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Aqua Shadow Faint
Color detail

Aqua Shadow Faint

Teal · Hue 180
Hex
#404F4F
RGB
rgb(64, 79, 79)
HSL
hsl(180, 10%, 28%)
CMYK
cmyk(19%, 0%, 0%, 69%)
Metrics
S 10% · L 28%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
8.6:1AA
on black
2.4:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Aqua Shadow Faint (#404F4F) belongs to the teal family — hue 180°, 10% saturation, 28% 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-shadow-faint: #404F4F;
  --colorarchive-aqua-shadow-faint-hsl: hsl(180, 10%, 28%);
  --colorarchive-aqua-shadow-faint-rgb: rgb(64, 79, 79);
}

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 #404F4F.

  • Airbnbneutral
    Hof Gray · #484848
    →
  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #404F4F.

  • ScandinaviaForest Green
    #3D5B49 · Spruce / fir forest in winter light
    →
  • Italy (Tuscany)Cypress Green
    #3F5E47 · Tuscan hilltop cypresses
    →
  • England (London)Pub Tile Green
    #1F4D2E · Victorian pub interior dado tiling
    →

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 Dusk Faint
#4E5F5F · hsl(180, 10%, 34%)
Darker companion
Aqua Nocturne Faint
#2E3838 · hsl(180, 10%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Crimson Shadow Faint
#4F4040 · hsl(0, 10%, 28%)
Analogous lead
Steel Shadow Faint
#40494F · hsl(205, 10%, 28%)
Analogous echo
Teal Shadow Faint
#404F4A · hsl(160, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +120°
Fuchsia Shadow Faint
#4F404F · hsl(300, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +240°
Citrine Shadow Faint
#4F4F40 · hsl(60, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +150°
Blush Shadow Faint
#4F4047 · hsl(330, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +210°
Coral Shadow Faint
#4F4740 · hsl(30, 10%, 28%)
Export preview
Base: Aqua Shadow Faint #404F4F
Lighter companion: Aqua Dusk Faint #4E5F5F
Darker companion: Aqua Nocturne Faint #2E3838
Complementary counterpoint: Crimson Shadow Faint #4F4040
Analogous lead: Steel Shadow Faint #40494F
Analogous echo: Teal Shadow Faint #404F4A
Triadic +120°: Fuchsia Shadow Faint #4F404F
Triadic +240°: Citrine Shadow Faint #4F4F40
Split-comp +150°: Blush Shadow Faint #4F4047
Split-comp +210°: Coral Shadow Faint #4F4740

Compare

See how Aqua Shadow Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsAqua Dusk FaintvsAqua Nocturne FaintvsCrimson Shadow FaintvsSteel Shadow FaintvsTeal Shadow FaintvsFuchsia Shadow Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Aqua Shadow Muted
#3B5454 · hsl(180, 18%, 28%)
Nearby match
Aqua Dusk Faint
#4E5F5F · hsl(180, 10%, 34%)
Nearby match
Cyan Shadow Faint
#404F4D · hsl(175, 10%, 28%)
Nearby match
Aqua Nocturne Faint
#2E3838 · hsl(180, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Aqua Shadow Dust
#355A5A · hsl(180, 26%, 28%)
Nearby match
Aqua Dusk Muted
#476666 · hsl(180, 18%, 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
AAA8.2:1
Crimson Veil Faint
#FAF9F9
AAA8.2:1
Crimson Veil Muted
#FBF9F9
AAA8.2:1
Crimson Veil Dust
#FBF9F9
AAA8.1:1
Crimson Veil Soft
#FCF8F8
AAA8.1:1
Crimson Veil Clear
#FDF7F7
AAA8.1:1
Crimson Veil Vivid
#FEF6F6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#46454F
Protanopia
#47474F
Tritanopia
#414F4F
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