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Green

#008000·green family·WCAG AA

Tints & Shades

50

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

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

Color Values

HEX
#008000
RGB
rgb(0, 128, 0)
HSL
hsl(120, 100%, 25%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.52 0.177 142)
CMYK
cmyk(100%, 0%, 100%, 50%)
Luminance:0.1544
CSS var:--color-green
Tailwind:bg-[#008000]

Accessibility

Score: 54/100

On White (#FFF)

5.14:1

AA

On Black (#000)

4.09:1

AA Large

On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)

4.71:1

AA

Best text color on this background:

white5.14:1
Open in Contrast Checker →

Design Applications

Background

background-color: #008000

Text Color

color: #008000

bg-[#008000] text-[#FFFFFF]

Accent border card component

border-left: 4px solid #008000

Color Meaning & Psychology

Pure green is processed in a dedicated area of the eye's retina — our most sophisticated detection system for vegetation and safety. It is the default color of "go" in every traffic system globally, of healthy data in dashboards, and of passed tests in CI pipelines. No other color carries quite the same universal "proceed" meaning.

Industry Usage

Common contexts and industries where 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

Green is a dark color. Use white (#FFFFFF) text on top of it for maximum readability (5.14:1). Avoid small black text on this background.

CSS & Code Examples

Background

background-color: #008000;

Text

color: #008000;

Border

border: 2px solid #008000;

Box Shadow

box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #00800040;

Gradient

background: linear-gradient(135deg, #008000, #4cb13a);

Tailwind-style

--color-green: #008000;

Tailwind CSS Utilities

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

Background

bg-[#008000]

Text

text-[#008000]

Border

border-[#008000]

Ring

ring-[#008000]

Fill

fill-[#008000]

From (gradient)

from-[#008000]

Via (gradient)

via-[#008000]

To (gradient)

to-[#008000]

Design Tokens

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

CSS Custom Properties

:root {
  --color-green: #008000;
  --color-green-rgb: 0, 128, 0;
  --color-green-hsl: 120, 100%, 25%;
}

SCSS Variables

$color-green: #008000;
$color-green-rgb: 0, 128, 0;
$color-green-hsl: 120, 100%, 25%;

Tailwind v3 Config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'green': '#008000',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 (@theme)

/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
  --color-green: #008000;
}

JSON Design Token (W3C format)

{
  "green": {
    "value": "#008000",
    "type": "color",
    "description": "Green — #008000"
  }
}

What Does Green Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism

Green speaks the language of living systems. Green-family hues are processed by the human visual system as signals of vegetation, safe environments, and biological abundance—an evolutionary association that surfaces as harmony in contemporary design contexts.

  • 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.
  • Green's deep lightness (25%) 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, 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.

In a well-designed system, Green is the color that answers yes. Use it where affirmation matters.

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

In design, Green does double duty: as a semantic color (success, go, positive) and an aesthetic one (natural, health-forward, balanced). Understanding which role it's playing in any given context determines how to use it effectively.

  • UI components: success states, confirmation messages, positive trends—Green performs reliably in all these roles with its deep tonal character.
  • Brand & identity: success states, approval indicators, sustainability branding—contexts where Green's vivid quality creates the right register.
  • Typography: 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, 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: 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.

In a well-designed system, Green is the color that answers yes. Use it where affirmation matters.

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

Green (#008000) reaches 5.14:1 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: 15.4%.

  • As text on white (#FFFFFF): 5.14:1 — AA ✓
  • As text on black (#000000): 4.09:1 — AA (large text only)
  • Best text color on Green background: White (#FFFFFF) at 5.14:1
  • WCAG 2.1 luminance: 15.4% — low luminance (dark)—it provides strong contrast for white and light overlaid text, functioning well as a background in dark-mode and header contexts
  • Green qualifies for normal body text and all larger sizes (AA).

For production use, test Green against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.

Green in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications

Green (#008000) is most at home in industries where growth, nature, health, and balance are key brand values. Its deep 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: Headspace, One Medical, 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: Patagonia, Allbirds, Grove Collaborative) The challenge is differentiation—nearly every sustainability brand uses green, so typography, illustration style, and specific tone matter more.
  • Brand positioning: 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, Green works effectively in success states, approval indicators, sustainability branding—contexts where balance serves a secondary but reinforcing role.

The industries where 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 Green?
The hex code for Green is #008000. Its RGB values are rgb(0, 128, 0) and its HSL values are hsl(120, 100%, 25%).
What does Green mean in design?
Pure green is processed in a dedicated area of the eye's retina — our most sophisticated detection system for vegetation and safety. It is the default color of "go" in every traffic system globally, of healthy data in dashboards, and of passed tests in CI pipelines. No other color carries quite the same universal "proceed" meaning.
Is Green WCAG accessible?
Green (#008000) passes WCAG AA on white with a 5.14:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 54/100.
What colors go well with Green?
Green pairs well with its complementary color Purple (#800080). Analogous colors like Chartreuse and Harlequin also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
What is Green used for?
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 Green?
In CSS, use `color: #008000` or `background-color: #008000`. The CSS custom property is `--color-green: #008000`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#008000]` for backgrounds or `text-[#008000]` for text.