Cyan

DarkTurquoise

#00CED1
HEX
#00CED1
RGB
rgb(0, 206, 209)
HSL
hsl(181, 100%, 41%)

Cyan family

About DarkTurquoise

DarkTurquoise (#00CED1) is a dark, vivid 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, #00CED1 has a 2.0:1 contrast ratio; against black it is 10.7:1. Black text on #00CED1 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 DarkTurquoise'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 DarkTurquoise. Each swatch is one click from your clipboard.

Complementary

#00ced1#d10300

Analogous

#00d16c#00ced1#0065d1

Triadic

#00ced1#d100ce#ced100

Split-complementary

#00ced1#d10065#d16c00

Tetradic

#00ced1#6c00d1#d10300#65d100

Monochromatic

#004b4d#00a0a3#00fbff#5cfcff#b3feff

Accessibility

Blindness simulator

See how DarkTurquoise is perceived with common types of color vision deficiency.

#00CED1

Normal vision

Standard trichromatic vision, shown for reference.

#bfc3d2

Protanopia

Red-blind. Reds look darker and can be confused with greens and browns.

#a7b2d2

Deuteranopia

Green-blind. Greens look muted and can be confused with reds and browns.

#00d5ce

Tritanopia

Blue-blind. Blues look greenish and yellows fade toward pink.

#b9b9b9

Achromatopsia

Complete color blindness. Everything is seen in shades of gray.

WCAG

Contrast checker

How DarkTurquoise performs against black and white text, with WCAG AA and AAA ratings.

AaWhite on DarkTurquoise
1.95:1
AAAAAAA LargeAAA Large
AaBlack on DarkTurquoise
10.75:1
AAAAAAA LargeAAA Large

The ratio is identical whether DarkTurquoise is used as the text or the background.

Open the full checker

Ready to use

Color palettes

Curated palettes that put DarkTurquoise 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.

DarkTurquoise (#00CED1) 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

DarkTurquoise is #00CED1 — rgb(0, 206, 209) / hsl(181, 100%, 41%). DarkTurquoise (#00CED1) is a dark, vivid 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

  • DarkTurquoise is one of 355 named colors in the library.
  • Its complementary hue sits 180° away on the color wheel: #d10300.

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