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Sure Algae

#51b47a
Notes

Sure Algae (#51B47A) is a true teal with a cool character. It leans cool, sitting on the blue, green, and violet side of the wheel. Quiet and dependable, a fit for product UI and data visualization. Its HSL profile (145°, 40%, 51%) 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
#51b47a
RGB
rgb(81, 180, 122)
HSL
hsl(145, 40%, 51%)
HWB
hwb(145 32% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(69.5% 0.127 155.3)
HSV
hsv(145, 55%, 71%)
LAB
lab(66.36% -42.42 21.03)
LCH
lch(66.36% 47.35 153.62)
CMYK
cmyk(55%, 0%, 32%, 29%)

Etymology

Sure
adjective

Old French seur, certain — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as confident and stable. Sure red, sure blue: moderate saturation combined with optical commitment. Sits at the crisp-bucket center alongside steady and true.

Algae
noun

A vast collection of photosynthetic eukaryotes — green algae (Chlorophyta), kelps (Phaeophyceae), and dozens of other lineages — that gave rise to all land plants and still produce roughly half of Earth's oxygen. The color refers to a green algal bloom on a still pond: a saturated, slightly muted yellow-green with the matte chlorophyll finish of cellular density. Brighter than moss, cooler than spinach, with the geological weight of a kingdom three billion years old.

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.

#51b47a
Original
#b3a776
Protanopia
#a59d7e
Deuteranopia
#33b2a5
Tritanopia
#9b9b9b
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
2.57:1
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
8.16:1

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