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Cadmium Green

#006B3C·green family·WCAG AA

Tints & Shades

50

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Scale from white (50) through Cadmium Green (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.

Color Values

HEX
#006B3C
RGB
rgb(0, 107, 60)
HSL
hsl(154, 100%, 21%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.464 0.114 155)
CMYK
cmyk(100%, 0%, 44%, 58%)
Luminance:0.1084
CSS var:--color-cadmium-green
Tailwind:bg-[#006B3C]

Accessibility

Score: 54/100

On White (#FFF)

6.63:1

AA

On Black (#000)

3.17:1

AA Large

On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)

6.08:1

AA

Best text color on this background:

white6.63:1
Open in Contrast Checker →

Design Applications

Background

background-color: #006B3C

Text Color

color: #006B3C

bg-[#006B3C] text-[#FFFFFF]

Accent border card component

border-left: 4px solid #006B3C

Color Meaning & Psychology

Green occupies the center of the visible spectrum where the eye is most sensitive, making it the easiest color to process — literally restful for the eye. Green's associations with nature, growth, and fresh produce are deeply biological, rooted in the evolutionary advantage of finding food. In finance, "going green" means profit. In design, green signals health, sustainability, and natural ingredients. Darker greens evoke prestige and reliability; lighter greens feel fresh and energetic; blue-greens feel sophisticated and trustworthy. Green is uniquely cross-cultural in positive associations, though it represents environmental risk in some financial contexts. Its very dark, near-black depth creates dramatic intensity — maximally contrastive, powerful, and reserved for focal design elements where other dark colors would disappear.

Industry Usage

Common contexts and industries where Cadmium Green is applied in professional design.

  • Financial services and investment platforms
  • Health, wellness, and organic food brands
  • Environmental and sustainability organizations
  • Pharmaceutical and medical products
  • Agriculture and farming brands
  • Eco-friendly consumer goods
  • Real estate and property development
  • Success and achievement badges in UI

Accessibility Considerations

Normal Text

Passes AA

4.5:1 minimum required

Large Text

Passes AA Large

3:1 minimum required

UI Components

Meets 1.4.11

3:1 for non-text UI

Cadmium Green is a dark color. Use white (#FFFFFF) text on top of it for maximum readability (6.63:1). Avoid small black text on this background.

CSS & Code Examples

Background

background-color: #006B3C;

Text

color: #006B3C;

Border

border: 2px solid #006B3C;

Box Shadow

box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #006B3C40;

Gradient

background: linear-gradient(135deg, #006B3C, #429a67);

Tailwind-style

--color-cadmium-green: #006B3C;

Tailwind CSS Utilities

Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Cadmium Green without a custom config.

Background

bg-[#006B3C]

Text

text-[#006B3C]

Border

border-[#006B3C]

Ring

ring-[#006B3C]

Fill

fill-[#006B3C]

From (gradient)

from-[#006B3C]

Via (gradient)

via-[#006B3C]

To (gradient)

to-[#006B3C]

Design Tokens

Ready-to-use Cadmium Green design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.

CSS Custom Properties

:root {
  --color-cadmium-green: #006B3C;
  --color-cadmium-green-rgb: 0, 107, 60;
  --color-cadmium-green-hsl: 154, 100%, 21%;
}

SCSS Variables

$color-cadmium-green: #006B3C;
$color-cadmium-green-rgb: 0, 107, 60;
$color-cadmium-green-hsl: 154, 100%, 21%;

Tailwind v3 Config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'cadmium-green': '#006B3C',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 (@theme)

/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
  --color-cadmium-green: #006B3C;
}

JSON Design Token (W3C format)

{
  "cadmium-green": {
    "value": "#006B3C",
    "type": "color",
    "description": "Cadmium Green — #006B3C"
  }
}

What Does Cadmium Green Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism

The psychology of Cadmium Green runs through two distinct channels: the primal register of growth and nature, and the cultural layer of health, prosperity, and permission. At #006B3C, this shade settles into growth—drawing on both channels to create a response that's stable, reassuring, and positive.

  • Green carries multiple Western associations: nature and the environment, financial success and prosperity (money in the US), health and wellness, and the "go" signal in traffic systems. Dark greens suggest wealth and tradition; bright greens signal vitality and environmental consciousness.
  • In Chinese culture, green is associated with growth, harmony, and fertility. In Islam, green holds sacred significance as the color of paradise and the Prophet. In Japan, green (midori) represents youth, freshness, and eternal life.
  • Cadmium Green's dark lightness (21%) shifts its psychological register: Forest and hunter greens project gravitas, tradition, and wealth—the preferred territory for luxury brands, financial institutions, and premium environmental products.
  • At 100% saturation, Cadmium Green reads as vivid—Electric and lime greens are among the most energetic hues in the spectrum—striking, modern, and attention-commanding, used in sports, gaming, and tech-forward branding.

The enduring power of Cadmium Green is that it never needs to explain itself—growth, health, and permission are universally understood.

How to Use Cadmium Green in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices

The design applications of Cadmium Green span from digital UI states to full brand identity systems. Its vivid saturation (100%) means it reads as a high-energy presence that demands attention in any composition in both contexts—the highest-emphasis uses—headers, hero backgrounds, and dominant brand moments—where it commands the full field in background uses, more active as an accent.

  • UI components: success states, confirmation messages, positive trends—Cadmium Green performs reliably in all these roles with its dark tonal character.
  • Brand & identity: success states, approval indicators, sustainability branding—contexts where Cadmium Green's vivid quality creates the right register.
  • Typography: Cadmium Green works as a background behind white text but requires careful sizing—test at intended heading and body sizes before finalizing.
  • As a dark tone, Cadmium Green creates maximum contrast with white and light neutrals—excellent for creating premium dark-mode sections, bold headers, and high-drama brand moments
  • Proportional use: Cadmium Green's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.

The enduring power of Cadmium Green is that it never needs to explain itself—growth, health, and permission are universally understood.

Cadmium Green Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design

Cadmium Green (#006B3C) reaches 6.63:1 contrast with white text—meeting WCAG 2.1 AA minimum of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. It clears standard production accessibility requirements. Relative luminance: 10.8%.

  • As text on white (#FFFFFF): 6.63:1 — AA ✓
  • As text on black (#000000): 3.17:1 — AA (large text only)
  • Best text color on Cadmium Green background: White (#FFFFFF) at 6.63:1
  • WCAG 2.1 luminance: 10.8% — low luminance (dark)—it provides strong contrast for white and light overlaid text, functioning well as a background in dark-mode and header contexts
  • Cadmium Green qualifies for normal body text and all larger sizes (AA).

Cadmium Green's WCAG profile makes it a compliant choice for most text applications.

Cadmium Green in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications

Cadmium Green (#006B3C) is most at home in industries where growth, nature, health, and balance are key brand values. Its dark quality makes it particularly effective in Healthcare & Wellness contexts, where the vivid saturation signals balance at exactly the right register.

  • Healthcare & Wellness: Green's association with health, nature, and healing makes it the second-most-common color in healthcare branding (after blue). It signals vitality, recovery, and natural wellness without the clinical coldness of pure white or blue. (examples: CVS Health, Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente) Works best in teal-green and sage variations for digital health products; more saturated greens suit fitness and sports medicine.
  • Finance & Banking: In Western markets, the green-money association is deeply embedded. Financial institutions use dark, sophisticated greens to communicate growth, prosperity, and fiduciary reliability. It's equally effective for positive portfolio indicators and "go" confirmation states in trading UIs. (examples: Capital One, PayPal, Visa) Dark greens with gold accents signal premium financial services; bright greens in fintech apps signal growth metrics.
  • Sustainability & Organic: Green is the categorical color of environmental consciousness. Sustainability brands, organic food labels, and clean-energy companies use it as an immediate, unambiguous signal of ecological values and natural origin. (examples: Pela Case, Grove Collaborative, Allbirds) The challenge is differentiation—nearly every sustainability brand uses green, so typography, illustration style, and specific tone matter more.
  • Brand positioning: Cadmium Green is best suited for brands projecting health, sustainability, growth. Categories outside this positioning—warning or danger contexts (except for safety signs)—tend to see weaker results.
  • Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Cadmium Green works effectively in success states, approval indicators, sustainability branding—contexts where balance serves a secondary but reinforcing role.

The industries where Cadmium Green performs best are those where the audience expects balance. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hex code for Cadmium Green?
The hex code for Cadmium Green is #006B3C. Its RGB values are rgb(0, 107, 60) and its HSL values are hsl(154, 100%, 21%).
What does Cadmium Green mean in design?
Green occupies the center of the visible spectrum where the eye is most sensitive, making it the easiest color to process — literally restful for the eye. Green's associations with nature, growth, and fresh produce are deeply biological, rooted in the evolutionary advantage of finding food. In finance, "going green" means profit. In design, green signals health, sustainability, and natural ingredients. Darker greens evoke prestige and reliability; lighter greens feel fresh and energetic; blue-greens feel sophisticated and trustworthy. Green is uniquely cross-cultural in positive associations, though it represents environmental risk in some financial contexts. Its very dark, near-black depth creates dramatic intensity — maximally contrastive, powerful, and reserved for focal design elements where other dark colors would disappear.
Is Cadmium Green WCAG accessible?
Cadmium Green (#006B3C) passes WCAG AA on white with a 6.63:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 54/100.
What colors go well with Cadmium Green?
Cadmium Green pairs well with its complementary color Cranberry (#9C0045). Analogous colors like Celadon and Emerald also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
What is Cadmium Green used for?
Cadmium Green is commonly used for: Financial services and investment platforms; Health, wellness, and organic food brands; Environmental and sustainability organizations; Pharmaceutical and medical products; Agriculture and farming brands.
What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Cadmium Green?
In CSS, use `color: #006B3C` or `background-color: #006B3C`. The CSS custom property is `--color-cadmium-green: #006B3C`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#006B3C]` for backgrounds or `text-[#006B3C]` for text.