Shades of Cyan
Every useful cyan, generated rather than hand-listed.
There are 9 named CSS colors in the cyan family, ranging from Electric Blue (#7df9ff) at the light end to Petrol (#125666) at the dark end. The shades generated on this page all sit at hue 205° in OKLCH, so their lightness steps look evenly spaced instead of bunching up in the shadows the way an HSL ramp does.
Every shade of cyan on this page is generated, not copied from a list. Each swatch sits at hue 205° in OKLCH with an even perceptual lightness step, so the ramp reads smoothly instead of bunching up at the dark end the way an HSL ramp does — and nothing is clipped outside what an sRGB display can actually show.
Click any swatch to copy its hex code. The sliders let you change how many shades you get, how intense they are, and how much the hue drifts across the ramp.
Three cyan shades worth starting from
If you just need a cyan that works, these three are safe picks at the light, mid and dark ends of the range.
| Role | Hex | RGB | Contrast on white |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light cyan — backgrounds, tints | #a9e4ea | rgb(169 228 234) | 1.4:1 |
| Mid cyan — accents, buttons | #00919d | rgb(0 145 157) | 3.79:1 |
| Dark cyan — text, borders | #003b40 | rgb(0 59 64) | 12.36:1 |
Named shades of cyan
9 named colors that fall in the cyan range, sorted from darkest to lightest, with the contrast ratio each one achieves against a white background. Anything below 4.5:1 is not safe for body text on white.
| Name | Hex | RGB | HSL | On white |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | #125666 | rgb(18 86 102) | hsl(191.4 70% 23.5%) | 8.24:1 |
| Tidal | #0f7173 | rgb(15 113 115) | hsl(181.2 76.9% 25.5%) | 5.79:1 |
| Juniper | #6d9292 | rgb(109 146 146) | hsl(180 14.5% 50%) | 3.4:1 |
| Cadet Blue | #5f9ea0 | rgb(95 158 160) | hsl(181.8 25.5% 50%) | 3.05:1 |
| Dark Turquoise | #00ced1 | rgb(0 206 209) | hsl(180.9 100% 41%) | 1.95:1 |
| Lightblue | #add8e6 | rgb(173 216 230) | hsl(194.7 53.3% 79%) | 1.53:1 |
| Powder Blue | #b0e0e6 | rgb(176 224 230) | hsl(186.7 51.9% 79.6%) | 1.43:1 |
| Pale Turquoise | #afeeee | rgb(175 238 238) | hsl(180 64.9% 81%) | 1.29:1 |
| Electric Blue | #7df9ff | rgb(125 249 255) | hsl(182.8 100% 74.5%) | 1.25:1 |
Using cyan in an interface
The two badges next to each generated shade are its contrast ratio against white and against black. The first step where one of them turns green is the lightest cyan you can safely set body text in on that background — everything lighter is decoration, not copy.
For large areas, pick from the light end and let a darker shade of the same hue carry the text. That keeps the whole surface in one hue family, which is what makes an interface feel deliberate rather than assembled.
Frequently asked questions
What are the hex codes for shades of cyan?
The ramp at the top of this page generates them — click any swatch to copy it. Three reliable picks are #a9e4ea for light, #00919d for mid and #003b40 for dark cyan.
What is the hex code for cyan?
The closest single answer is Dark Turquoise at #00ced1, but cyan is a range rather than one value. This page lists 9 named cyan shades and generates as many more as you want.
How many shades of cyan are there?
Effectively unlimited — an 8-bit display can show over 16 million colors, and a large share of them read as this family. The useful question is how many distinguishable steps you need, which is usually somewhere between 9 and 12 for a design system.
What colors go well with cyan?
Its perceptual complement sits at hue 25°, and the two neighbors either side of that make a softer split-complementary set. The palette generator builds all of them from any starting cyan.
Which shade of cyan is accessible for text?
On a white background you need 4.5:1 for body text. In the table above that is every row at or above 4.5:1 — generally the darker half of the family. The contrast checker will confirm any specific pair and suggest the nearest passing color if it fails.