Tints & Shades
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Scale from white (50) through Teal (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #008080
- RGB
- rgb(0, 128, 128)
- HSL
- hsl(180, 100%, 25%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.543 0.093 195)
- CMYK
- cmyk(100%, 0%, 0%, 50%)
--color-tealbg-[#008080]Accessibility
Score: 39/100On White (#FFF)
4.77:1
On Black (#000)
4.4:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
4.38:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #008080
color: #008080
bg-[#008080] text-[#FFFFFF]
border-left: 4px solid #008080
Color Harmonies
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Teal occupies the sophisticated intersection of blue's trust and green's vitality. It feels calming yet distinctive — neither the corporate ubiquity of navy nor the aggressive freshness of lime green. Teal is associated with healing, emotional balance, and clarity of thought. It gained significant cultural cachet in the 2010s as a design-forward alternative to standard blues in healthcare and technology branding. Deeper teals feel luxurious and authoritative; lighter teals feel fresh and energetic. Teal is one of the few colors that reads well in both light and dark themes. Its primary challenge is legibility — teal text on white often fails WCAG AA without careful shade selection. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Teal is applied in professional design.
- Healthcare technology and health apps
- Mental health and wellness platforms
- Fintech brands seeking blue-alternative trust
- Premium interior design and home accessories
- Environmental and ocean-focused organizations
- Contemporary hotel and hospitality brands
- Corporate communications departments
- Spa and beauty wellness destinations
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
Teal is a dark color. Use white (#FFFFFF) text on top of it for maximum readability (4.77:1). Avoid small black text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #008080;Text
color: #008080;Border
border: 2px solid #008080;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #00808040;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #008080, #4cb0af);Tailwind-style
--color-teal: #008080;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Teal without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#008080]Text
text-[#008080]Border
border-[#008080]Ring
ring-[#008080]Fill
fill-[#008080]From (gradient)
from-[#008080]Via (gradient)
via-[#008080]To (gradient)
to-[#008080]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Teal design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-teal: #008080;
--color-teal-rgb: 0, 128, 128;
--color-teal-hsl: 180, 100%, 25%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-teal: #008080; $color-teal-rgb: 0, 128, 128; $color-teal-hsl: 180, 100%, 25%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'teal': '#008080',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-teal: #008080;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"teal": {
"value": "#008080",
"type": "color",
"description": "Teal — #008080"
}
}Related Palettes & Combinations
Color Combinations
Accessible Color Pairs
More teal colors
View all →What Does Teal Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
Teal (#008080) sits at the exact chromatic intersection where green's vitality meets blue's reliability. This isn't a compromise—it's a synthesis, and the result is a color that reads as sophistication: balanced, confident, and impossible to reduce to a single emotion.
- Across color psychology research, teal consistently tests high for "innovation" associations, making Teal a reliable vehicle for sophistication in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on teal-family tones to project modern sophistication and trustworthiness—values that Teal communicates in a deep key.
- At 100% saturation, Teal reads as vivid—Vivid teals are a signature of contemporary tech design—digitally native, modern, and distinct enough to stand out in a landscape of blue-dominated software interfaces.
- Teal's deep lightness (25%) shifts its psychological register: Deep teal and dark cyan carry genuine authority and depth—functioning like a cooler alternative to navy that still communicates seriousness and precision.
The best use of Teal is unapologetic. When it's the primary color, it earns its position through clarity and confidence.
How to Use Teal in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
The appeal of Teal in design is its specificity without limitation. Unlike blue (everyone) or purple (everyone creative), teal stakes out a particular position—modern, balanced, health-forward—without cutting off audience breadth.
- Avoid: traditional, conservative institutions that need to signal historical trust (navy serves better), children's products where warmer colors perform better, and food branding.
- Color harmonies: Teal's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Teal's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
- As a dark tone, Teal creates maximum contrast with white and light neutrals—excellent for creating premium dark-mode sections, bold headers, and high-drama brand moments
- Typography: Teal works as a background behind white text but requires careful sizing—test at intended heading and body sizes before finalizing.
The best use of Teal is unapologetic. When it's the primary color, it earns its position through clarity and confidence.
Teal Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Teal (#008080) reaches 4.77:1 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: 17.0%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 4.77:1 — AA ✓
- As text on black (#000000): 4.40:1 — AA (large text only)
- Best text color on Teal background: White (#FFFFFF) at 4.77:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 17.0% — low luminance (dark)—it provides strong contrast for white and light overlaid text, functioning well as a background in dark-mode and header contexts
- Teal qualifies for normal body text and all larger sizes (AA).
- Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.
For production use, test Teal against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Teal in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Teal's brand positioning falls squarely in the territory of clarity, innovation, balance, and modern sophistication. Industry data supports its strongest performance in healthcare technology, SaaS & B2B software, financial technology categories, where the vivid saturation calibrates the message at a deep, considered level.
- Healthcare Technology: Teal has become the signature color of healthcare technology for a specific reason: it bridges clinical trust (blue's domain) with vitality and growth (green's domain), communicating that a product is both reliable and innovative. (examples: Apple, Microsoft, Salesforce) Particularly effective for telemedicine, health tracking apps, and digital wellness platforms that need clinical credibility without institutional coldness.
- SaaS & B2B Software: The modern SaaS industry has adopted teal as an alternative to blue that signals both professionalism and innovation. It works especially well for productivity tools, data platforms, and workflow software where clarity and intelligence are the core brand values. Teal differentiates from the blue-dominated enterprise market while maintaining the trust signals B2B buyers require.
- Financial Technology: Fintech brands use teal to signal that they're reimagining financial services—keeping the trustworthiness of traditional blue but adding a freshness that traditional banks lack. The color says "we take your money seriously and we're different from old banking." (examples: Notion, Slack, Salesforce) Works best paired with clean white and dark charcoal for maximum fintech modernity.
- Brand positioning: Teal is best suited for brands projecting modern sophistication, trustworthiness, balance. Categories outside this positioning—traditional—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Teal works effectively in professional services branding, wellness apps, financial dashboards—contexts where balance serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
For marketers and brand strategists, Teal is a commitment to clarity, innovation, balance, and modern sophistication. Match it with industries that make that promise and it will pay dividends consistently.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Teal? ▾
- The hex code for Teal is #008080. Its RGB values are rgb(0, 128, 128) and its HSL values are hsl(180, 100%, 25%).
- What does Teal mean in design? ▾
- Teal occupies the sophisticated intersection of blue's trust and green's vitality. It feels calming yet distinctive — neither the corporate ubiquity of navy nor the aggressive freshness of lime green. Teal is associated with healing, emotional balance, and clarity of thought. It gained significant cultural cachet in the 2010s as a design-forward alternative to standard blues in healthcare and technology branding. Deeper teals feel luxurious and authoritative; lighter teals feel fresh and energetic. Teal is one of the few colors that reads well in both light and dark themes. Its primary challenge is legibility — teal text on white often fails WCAG AA without careful shade selection. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.
- Is Teal WCAG accessible? ▾
- Teal (#008080) passes WCAG AA on white with a 4.77:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 39/100.
- What colors go well with Teal? ▾
- Teal pairs well with its complementary color Red (#FF0000). Analogous colors like Mint Cream and Opal also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Teal used for? ▾
- Teal is commonly used for: Healthcare technology and health apps; Mental health and wellness platforms; Fintech brands seeking blue-alternative trust; Premium interior design and home accessories; Environmental and ocean-focused organizations.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Teal? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #008080` or `background-color: #008080`. The CSS custom property is `--color-teal: #008080`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#008080]` for backgrounds or `text-[#008080]` for text.