Aqua Color Codes
Aqua is a very light, vivid teal with the hex code #00FFFF, RGB values of 0, 255, 255 and an HSL value of hsl(180, 100%, 50%).
| HEX | #00FFFF |
|---|---|
| RGB | 0, 255, 255 |
| HSL | hsl(180, 100%, 50%) |
| HSV | 180°, 100%, 100% |
| CMYK | 100%, 0%, 0%, 0% |
| LAB | 91.11, -48.09, -14.13 |
| CIELCHuv | 91.11, 72.10, 192.17° |
- Nearest Pantone
- PMS 3252 C ΔE 18.8 · approximate
- Nearest CSS name
-
aquaΔE 0.0
Source CSS Color Module Level 4 keyword 'Aqua'
Aqua Color Hex Code
The Aqua color hex code is #00FFFF. Those six digits are three pairs, 00 for red, FF for green and FF for blue, which is the same triplet a browser reads from the CSS value below.
#00FFFF
Aqua Color RGB Code
The Aqua RGB code is rgb(0, 255, 255). Green carries the most light at 255 of 255, which is what puts this color where it sits on the wheel.
rgb(0, 255, 255)
Aqua Color HSV Code
The Aqua HSV code is 180°, 100%, 100%. Read it as a hue of 180 degrees, 100% saturation and 100% value, which is the form most color pickers use because moving one number changes one thing.
180°, 100%, 100%
Aqua Color CIELChuv Code
The Aqua CIELCHuv code is 91.11, 72.10, 192.17°. Unlike hex or RGB this one is perceptual: lightness 91 means light to the eye rather than to the screen, and chroma 72 is how far it sits from grey.
91.11, 72.10, 192.17°
Tonal scale
What are Aqua Color Palettes?
A shade mixes toward black, a tint toward white, a tone toward grey. Every step keeps the hue and is copy-ready.
Shades, toward black
Tints, toward white
Tones, toward grey
Palettes
What are Aqua Color Palette Codes?
Each of these is a hue rotation from #00FFFF. They are generated, not curated, so they are exact.
Complementary
The opposite hue is #FF0000, a mid-tone, vivid red. Complements carry the strongest contrast of any two-color scheme, so this pair suits a call to action better than a background. Both are saturated, so give the complement much less area than the base or the two will fight.
Analogous
Its two neighbours are #00FF80 and #0080FF. Because they overlap heavily in hue, nothing in the group competes, and the eye reads the whole set as a single color with variation.
Triadic
#FF00FF and #FFFF00 complete an even 120 degree split. Three fully independent hues, so one has to lead: keep this base dominant and let the other two appear in small quantities.
Split-complementary
Instead of the direct complement, this takes the two hues either side of it: #FF0080 and #FF8000. Almost the same contrast, without the edge shimmer a true complementary pair produces at high saturation.
Tetradic
Two complementary pairs forming a rectangle: this base with #FF0000, and #8000FF with #80FF00. The richest of the five and the hardest to balance, so treat this base as the lead and hold the other three well back.
Accessibility
Contrast checker: is Aqua accessible?
Measured against white and against black, with a separate verdict for each element type. Small text, large text and UI components have different thresholds, so one pass or fail for the whole color would be wrong roughly a third of the time.
White background
1.25:11.25
contrast ratio on white background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Fails | Fails |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Fails | Fails |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Fails | n/a |
Black background
16.75:116.75
contrast ratio on black background
| Element | AA | AAA |
|---|---|---|
| Small text needs 4.5:1 / 7:1 | Passes | Passes |
| Large text needs 3:1 / 4.5:1 | Passes | Passes |
| UI component needs 3:1 | Passes | n/a |
At 1.25:1 against white, Aqua is a fill color rather than a text color. Use it for surfaces, borders and large display type, and set the copy in ink. Text placed on it should be black, which gives 16.75:1. It is a highly saturated color, so it will dominate anything it sits beside. Give it space rather than surrounding it with other strong colors.
Color vision
How Aqua looks with color blindness
Around 300 million people see color differently from the way it is specified. Each card shows the actual color beside how it appears, and how common that form of vision is.
Protanopia
About 1% of men#B0B1FF
Aqua changes substantially here. ΔE 71.3
No working red cones. Reds darken sharply and drift toward the same muddy olive as green.
Deuteranopia
About 1% of men#A595FF
Aqua changes substantially here. ΔE 89.3
No working green cones. With the milder deuteranomaly at nearer 6% of men, this is by far the most common form, and the one worth designing around.
Tritanopia
About 1 in 10,000#3FFFFF
Aqua shifts slightly here. ΔE 3.3
No working blue cones. Blues shift toward green and yellows toward pink. Rare, and unlike the others it is not sex-linked, so it affects men and women equally.
Achromatopsia
About 1 in 30,000#E5E5E5
Aqua changes substantially here. ΔE 50.1
No color vision at all. Also a fair proxy for how the color survives a greyscale print or a failing screen.
To a deuteranope, the most common form, Aqua reads as #A595FF. That is a shift of ΔE 89.3, so it is a different color to roughly one man in sixteen. The widest shift is under deuteranopia, at ΔE 89.3. The rule this leads to needs no simulator: never let color be the only thing carrying a message. Add a label, an icon, or a clear difference in lightness, and the problem disappears for everyone.
Snippets
Using Aqua in code
:root {
--aqua: #00FFFF;
}
.example {
color: var(--aqua);
}// tailwind.config.js
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'aqua': '#00FFFF',
},
},
}// SwiftUI takes 0–1 components, not 0–255.
let aqua = Color(
red: 0.000,
green: 1.000,
blue: 1.000
)<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="aqua">#00FFFF</color>// Flutter wants ARGB: FF for full opacity, then the hex.
const aqua = Color(0xFF00FFFF);