Tailwind CSS v4 default palette
Tailwind teal-500: #00BBA7
In Tailwind CSS v4, teal-500 is defined as --color-teal-500: oklch(70.4% 0.14 182.503), which is #00BBA7 in hex and rgb(0, 187, 167): a light, moderately saturated cyan. In Tailwind v3, teal-500 was #14B8A6.
In OKLCH, teal-500 has a lightness of 70.4%, chroma 0.140 and hue 182.5°.
This OKLCH value lies outside sRGB. The hex #00BBA7 is the sRGB fallback from the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm; on Display P3 screens browsers show a more saturated color, close to color(display-p3 0.2666 0.7215 0.6555).
In v3, teal-500 was #14B8A6. The v4 value is ΔE OK 1.7 away, below the point where most people can tell them apart; v4 is more saturated.
Tailwind teal is a blue-green between emerald and cyan, often used as a calm brand accent.
Color codes for teal-500
| Tailwind v4 token | --color-teal-500 |
|---|---|
| OKLCH (source value) | oklch(70.4% 0.14 182.503) |
| HEX | #00BBA7 |
| RGB | rgb(0, 187, 167) |
| HSL | hsl(174, 100%, 37%) |
| HWB | hwb(174 0% 27%) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(100%, 0%, 11%, 27%) |
| Decimal | 48,039 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.2666 0.7215 0.6555) |
| Tailwind v3 hex | #14B8A6 |
| Utility classes | bg-teal-500, text-teal-500, border-teal-500 |
Tailwind teal scale
Contrast and accessibility
On teal-500, black text has a contrast ratio of 8.66:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 2.42:1.
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 teal-500 | 8.66:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 57.0 |
| White text on teal-500 | 2.42:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −52.0 |
| Teal-500 text on white | 2.42:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 47.0 |
| Teal-500 text on black | 8.66:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −55.0 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes var(--color-teal-500) with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-teal-500), white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#0dbeab - 15%
#26c5b4 - 25%
#40ccbd - 35%
#59d3c6 - 45%
#73dacf - 55%
#8ce0d7 - 65%
#a6e7e0 - 75%
#bfeee9 - 85%
#d9f5f2 - 95%
#f2fcfb
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#00b29f - 15%
#009f8e - 25%
#008c7d - 35%
#007a6d - 45%
#00675c - 55%
#00544b - 65%
#00413a - 75%
#002f2a - 85%
#001c19 - 95%
#000908
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, teal-500's complementary color is #E67798 (close to palevioletred), its analogous colors are #4FB874 and #00B5D3, and its triadic partners are #B189E7 and #DC8A33. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #e67798 |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #4fb874#00b5d3 |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #b189e7#dc8a33 |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #d27dc5#e97c66 |
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?
Tailwind teal-500 is a cool color: its hue is 174° 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 |
|---|---|---|
| lightseagreen | #20b2aa | 3.2 |
| mediumseagreen | #3cb371 | 7.1 |
| darkturquoise | #00ced1 | 7.6 |
Nearest Tailwind v4 colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| emerald-500 | #00bc7d | 6.2 |
| teal-400 | #00d5be | 7.4 |
| cyan-500 | #00b8db | 8.1 |
Code snippets
<div class="bg-teal-500 text-black">...</div>
<p class="text-teal-500 border-teal-500">...</p>.element {
color: var(--color-teal-500);
background-color: oklch(70.4% 0.14 182.503);
border-color: #00bba7;
outline-color: rgb(0 187 167);
}import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let teal500 = Color(red: 0.000, green: 0.733, blue: 0.655)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Teal500 = Color(0xFF00BBA7)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const teal500 = Color(0xFF00BBA7);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="teal_500">#00BBA7</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for Tailwind teal-500?
- In Tailwind CSS v4, teal-500 is oklch(70.4% 0.14 182.503), which converts to #00BBA7 (rgb(0, 187, 167)) in sRGB after gamut mapping, because the OKLCH value is outside sRGB. In Tailwind v3 the same name was #14B8A6.
- What is the difference between teal-500 in Tailwind v3 and v4?
- v3 used the hex #14B8A6; v4 redefined the palette in OKLCH as oklch(70.4% 0.14 182.503). In v3, teal-500 was #14B8A6. The v4 value is ΔE OK 1.7 away, below the point where most people can tell them apart; v4 is more saturated.
- How do I use teal-500 in plain CSS?
- Tailwind v4 defines every palette color as a theme variable, so in CSS you write var(--color-teal-500). By default Tailwind only emits the variables your project uses; @theme static emits all of them.
- Can you use white text on teal-500?
- White text on teal-500 has a contrast ratio of 2.42:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 8.66:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −52.0 for white and Lc 57.0 for black.
- Which CSS named color is closest to teal-500?
- The closest is lightseagreen (#20B2AA) at ΔE OK 3.2, followed by mediumseagreen and darkturquoise.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.