CSS named color

Aqua / Cyan #00FFFF

The CSS keywords aqua and cyan are both #00FFFF. It is a pale soft cyan in the cyan family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.905, chroma 0.155 and hue 194.8°.

Relative luminance
0.7874
OKLCH L · C · h
0.905 · 0.155 · 194.8
Best text
Black 16.74:1
Hue family
Cyan
Inspect this color Check contrast

#00FFFF color codes

HEX
#00FFFF
RGB
rgb(0, 255, 255)
HSL
hsl(180, 100%, 50%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.905 0.155 194.8)
OKLab
oklab(0.905 -0.149 -0.039)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 91.11, a* -48.09, b* -14.13
XYZ (D65)
X 53.80, Y 78.73, Z 106.95
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(100%, 0%, 0%, 0%)

CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.

Legibility

Contrast: is #00FFFF accessible?

Black text on it reaches 16.74:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 1.25:1.

WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.

Open the Contrast System

  • Black text on it

    16.74:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +91

  • White text on it

    1.25:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −13

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.25:1

  • As text on black

    16.74:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −92

  • As text on white

    1.25:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +11

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.25:1

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #008484 4.53:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.91 to 0.56 reaches 4.53:1 on white, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

  • For text on black

    #00FFFF 16.74:1

    It already reaches 16.74:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #00FFFF live

Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.

The studio needs JavaScript.

Scale

Shades and tints of #00FFFF

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #00FFFF sits at step 200.

  1. 50#D4FFFE
    White
    1.07
    Black
    19.53
  2. 100#9EFFFE
    White
    1.15
    Black
    18.18
  3. 200This color#00FFFF
    White
    1.25
    Black
    16.74
  4. 300#00D8D8
    White
    1.77
    Black
    11.81
  5. 400#00B9B9
    White
    2.43
    Black
    8.64
  6. 500#009A9A
    White
    3.44
    Black
    6.08
  7. 600#007F7F
    White
    4.83
    Black
    4.34
  8. 700#006565
    White
    6.88
    Black
    3.04
  9. 800#004A4A
    White
    10.10
    Black
    2.07
  10. 900#003030
    White
    14.32
    Black
    1.46
  11. 950#001B1B
    White
    17.90
    Black
    1.17

Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.

Gamut

How vivid #00FFFF can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.155; #00FFFF uses 100% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.165 there: 7% more.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.155
sRGB edge
0.155
Display P3 edge
0.165
Rec. 2020 edge
0.165
Dominant wavelength
491 nm
Excitation purity
32%
Chromaticity
x 0.2247, y 0.3288
  • This color#00FFFF
  • Most vivid in sRGB#00FFFF
  • Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.905 0.165 194.8)

On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.

Use the wider color where screens show it
.accent {
  color: #00ffff;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.4131 0.9915 1); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #00FFFF

Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.

White #FFFFFF

  • sRGB50%#80FFFF
  • OKLab50%#B1FFFF
  • OKLCH50%#B7FFFE

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#008080
  • OKLab50%#006363
  • OKLCH50%#006363

Its complement #FFD3D5

  • sRGB50%#80E9EA
  • OKLab50%#B8EBEA
  • OKLCH50%#EAE493
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #00ffff, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #00ffff 50%, white);

In use

#00FFFF in an interface

A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.

Light page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:116.74:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.25:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:11.25:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.25:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #008484 4.53:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:116.74:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:114.94:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:114.94:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:114.94:1 Passes

Color vision

How #00FFFF looks with color blindness

Deuteranopia changes it most, ΔE2000 26.8; tritanopia changes it least, 0.3.

Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.

Simulate a whole page What each type sees

  • Protanopia

    No working red (long-wavelength) cones

    #EDF2FF ΔE2000 25.7

    Distinct

    Reads as off-white

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #D0DDFF ΔE2000 26.8

    Distinct

    Reads as pale grayish blue

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #00FFFE ΔE2000 0.3

    Imperceptible

    Reads as pale soft cyan

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #E5E5E5 ΔE2000 24.9

    Distinct

    Reads as off-white

Pairing check

Checked against its complement, #FFD3D5. Their lightness contrast is only 1.07:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.

VisionThe pairΔE2000Verdict
Normal vision#00FFFF · #FFD3D543.8Stays distinct
Protanopia#EDF2FF · #DAD9D59.9Harder to tell apart
Deuteranopia#D0DDFF · #E4E1D420.4Stays distinct
Tritanopia#00FFFE · #FFCFD461.4Stays distinct
Achromatopsia#E5E5E5 · #DDDDDD1.8Easily confused

Harmony

Color harmonies for #00FFFF

Its complement is #FFD3D5, a pale grayish red, on the warm side of the wheel.

Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.

Open the Harmony Studio
  • Base#00FFFF
  • Complement#FFD3D5

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio
  • −30°#6DFFC6
  • Base#00FFFF
  • +30°#B4E9FF

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#00FFFF
  • +120°#F1D3FF
  • +240°#FFD9A6

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#00FFFF
  • +150°#FFD0E9
  • +210°#FFD6C4

Split-complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

Code

Design tokens

Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-aqua: #00ffff;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        aqua: '#00ffff',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  --color-aqua: oklch(0.905 0.155 194.8);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "aqua": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0, 1, 1],
        "hex": "#00ffff"
      },
      "$description": "CSS named color aqua / cyan"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let aqua = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.000, green: 1.000, blue: 1.000, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Aqua = Color(0xFF00FFFF)
}

Matches

The nearest match in each system

The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.

Neighbors

The eight nearest colors on this site by ΔE2000, closest first. Under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side.

Tools

Open #00FFFF in the tools

Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.