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Plain Glassy

#56aa7b
Notes

Plain Glassy (#56AA7B) 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 (146°, 33%, 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 magenta. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#56aa7b
RGB
rgb(86, 170, 123)
HSL
hsl(146, 33%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(146 34% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(67.2% 0.109 157.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.4208 0.6589 0.4967)
HSV
hsv(146, 49%, 67%)
LAB
lab(63.47% -36.55 16.55)
LCH
lch(63.47% 40.13 155.64)
CMYK
cmyk(49%, 0%, 28%, 33%)

Etymology

Plain
adjective

Latin planus, flat, level — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as undecorated and direct. Plain white, plain blue: moderate saturation, no shift, no surface effect. Sits in the crisp-bucket center, with the implication of restraint rather than absence.

Glassy
noun

A descriptor for very calm water surface — used in maritime vocabulary for sea conditions when wind is below 1 knot and the surface reflects like polished glass. Glassy color refers to a glassy-calm tropical lagoon at dawn: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the mirror-finish optical complexity of unbroken water.

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.

#56aa7b
Original
#a99f78
Protanopia
#9d967e
Deuteranopia
#40a99d
Tritanopia
#959595
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
2.83:1
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
7.43:1

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
##56AA7B
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.4208 0.6589 0.4967)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.109

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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