What is the hex code for cyan?

Cyan is #00FFFF. In RGB that is 0, 255, 255, and in HSL it is 180 degrees, 100 percent saturation, 50 percent lightness.

What is the CMYK value of cyan?

#00FFFF converts to CMYK 100, 0, 0, 0. CMYK is a print space, so a screen can only ever approximate how it will actually be inked.

Can I use cyan as a CSS color name?

Yes. cyan is a CSS color keyword, so you can write it as a name instead of a hex code and every modern browser will render exactly #00FFFF.

Cyan

#00FFFF

Cyan is the hex color #00FFFF, with RGB values 0, 255, 255. It is a CSS color keyword, so browsers render it from the name alone, and its value is fixed by the CSS Color Module.

CyanCSS keyword

Quick colors, then fill the screen

Or a gradient

Or let it move

#00FFFFrgb(0, 255, 255) · hsl(180, 100%, 50%)

Hue180°

Brightness100%

Cyan color codes

Every value for #00FFFF, ready to paste. Click any code to copy it.

Channel values for #00FFFF in each number base
Channel	Decimal	Share	Hex	Octal	Binary
Red	0	0%	00	0	00000000
Green	255	100%	FF	377	11111111
Blue	255	100%	FF	377	11111111

The nearest web-safe color is #00FFFF, from the 216-color palette browsers agreed on before displays could be trusted with more.

About cyan

Green and blue at full output with no red, and one of the four process inks. The CSS keyword aqua is identical to it, right down to the same hex, because one name came from the HTML palette and the other from print.

Shades, tints and tones

Every step is generated from #00FFFF. Click a swatch to copy its hex.

Shades of cyan

A shade is the base color with black mixed in. Shades read as deeper and more dramatic, and they are what you reach for when a color needs to recede or carry weight.

Tints of cyan

A tint is the base color with white mixed in. Tints turn pastel as they lighten, which makes them useful for backgrounds and for anything that has to sit behind text.

Tones of cyan

A tone is the base color with grey mixed in. Tones lose the shout without losing the hue, and they are usually what separates a considered palette from a loud one.

The cyan scale

The same color as the 50 to 950 ladder every CSS framework uses, with #00FFFF at 500. Click a step to copy its hex, or take the whole scale as variables for a design system.

Color schemes built on cyan

Harmonies are positions on the color wheel rather than matters of taste, which is why they keep working across very different designs.

Complementary

Two colors from opposite sides of the wheel. They make each other look more vivid, which is why the pairing is used for anything that needs to stand out.

Analogous

Three neighbours on the wheel. Nothing competes, so the result reads calm and settled, closer to how colour behaves in nature.

Split complementary

The base plus the two colors either side of its complement. It keeps most of the contrast while being much easier to balance.

Triadic

Three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Strong and lively, and usually best with one dominant color and two accents.

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs, forming a rectangle on the wheel. The richest scheme available, and the hardest to keep from shouting.

Monochromatic

One hue at different lightness levels. Effortlessly cohesive, and the safest way to build a palette around a brand color.

Colors close to #00FFFF

Near neighbours, for when this color is almost right. Each one shifts hue, saturation or lightness by a small step.

Cyan color palettes

Five-color palettes built around #00FFFF, each following a different scheme. Click any swatch to copy it, or open the generator to build your own.

Analogous

Complementary

Triadic

Monochromatic

Open the palette generator to lock the colors you like and regenerate the rest.

Contrast and readability

Whether cyan works as text, and what to put on top of it when it is the background. Ratios follow WCAG 2.1, where 4.5 is the bar for body text and 3 for large text.

Cyan text on white background

1.25:1 · Poor

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

Body AA
Body AAA
Large AA
Large AAA

Cyan text on black background

16.75:1 · Excellent

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

Body AA
Body AAA
Large AA
Large AAA

Used the other way round, #00FFFF as a background takes #000000 text. That is the higher-contrast of the two, and it is what the tool picks automatically for any chrome sitting on your color.

Cyan reads better on a black background of the two. Contrast is a property of the pair, not of one color, so a color that fails here can still be perfectly usable against a different partner.

List of cyan shades

Every named cyan in the library, 6 of them CSS keywords whose values are normative rather than conventional. Codes are rounded to whole numbers for HSL.

Name	Hex	RGB	HSL
Cyan is a CSS keyword is the color on this page	#00FFFF	0, 255, 255	180, 100%, 50%
Teal is a CSS keyword	#008080	0, 128, 128	180, 100%, 25%
Turquoise is a CSS keyword	#40E0D0	64, 224, 208	174, 72%, 56%
Azure is a CSS keyword	#F0FFFF	240, 255, 255	180, 100%, 97%
Teal blue	#367588	54, 117, 136	194, 43%, 37%
Aquamarine is a CSS keyword	#7FFFD4	127, 255, 212	160, 100%, 75%
Cadet blue is a CSS keyword	#5F9EA0	95, 158, 160	182, 25%, 50%