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Sanitary Norn Verdigris

#48b5b5
Notes

Sanitary Norn Verdigris (#48B5B5) 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 (180°, 43%, 50%) 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
#48b5b5
RGB
rgb(72, 181, 181)
HSL
hsl(180, 43%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(180 28% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(71.1% 0.098 195.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4035 0.7006 0.7051)
HSV
hsv(180, 60%, 71%)
LAB
lab(67.84% -30.56 -9.27)
LCH
lch(67.84% 31.93 196.88)
CMYK
cmyk(60%, 0%, 0%, 29%)

Etymology

Sanitary
adjective

Latin sānitās, health — adjectival suffix -ary. As a color modifier, sanitary implies a clear-and-clean-and-medical quality, the crisp color of Bauhaus-and-Modern clinical-and-hospital interior-architecture white-tile-and-stainless-steel surfaces. Sits at the crisp-and-clean end of the grid, parallel to hygienic and sterile in usage.

Norn
modifier

Old Norse norn, Norse-fate-weaver. As a color modifier, norn implies a Norse-fate-weaver-and-Urd-Verdandi-Skuld quality, the visual register of Norse-Norns-and-Urd-Verdandi-Skuld hand-Norse-fate-weaver-and-Urd-Verdandi-Skuld Norse-Norns-and-Urd-Verdandi-Skuld-and-Yggdrasil-roots norn-and-Norse-fate-weaver surfaces under Norse-Norns-and-Urd-Verdandi-Skuld-and-Yggdrasil-roots Well-of-Urd-and-loom-of-fate fate-weaver-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to vala and rune 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

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.

#48b5b5
Original
#aaadb5
Protanopia
#98a0b6
Deuteranopia
#00bab5
Tritanopia
#9e9e9e
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
2.46:1
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
8.55:1

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
##48B5B5
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4035 0.7006 0.7051)
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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