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Colors · value from the xkcd color survey (2010)

Mint color: hex code #9FFEB0, RGB and palettes

Mint is #9FFEB0 (RGB 159, 254, 176), the xkcd survey value: a pale, fresh green with a hint of blue. Dark text works well on it, with black at 17.27:1, but mint on white is just 1.21:1.

By Paul Gunder. Every value is computed from published standards; see how ColorPlum works.

Updated

ColorPlum swatchMintpale, saturated green
HEX
#9FFEB0
RGB
rgb(159, 254, 176)
HSL
hsl(131, 98%, 81%)

Best text on it: black at 17.27:1

Copy codes as
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Every code for Mint

  • HEX#9FFEB0
  • RGBrgb(159, 254, 176)
  • HSLhsl(131, 98%, 81%)
  • HSV131°, 37%, 100%
  • CMYK37%, 0%, 31%, 0%
  • Lablab(92.3% -41.2 28.2)
  • OKLCHoklch(91.8% 0.14 148.8)
  • Decimal10485424

Tints, shades and tones

From white to black in 10% steps, with Mint in the middle. Tap a code to copy it.

  1. 90%#F5FFF7
  2. 80%#ECFFEF
  3. 70%#E2FFE7
  4. 60%#D9FFDF
  5. 50%#CFFFD8
  6. 40%#C5FED0
  7. 30%#BCFEC8
  8. 20%#B2FEC0
  9. 10%#A9FEB8
  10. Base#9FFEB0
  11. 10%#8FE59E
  12. 20%#7FCB8D
  13. 30%#6FB27B
  14. 40%#5F986A
  15. 50%#507F58
  16. 60%#406646
  17. 70%#304C35
  18. 80%#203323
  19. 90%#101912

Tones (mixed with gray)

  1. 10%#9CF1AB
  2. 20%#99E5A6
  3. 30%#96D8A2
  4. 40%#93CC9D
  5. 50%#90BF98
  6. 60%#8CB293
  7. 70%#89A68E
  8. 80%#86998A
  9. 90%#838D85

Matching colors

Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split complementary
Tetradic (square)
Monochromatic
  • #08FC33
  • #53FD72
  • #9FFEB0
  • #EBFFEE
  • #EBFFEE

Mint in 3D color space

OKLab, the space ColorPlum does its math in: lightness runs up the pole, hue goes around it and saturation grows outward. The faint shell is every color a screen can show (saturation is drawn wider than lightness so hues separate). Drag to turn it.

Mint with its complement, its triad and its tint and shade
  • Mint
  • Triad #B09FFE
  • Triad #FEB09F
  • Complement
  • 50% tint
  • 50% shade

Mint in use

New collectionAutumn edit

Card body text stays dark for reading; mint carries the header and the button.

Shop nowTag

Headline in Mint

A paragraph with a link in dark text, because this color is too light for text on white; use it for fills instead.

How it looks with color-vision deficiency

A simulation (Machado and colleagues, 2009) of how the color and its complement read without one type of cone.

  • Typical color vision#9FFEB0
  • Protanopia (no red cones)#FFEFAB
  • Deuteranopia (no green cones)#F1E5B4
  • Tritanopia (no blue cones)#91FAE9

Contrast and readability

PairingRatioWCAG 2.2
as text on white1.21:1AA AA large AAA
as text on black17.27:1AA AA large AAA
white text on it1.21:1AA AA large AAA
black text on it17.27:1AA AA large AAA
on your background1.06:1AA AA large AAA

Export

:root {
  --mint: #9ffeb0;
  --mint-rgb: 159 254 176;
  --mint-on: #000000;
}
On this page

Mint is named after the herb, though the color most people imagine is closer to mint ice cream or toothpaste than to the leaf itself. CSS has no keyword called mint, so the page shows #9FFEB0, taken from the xkcd survey. In that survey, people looked at colors on screen and typed the name they would use, and this was the most common answer for "mint".

Reading the values

The RGB numbers are 159, 254, 176: green is nearly at maximum, blue is a little above red, so the color is green with a slight cool lean. HSL gives hue 131°, 98% saturation and 81% lightness. CMYK is 37%, 0%, 31%, 0%, and the decimal form is 10485424. The HSL saturation is high, but the lightness makes it feel like a light, sweet pastel.

The nearest survey names are "light mint green" (#A6FBB2) and "light seafoam green" (#A7FFB5), both 1.1 away in OKLab, and "foam green" (#90FDA9) at 1.8. Among CSS colors, palegreen (#98FB98) is closest at 3.0, followed by aquamarine at 4.8 and lightgreen at 5.4. If you are choosing a CSS keyword and want this look, palegreen is the one, though it is slightly warmer and less blue.

Text and background

Mint is bright, so it asks for dark companions.

  • Black on mint: 17.27:1. A dark forest tone such as #203323 gives 11.08:1, and the 70% shade #304C35 gives 7.81:1, which passes AAA.
  • Mint as text: on white it measures only 1.21:1. On black it is 17.27:1, so it can work as a bright accent on dark pages.
  • Green text on white: use a deeper step, for example #406646 at 6.54:1, or #304C35 at 9.49:1.
  • Opposite: the complement is a pink, #FE9FED. The two together are 1.51:1, so they are for fills, not for text on each other. Analogous colors are #BDFE9F (lime) and #9FFEDF (aqua).

Tints move from #A9FEB8 to #F5FFF7, so very pale mint backgrounds are easy to get from the same hue.

Worked example

Say you are designing a mobile app for a plant-watering reminder. The home screen uses a pale mint tint, #ECFFEF, as the background and the main card is full mint. Plant names inside the card are set in #203323, which reaches 11.08:1. The "Water now" button is the dark green #304C35 with a pale #ECFFEF label, a pair that measures 9.09:1. You keep mint itself away from icons on white, since 1.21:1 would hide them, and instead draw those icons in the dark green. The whole screen stays fresh, with real contrast where users tap.

For other greens see pastel green and dusty green; ice blue is a cooler pale partner. For a seasonal set, try the spring color palettes.

Sources

  1. xkcd, Color survey results: the 954 most common color names (Randall Munroe, 2010; checked 2026-11-10) xkcd.com
  2. xkcd, Color survey results (blog post by Randall Munroe, 2010; checked 2026-11-10) blog.xkcd.com
  3. W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2: contrast minimum (checked 2026-11-10) w3.org