colors
Back to gallery

Ethereal Teal

#9bc3c2
Notes

Ethereal Teal (#9BC3C2) is a true cyan 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 (179°, 25%, 69%) places it in the muted 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
#9bc3c2
RGB
rgb(155, 195, 194)
HSL
hsl(179, 25%, 69%)
HWB
hwb(179 61% 24%)
OKLCH
oklch(78.8% 0.043 194.4)
HSV
hsv(179, 21%, 76%)
LAB
lab(76.00% -13.42 -3.88)
LCH
lch(76.00% 13.97 196.11)
CMYK
cmyk(21%, 0%, 1%, 24%)

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.

#9bc3c2
Original
#bebfc2
Protanopia
#b6b9c2
Deuteranopia
#8fc6c3
Tritanopia
#bababa
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

Related Colors

Canvas