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Lit Patina

#81ecab
Notes

Lit Patina (#81ECAB) is a soft green 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 (144°, 74%, 72%) places it in the balanced band at a light lightness. It works as a background wash, large-area fill, or soft illustration tone. Add a darker ink of the same hue when you need type over it. 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
#81ecab
RGB
rgb(129, 236, 171)
HSL
hsl(144, 74%, 72%)
HWB
hwb(144 51% 7%)
OKLCH
oklch(86.2% 0.136 155.5)
HSV
hsv(144, 45%, 93%)
LAB
lab(85.80% -45.12 22.13)
LCH
lch(85.80% 50.26 153.87)
CMYK
cmyk(45%, 0%, 28%, 7%)

Etymology

Lit
adjective

The past participle of light — short and modern. Used as a color word since the late twentieth century for hues that read as if they were illuminated. Lit yellow, lit pink: the implication is luminance combined with the slight optical impression of an internal light source. Sits in the bright-bucket extreme alongside electric.

Patina
noun

The thin corrosion layer that develops on copper, bronze, and other metals over time — sometimes copper carbonate (verdigris), sometimes copper sulfate, depending on environment. The color refers to mature exposed-bronze patina on a public statue: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Drabber than verdigris, cooler than celadon, with the slow-time weight of a surface that records its age.

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.

#81ecab
Original
#ebdda7
Protanopia
#dbd2af
Deuteranopia
#68eada
Tritanopia
#d1d1d1
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
1.45:1
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
14.52:1

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