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Aqua Dusk Dust
Color detail

Aqua Dusk Dust

Teal · Hue 180
Hex
#406D6D
RGB
rgb(64, 109, 109)
HSL
hsl(180, 26%, 34%)
CMYK
cmyk(41%, 0%, 0%, 57%)
Metrics
S 26% · L 34%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
5.8:1AA
on black
3.6:1AA Large
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Aqua Dusk Dust (#406D6D) belongs to the teal family — hue 180°, 26% saturation, 34% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-aqua-dusk-dust: #406D6D;
  --colorarchive-aqua-dusk-dust-hsl: hsl(180, 26%, 34%);
  --colorarchive-aqua-dusk-dust-rgb: rgb(64, 109, 109);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

DeepProfessionalStable
Common in

Corporate Software · Consulting · Marine

Pairs well with

White for sharp contrast, light coral for warmth, silver for tech

Design tip

Use as a dark theme primary or sidebar background. Deep teal is less harsh than pure black while maintaining professionalism.

Cultural context ▶

Deep teal evokes deep ocean waters — stability, depth, and hidden knowledge. Common in corporate and maritime contexts.

Color Origins

Teal family

The hue of patina, lagoons, and modern surgery.

Heritage

Teal — the blue-green range — is named after the Eurasian teal duck, whose wing patches sit at exactly this hue. Egyptian blue and Egyptian green, both made from copper-calcium silicate around 2,500 BCE, sit in this region. The patina of weathered copper (the Statue of Liberty's color) is teal because copper carbonate forms there; Bacon's verdigris is the same chemistry. Phthalo turquoise and cobalt teal are 20th-century pigments.

Across cultures

In Persian and Central Asian Islamic architecture, teal-turquoise tile work is iconic — the domes of Samarkand and Isfahan are unmistakable. In ancient Egypt, faience (a kind of glazed ceramic in this color) was associated with the Nile, fertility, and rebirth. In the American Southwest, teal-turquoise is so deeply associated with Navajo and Pueblo silverwork that the color reads 'desert' there.

In the wild

Hospital scrubs are teal because it's the perceptual complement of red blood — staring at red and then looking away produces a green-teal afterimage, and matching the scrubs to that afterimage reduces eye fatigue. Tiffany's blue is a calibrated teal, trademarked as PMS 1837 (their founding year). Most Pixar films grade their shadows toward teal because warm skin against cool shadow is the most legible cinematographic combination. The Apple Watch SE, the Surface Pro, and the new Macs all use teal as a 'calming-but-modern' accent.

How it reads

Teal sits at one of the visually quietest points of the spectrum — it neither advances (like red) nor recedes (like blue). It reads as competent, calm, and slightly clinical; it's the dominant accent color in healthcare and trust-led fintech for that reason. At low saturation it becomes a duck-egg or seafoam, soft and Scandinavian. At high saturation it becomes electric or tropical. Teal pairs particularly well with warm earth tones (terracotta, clay, beige).

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #406D6D.

  • Microsoftneutral
    Slate Gray · #737373
    →
  • Airbnbneutral
    Hof Gray · #484848
    →
  • Notionneutral
    Notion Gray · #787774
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #406D6D.

  • Greece (Aegean)Cypress Green
    #3E6B47 · Cupressus sempervirens
    →
  • IrelandAtlantic Slate
    #5A6770 · Cliff face + winter sea
    →
  • Italy (Tuscany)Cypress Green
    #3F5E47 · Tuscan hilltop cypresses
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Aqua Velvet Dust
#4F8787 · hsl(180, 26%, 42%)
Darker companion
Aqua Shadow Dust
#355A5A · hsl(180, 26%, 28%)
Complementary counterpoint
Crimson Dusk Dust
#6D4040 · hsl(0, 26%, 34%)
Analogous lead
Steel Dusk Dust
#405A6D · hsl(205, 26%, 34%)
Analogous echo
Teal Dusk Dust
#406D5E · hsl(160, 26%, 34%)
Triadic +120°
Fuchsia Dusk Dust
#6D406D · hsl(300, 26%, 34%)
Triadic +240°
Citrine Dusk Dust
#6D6D40 · hsl(60, 26%, 34%)
Split-comp +150°
Blush Dusk Dust
#6D4057 · hsl(330, 26%, 34%)
Split-comp +210°
Coral Dusk Dust
#6D5740 · hsl(30, 26%, 34%)
Export preview
Base: Aqua Dusk Dust #406D6D
Lighter companion: Aqua Velvet Dust #4F8787
Darker companion: Aqua Shadow Dust #355A5A
Complementary counterpoint: Crimson Dusk Dust #6D4040
Analogous lead: Steel Dusk Dust #405A6D
Analogous echo: Teal Dusk Dust #406D5E
Triadic +120°: Fuchsia Dusk Dust #6D406D
Triadic +240°: Citrine Dusk Dust #6D6D40
Split-comp +150°: Blush Dusk Dust #6D4057
Split-comp +210°: Coral Dusk Dust #6D5740

Compare

See how Aqua Dusk Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsAqua Velvet DustvsAqua Shadow DustvsCrimson Dusk DustvsSteel Dusk DustvsTeal Dusk DustvsFuchsia Dusk Dust

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Aqua Dusk Muted
#476666 · hsl(180, 18%, 34%)
Nearby match
Aqua Dusk Soft
#397474 · hsl(180, 34%, 34%)
Nearby match
Aqua Shadow Dust
#355A5A · hsl(180, 26%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cyan Dusk Dust
#406D69 · hsl(175, 26%, 34%)
Nearby match
Aqua Velvet Dust
#4F8787 · hsl(180, 26%, 42%)
Nearby match
Aqua Dusk Faint
#4E5F5F · hsl(180, 10%, 34%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AA5.5:1
Crimson Veil Faint
#FAF9F9
AA5.5:1
Crimson Veil Muted
#FBF9F9
AA5.5:1
Crimson Veil Dust
#FBF9F9
AA5.5:1
Crimson Veil Soft
#FCF8F8
AA5.5:1
Crimson Veil Clear
#FDF7F7
AA5.4:1
Crimson Veil Vivid
#FEF6F6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#54516D
Protanopia
#57576D
Tritanopia
#436D6D
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