We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,000+ algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdates
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Aqua Silk Faint
Color detail

Aqua Silk Faint

Teal · Hue 180
Hex
#A5B6B6
RGB
rgb(165, 182, 182)
HSL
hsl(180, 10%, 68%)
CMYK
cmyk(9%, 0%, 0%, 29%)
Metrics
S 10% · L 68%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
2.1:1Fail
on black
10:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Aqua Silk Faint (#A5B6B6) belongs to the teal family — hue 180°, 10% saturation, 68% 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-silk-faint: #A5B6B6;
  --colorarchive-aqua-silk-faint-hsl: hsl(180, 10%, 68%);
  --colorarchive-aqua-silk-faint-rgb: rgb(165, 182, 182);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

RefreshingModernClear
Common in

SaaS · Cloud Services · Interior Design

Pairs well with

Coral for playful energy, light gray for modern minimalism

Design tip

Ideal for tech product interfaces. Light teal works as a primary brand color that feels both professional and approachable.

Cultural context ▶

Light teal blends the calm of blue with the renewal of green. Associated with clear water, clarity, and modern thinking.

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 grounded mid-tone — sober, considered, well-suited to body text accents, editorial layouts, or any context where restraint reads as quality.

Lightness band: At mid-lightness the hue carries its full character. This is the band where most identity colors live: bright enough to be distinctive at small sizes, deep enough to sit cleanly on a white canvas.

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 #A5B6B6.

  • Redditsecondary
    Periwinkle · #7193FF
    →
  • Starbucksneutral
    Warm Neutral · #D4E9E2
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #A5B6B6.

  • ScandinaviaAsh Grey
    #A8AAA5 · Birch and ash bark
    →
  • China (Traditional)Celadon (青瓷)
    #9CB48F · Song Dynasty Longquan kilns
    →
  • Greece (Aegean)Olive Silver
    #9CA38F · Olea europaea leaf undersides
    →

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 Bloom Faint
#BCC8C8 · hsl(180, 10%, 76%)
Darker companion
Aqua Tone Faint
#8FA3A3 · hsl(180, 10%, 60%)
Complementary counterpoint
Crimson Silk Faint
#B6A5A5 · hsl(0, 10%, 68%)
Analogous lead
Steel Silk Faint
#A5AFB6 · hsl(205, 10%, 68%)
Analogous echo
Teal Silk Faint
#A5B6B0 · hsl(160, 10%, 68%)
Triadic +120°
Fuchsia Silk Faint
#B6A5B6 · hsl(300, 10%, 68%)
Triadic +240°
Citrine Silk Faint
#B6B6A5 · hsl(60, 10%, 68%)
Split-comp +150°
Blush Silk Faint
#B6A5AD · hsl(330, 10%, 68%)
Split-comp +210°
Coral Silk Faint
#B6ADA5 · hsl(30, 10%, 68%)
Export preview
Base: Aqua Silk Faint #A5B6B6
Lighter companion: Aqua Bloom Faint #BCC8C8
Darker companion: Aqua Tone Faint #8FA3A3
Complementary counterpoint: Crimson Silk Faint #B6A5A5
Analogous lead: Steel Silk Faint #A5AFB6
Analogous echo: Teal Silk Faint #A5B6B0
Triadic +120°: Fuchsia Silk Faint #B6A5B6
Triadic +240°: Citrine Silk Faint #B6B6A5
Split-comp +150°: Blush Silk Faint #B6A5AD
Split-comp +210°: Coral Silk Faint #B6ADA5

Compare

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

vsAqua Bloom FaintvsAqua Tone FaintvsCrimson Silk FaintvsSteel Silk FaintvsTeal Silk FaintvsFuchsia Silk Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Aqua Silk Muted
#9FBCBC · hsl(180, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Cyan Silk Faint
#A5B6B4 · hsl(175, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Aqua Tone Faint
#8FA3A3 · hsl(180, 10%, 60%)
Nearby match
Aqua Bloom Faint
#BCC8C8 · hsl(180, 10%, 76%)
Nearby match
Aqua Silk Dust
#98C3C3 · hsl(180, 26%, 68%)
Nearby match
Cyan Silk Muted
#9FBCBA · hsl(175, 18%, 68%)

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
AAA7.6:1
Crimson Ink Faint
#272020
AAA7.7:1
Crimson Ink Muted
#2A1D1D
AAA7.8:1
Crimson Ink Dust
#2D1A1A
AAA7.9:1
Crimson Ink Soft
#301818
AAA8:1
Crimson Ink Clear
#371010
AAA8:1
Crimson Ink Vivid
#3E0909

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#ACAAB6
Protanopia
#ADADB6
Tritanopia
#A6B6B6
Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

ColorArchive Pro includes CSS variables, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, and Procreate swatches — ready to drop into any project.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Related colors

More from Teal

Search
Sage Gray Ink#222524 · hsl(150, 5%, 14%)Sage Gray Nocturne#303633 · hsl(150, 5%, 20%)Sage Gray Shadow#444B47 · hsl(150, 5%, 28%)Sage Gray Dusk#525B57 · hsl(150, 5%, 34%)Sage Gray Velvet#66706B · hsl(150, 5%, 42%)Sage Gray Core#74817A · hsl(150, 5%, 48%)Sage Gray Radiant#84908A · hsl(150, 5%, 54%)Sage Gray Tone#949E99 · hsl(150, 5%, 60%)