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Dependable Prism Verdigris

#47ae9f
Notes

Dependable Prism Verdigris (#47AE9F) is a true teal 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 (171°, 42%, 48%) 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
#47ae9f
RGB
rgb(71, 174, 159)
HSL
hsl(171, 42%, 48%)
HWB
hwb(171 28% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(68.7% 0.098 182.2)
HSV
hsv(171, 59%, 68%)
LAB
lab(65.05% -33.38 -1.21)
LCH
lch(65.05% 33.40 182.07)
CMYK
cmyk(59%, 0%, 9%, 32%)

Etymology

Dependable
adjective

Latin dē-pendere, to hang from — adjectival suffix -able. As a color modifier, dependable implies a clear-and-trustworthy-and-consistent quality where the hue carries the visual register of consistently-performing-and-counted-on design-element. Sits at the crisp-and-honest end of the grid, parallel to reliable and trustworthy in usage.

Prism
modifier

Greek πρῖσμα, something-sawn. As a color modifier, prism implies a Newtonian-rainbow-and-spectrum-splitting quality, the visual register of Newton-Optics-and-Cambridge-prism hand-Newtonian-rainbow-and-spectrum-splitting Newton-Optics-and-Cambridge-and-Trinity-College-prism prism-and-Newtonian-rainbow-and-spectrum-splitting surfaces under Newton-Optics-and-Cambridge-and-Trinity-College-prism 17th-century-natural-philosophy-and-rainbow-experiment spectrum-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to corona and plasma in usage.

Verdigris
noun

The basic copper carbonate that forms on weathered copper and bronze — the pigment scraped from oxidized metal and used in Renaissance painting before being supplanted by more stable greens. The color refers to a thick verdigris on aged copper roofing or the Statue of Liberty's surface: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Cooler than patina, warmer than seafoam, with the archaeological weight of a mineral made by time.

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

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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.

#47ae9f
Original
#a7a59e
Protanopia
#9799a0
Deuteranopia
#00b1a9
Tritanopia
#979797
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
2.68:1
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
7.82:1

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