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Level Curaçao

#50cbe2
Notes

Level Curaçao (#50CBE2) 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 (189°, 72%, 60%) 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
#50cbe2
RGB
rgb(80, 203, 226)
HSL
hsl(189, 72%, 60%)
HWB
hwb(189 31% 11%)
OKLCH
oklch(78.3% 0.112 212.2)
HSV
hsv(189, 65%, 89%)
LAB
lab(76.01% -27.01 -21.49)
LCH
lch(76.01% 34.52 218.51)
CMYK
cmyk(65%, 10%, 0%, 11%)

Etymology

Level
adjective

Latin libella, small-balance / level-tool — sharing root with libra (balance). As a color modifier, level implies a clear-and-horizontal-true quality where the hue carries the visual register of gravity-perpendicular-and-perfectly-horizontal surface. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to plumb and flat in usage.

Curaçao
noun

The Caribbean liqueur made from the dried peel of the Citrus aurantium currassuviensis (Laraha orange) — produced on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao since 1896. Blue Curaçao refers to the artificially-colored bright blue variant: a saturated, slightly cool electric blue with the optical clarity of citrus liqueur.

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.

#50cbe2
Original
#b9c4e3
Protanopia
#a4b5e2
Deuteranopia
#00d4d2
Tritanopia
#b3b3b3
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
1.91:1
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
10.98:1

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Canvas