CadetBlue
#5F9EA0Cyan family
About CadetBlue
CadetBlue (#5F9EA0) is a medium, muted cyan. Cyan blends blue's calm with green's freshness, evoking clear water and open skies with a crisp, modern, slightly techy feel.
Psychology
Cyan feels clean, refreshing and clear-headed. It suggests clarity, innovation and cool efficiency, and it is less heavy than deep blue while still reading as calm and trustworthy.
Applications
Cyan and teal are staples of tech, travel, healthcare and aquatic brands. They are excellent for gradients, links, accents and data visualizations, and pair beautifully with navy, white and warm neutrals.
History
Cyan has long been a secondary hue in printing; together with magenta, yellow and black it forms the CMYK process that reproduces full-color images. Its modern popularity grew with digital displays and tech branding.
Meaning
Cyan is associated with clarity, freshness and modernity. It can evoke tropical water, cool air and precision, making it a favorite for brands that want to feel clean and contemporary.
Why use this color
Use cyan when you want a design to feel fresh, modern and trustworthy without the formality of navy. It is ideal for tech, health and travel brands and for crisp UI accents.
Accessibility
Against white, #5F9EA0 has a 3.1:1 contrast ratio; against black it is 6.9:1. Black text on #5F9EA0 meets WCAG AA for normal text.
Fun facts
- Cyan is one of the three primary colors of the CMYK printing process.
- The word cyan comes from the Greek kyanos, meaning dark blue.
- Cyan ink, together with magenta and yellow, can reproduce most printed colors.
Shades, tints & tones
Variations
Ten lightness steps plus CadetBlue's tints, shades and tones — every swatch copies its hex on click.
Lightness scale
Tints (toward white)
Shades (toward black)
Tones (toward gray)
Color theory
Color harmonies
Proven schemes built around CadetBlue. Each swatch is one click from your clipboard.
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split-complementary
Tetradic
Monochromatic
Accessibility
Blindness simulator
See how CadetBlue is perceived with common types of color vision deficiency.
Normal vision
Standard trichromatic vision, shown for reference.
Protanopia
Red-blind. Reds look darker and can be confused with greens and browns.
Deuteranopia
Green-blind. Greens look muted and can be confused with reds and browns.
Tritanopia
Blue-blind. Blues look greenish and yellows fade toward pink.
Achromatopsia
Complete color blindness. Everything is seen in shades of gray.
WCAG
Contrast checker
How CadetBlue performs against black and white text, with WCAG AA and AAA ratings.
The ratio is identical whether CadetBlue is used as the text or the background.
Open the full checkerReady to use
Color palettes
Curated palettes that put CadetBlue to work, with copy-all support for each.
Complementary
The base color paired with its opposite on the wheel for maximum contrast, plus two neutrals and a soft tint.
Analogous
Neighboring hues on the color wheel create a calm, cohesive scheme with a light tint and a deep shade.
Triadic
Three hues spaced evenly around the wheel for a bold, balanced palette anchored by two neutrals.
Monochromatic
A single hue stepped from light to dark for a clean, elegant and foolproof palette.
CadetBlue (#5F9EA0) is a cyan-family color. Use its values, variations, harmonies and palettes above to put it to work in your next design.
Frequently asked questions
CadetBlue is #5F9EA0 — rgb(95, 158, 160) / hsl(182, 25%, 50%). CadetBlue (#5F9EA0) is a medium, muted cyan. Cyan blends blue's calm with green's freshness, evoking clear water and open skies with a crisp, modern, slightly techy feel.
Must-know facts
- CadetBlue is one of 355 named colors in the library.
- Its complementary hue sits 180° away on the color wheel: #9f6260.
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