl(131, 45%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(131 24% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(62.0% 0.148 146.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3441 0.6076 0.3367)
HSV
hsv(131, 62%, 62%)
LAB
lab(57.66% -45.77 33.41)
LCH
lch(57.66% 56.67 143.87)
CMYK
cmyk(62%, 0%, 51%, 38%)

Etymology

Pure
adjective

Latin purus, clean, unmixed — applied to color since antiquity for hues that contain only one pigment without dilution by white, black, or another color. Pure red is the textbook ideal: high saturation, mid lightness, no shift. Sits at the bold-bucket center, parallel to true and strong.

Chrysocolla
noun

A copper-aluminum hydrous silicate — saturated blue-green, mined principally in copper-mineral deposits of Arizona, Israel, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The color refers to a polished chrysocolla cabochon: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the matte finish of secondary copper mineral. Cooler than malachite.

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.

#3c9d4d
Original
#9f9046
Protanopia
#938753
Deuteranopia
#249a8a
Tritanopia
#838383
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
3.43:1
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
6.12:1

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
##3C9D4D
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3441 0.6076 0.3367)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.148

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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