#00FFFFAqua is a vivid, fully saturated, mid-toned cool cyan (#00FFFF). Also written as cyan in CSS — both spellings resolve to #00FFFF.
At hue 180° with 100% saturation, aqua lands firmly in the cyan family — a cool color through and through. Colors in this range are commonly associated with clarity, freshness and technology, which makes aqua a natural fit for tech interfaces, healthcare and water- or air-related themes.
Aqua is bright enough that it pairs better with dark text than white: black type on aqua hits 16.75:1 — comfortably past the WCAG AA threshold — while white manages only 1.25:1. It shines as a section background, card fill or subtle highlight where a full-strength accent would shout.
For pairings, the complement of aqua sits at 0° — #FF0000, close to red — and delivers the strongest possible hue contrast; use it sparingly, in roughly a 90/10 split, so the two don't fight. For calmer schemes, the analogous colors 30° to either side keep the same cool temperature, while the triadic pair gives you a balanced three-color palette. All of these are computed for aqua in the palettes below, with copy-ready codes.
Every palette below is computed from aqua's position on the color wheel (hue 180°). Hover any swatch to see its code; click to copy.
Tints mix aqua toward white; shades mix it toward black. Use the scale for hover states, borders and depth without leaving the hue.
WCAG 2.1 requires 4.5:1 for normal text (AA) and 3:1 for large text. Here's how aqua performs, plus how it appears under the three main types of dichromatic color blindness (simulated approximation).
| Pairing | Ratio | Normal text | Large text |
|---|---|---|---|
| White text on Aqua | 1.25:1 | Fail | Fail |
| Black text on Aqua | 16.75:1 | AAA | AAA |
#6E71FF#604CFF#0DFFFFCopy-ready snippets. In CSS you can also use the keyword aqua directly.
:root {
--aqua: #00FFFF;
--aqua-rgb: 0, 255, 255;
--aqua-tint: #73FFFF;
--aqua-shade: #008C8C;
}
.btn-aqua {
background: var(--aqua);
color: #000000;
}// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
'aqua': {
DEFAULT: '#00FFFF',
light: '#73FFFF',
dark: '#008C8C',
},
}The closest CSS named colors by perceptual (Lab) distance.