Moss
#8A9A5BGreen family
About Moss
Moss (#8A9A5B) is a medium, muted green. Green sits at the center of the spectrum and is the color most associated with nature, growth and balance, giving this shade a calm, refreshing character.
Psychology
Green is restful and reassuring. It is strongly tied to health, growth and money, and because the eye processes green easily it can reduce visual fatigue and promote a sense of balance.
Applications
Green is everywhere in health, wellness, finance, environmental and organic brands. It works for success states and confirmations in UI, and its many shades range from fresh spring accents to deep, premium forest tones.
History
Greens were historically difficult to produce; early pigments like verdigris and malachite were unstable or toxic. A breakthrough came with Scheele’s green and later chrome green in the 18th and 19th centuries, which popularized the color despite some toxicity concerns.
Meaning
Green symbolizes nature, renewal, safety and prosperity across most cultures. It also means “go” in signaling and is the color of many environmental and religious movements.
Why use this color
Choose green for brands that want to feel natural, healthy, trustworthy or financially sound. It is a versatile hue that works equally well as a calm background or a vibrant accent.
Accessibility
Against white, #8A9A5B has a 3.1:1 contrast ratio; against black it is 6.9:1. Black text on #8A9A5B meets WCAG AA for normal text.
Fun facts
- The human eye distinguishes more shades of green than any other color.
- Green is used for night-vision displays because the eye is most sensitive to green light.
- Many early green pigments were toxic, including Scheele’s green, which contained arsenic.
Shades, tints & tones
Variations
Ten lightness steps plus Moss'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 Moss. Each swatch is one click from your clipboard.
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split-complementary
Tetradic
Monochromatic
Accessibility
Blindness simulator
See how Moss 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 Moss performs against black and white text, with WCAG AA and AAA ratings.
The ratio is identical whether Moss is used as the text or the background.
Open the full checkerReady to use
Color palettes
Curated palettes that put Moss 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.
Moss (#8A9A5B) is a green-family color. Use its values, variations, harmonies and palettes above to put it to work in your next design.
Frequently asked questions
Moss is #8A9A5B — rgb(138, 154, 91) / hsl(75, 26%, 48%). Moss (#8A9A5B) is a medium, muted green. Green sits at the center of the spectrum and is the color most associated with nature, growth and balance, giving this shade a calm, refreshing character.
Must-know facts
- Moss is one of 355 named colors in the library.
- Its complementary hue sits 180° away on the color wheel: #6a5b9a.
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