RAL and NCS values are nearest equivalents, not official designations.
In Western cultures, teal often symbolizes emotional balance and rejuvenation, while in some Indigenous cultures of North America, it represents healing and protection. This duality makes teal a versatile color with varied meanings across different contexts.
The term 'teal' originated in the early 20th century, named after the common teal bird whose eyes are surrounded by this striking color. The first recorded use of teal as a color name in English dates back to 1917, showcasing its gradual acceptance into the color lexicon.
Where the name and the color come from.
Teal is named after a bird: the Eurasian teal, a small freshwater duck that wears a distinctive blue-green stripe across its eye. The color name entered English around 1917, borrowing the exact shade of that marking.
Sitting midway between blue and green, teal is one of those in-between colors that people argue about — and that ambiguity is its appeal. It feels both calming (its blue side) and refreshing (its green side).
The places, brands and moments that shaped this color.
Teal had two great moments — the sleek glamour of 1920s–30s Art Deco, and a saturated 1990s revival across fashion, cars and graphic design.
Its calm, clean quality makes teal a favorite in medical, wellness and software branding.
Nature's most famous teals — peacock feathers and shallow tropical seas — keep the color tied to richness and escape.
How it behaves in interiors, fashion and branding.
Teal is a confident accent that bridges blue and green schemes, which makes it unusually easy to slot into a palette. In interiors it brings depth on cabinetry, velvet and tile; in graphics it reads modern and trustworthy without the corporate coolness of pure blue.
Its natural complement is coral/orange, a pairing so reliable it has become a design cliché in the best sense — instantly balanced and lively.
Curated combinations — and exactly why each one works.
Ranked by CIE76 ΔE — the perceptual distance from Teal. Lower ΔE means a closer match (below ~2 is barely distinguishable).
All 45 Blues →Nine steps of Teal by lightness — from #004343 (darkest) to #7ABDBD (lightest). Click any to copy.
Sitting opposite Teal at 0° on the color wheel, these give the highest-contrast pairings.
Curated 5-color combinations featuring Teal.
A 50–900 tonal scale with Teal anchored at 500 — ready to drop into a design system. Click any step to copy.
Works well as text on light backgrounds; fails on dark.
Thresholds: AA needs 4.5:1 (normal text) / 3:1 (large); AAA needs 7:1 / 4.5:1. Large = 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold.
Copy-ready values for CSS, screen and print, plus the extra conversions designers reach for.
color: teal; color-mix(in srgb, teal 70%, white) 180°, 100%, 50% 100, 0, 0, 50 32896 #009999 How Teal appears to viewers with the three main types of color blindness (~1 in 12 men, 1 in 200 women). Simulated approximations.
Quick answers to the questions people ask about Teal.
Both — teal is a blue-green that sits between the two on the color wheel. Depending on the exact mix and the light, it can lean either way, which is why people perceive it differently.
Teal is the deepest and most muted; turquoise is brighter and a touch greener, evoking the gemstone; cyan is the lightest and most electric, a pure printing primary. Teal reads sophisticated, turquoise tropical, cyan digital.
Coral and orange for vivid complementary contrast, mustard and gold for warmth, cream and white to lighten, and navy or charcoal for a deep, tonal scheme.