Basic HTML and CSS color
Aqua #00FFFF
Aqua (CSS keyword aqua) has the hex code #00FFFF and the RGB value rgb(0, 255, 255): a very light, vivid cyan.
Aqua is one of the 16 original HTML colors from the VGA palette and is exactly the same value as cyan (#00ffff). Browsers treat the two keywords as identical.
The keyword cyan has exactly the same value (#00FFFF); browsers treat them as the same color.
Color codes for Aqua
| CSS keyword | aqua |
|---|---|
| HEX | #00FFFF |
| RGB | rgb(0, 255, 255) |
| HSL | hsl(180, 100%, 50%) |
| HWB | hwb(180 0% 0%) |
| OKLCH | oklch(90.5% 0.155 194.8) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(100%, 0%, 0%, 0%) |
| Decimal | 65,535 |
| Hue family | Cyans and teals |
| Same value as | cyan |
Contrast and accessibility
On aqua, black text has a contrast ratio of 16.74:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 1.25:1.
WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios (success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6: AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1 and 4.5:1). APCA Lc is the lightness contrast from the APCA-W3 0.0.98G model proposed for WCAG 3; a higher absolute value is more readable, and Lc 75 is its suggested minimum for body text.
| Pair | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | AAA large | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black text on aqua | 16.74:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 91.8 |
| White text on aqua | 1.25:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −13.7 |
| Aqua text on white | 1.25:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 11.8 |
| Aqua text on black | 16.74:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −92.2 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes aqua with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, aqua, white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#0dffff - 15%
#26ffff - 25%
#40ffff - 35%
#59ffff - 45%
#73ffff - 55%
#8cffff - 65%
#a6ffff - 75%
#bfffff - 85%
#d9ffff - 95%
#f2ffff
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#00f2f2 - 15%
#00d9d9 - 25%
#00bfbf - 35%
#00a6a6 - 45%
#008c8c - 55%
#007373 - 65%
#005959 - 75%
#004040 - 85%
#002626 - 95%
#000d0d
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, aqua's complementary color is #FFCDD1 (close to pink), its analogous colors are #67FFC6 and #9CEDFF, and its triadic partners are #F8CDFF and #FFD588. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #ffcdd1 |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #67ffc6#9cedff |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #f8cdff#ffd588 |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #ffc8ee#ffd0b6 |
Computed in OKLCH: the hue is rotated by 180° (complementary), ±30° (analogous), ±120° (triadic) and 180° ±30° (split-complementary) while lightness and chroma stay fixed. Results that fall outside sRGB are brought back with the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm. Because this uses OKLCH, the values differ from tools that rotate hue in HSL, but every color keeps the same perceived lightness.
Warm or cool?
Aqua is a cool color: its hue is 180° on the HSL wheel, in the green, blue and violet range that is conventionally called cool.
Nearest named and Tailwind colors
Distance is ΔE OK, the Euclidean distance in OKLab multiplied by 100. Values under about 2 are hard to tell apart side by side.
Nearest CSS named colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| aquamarine | #7fffd4 | 6.8 |
| turquoise | #40e0d0 | 9.0 |
| paleturquoise | #afeeee | 9.1 |
Code snippets
.element {
color: aqua;
background-color: #00ffff;
border-color: rgb(0 255 255);
outline-color: oklch(90.5% 0.155 194.8);
}<div class="bg-[#00ffff] text-black">...</div>
/* or register it once in your CSS (Tailwind v4) */
@theme {
--color-aqua: #00ffff;
}
/* then use bg-aqua, text-aqua, border-aqua */import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let aqua = Color(red: 0.000, green: 1.000, blue: 1.000)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Aqua = Color(0xFF00FFFF)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const aqua = Color(0xFF00FFFF);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="aqua">#00FFFF</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for aqua?
- The hex code for aqua is #00FFFF. The same color is rgb(0, 255, 255), hsl(180, 100%, 50%) and oklch(90.5% 0.155 194.8), and in CSS you can also write the keyword aqua directly.
- Is aqua a warm or cool color?
- Aqua is a cool color: its hue is 180° on the HSL wheel, in the green, blue and violet range that is conventionally called cool.
- What colors go with aqua?
- Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, aqua's complementary color is #FFCDD1 (close to pink), its analogous colors are #67FFC6 and #9CEDFF, and its triadic partners are #F8CDFF and #FFD588. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
- Can you use white text on aqua?
- White text on aqua has a contrast ratio of 1.25:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 16.74:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −13.7 for white and Lc 91.8 for black.
- Is aqua the same as cyan?
- Yes. Both keywords are #00FFFF (rgb(0, 255, 255)). CSS Color 4 keeps both for compatibility, so use whichever your codebase already uses.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.