What Color Is Aqua? About Aqua Color

In this article, we will talk about the color aqua, its color composition and shades, and how you can use it.

There is something to be said about colors like aqua that evoke the natural beauty of something like the sea. Of the waters just within sight of the shore, brimming with light and life. Almost as beautiful on a digital screen as it is in real life.

What Color Is Aqua?

The name for this color comes from the Latin word for water. Not surprising given how much it evokes the color of a pristine sea. Specifically, the shallower waters are closer to shore rather than the deep blue of the open ocean.

Aqua itself is a variation of the color known as cyan. On the color wheel, aqua enjoys a spot between blue and green. Due to how similar aqua is too cyan and vice versa, the two colors are often used interchangeably when implemented in web design.

That said, aqua is noted for its vibrancy as a color and the striking quality of its tone. These traits have gone a long way to characterize its use in design as an accent.

Aqua may also surprise people and designers with just how versatile it can be. Both in terms of the shades it can appear in, and the colors it pairs well with.

While it may not have the long storied history of other colors, aqua may surprise you with its place in your daily life. After all, television and computer screens use it as part of the RGB color model.

Specifically, as one of the three secondary colors. Because both aqua and cyan use the same color components on digital screens, web, and graphic designers often treat them as one and the same.

As a color, aqua often inspires a sense of youth, of feeling reinvigorated, and dreaming. Not unlike what one feels on a sunny beach with perfect weather to let the sun reflect off the water, whether you are playing in the surf or relaxing on the shore.

Aqua also has a surprising amount of use in home decor and renovation.

What Color and Shades Does Aqua Come In?

Possibly because of its popular and ubiquitous use in graphics, aqua appears in many color codes and spectrums.

• Hex- #00FFFF
• RGB Decimal- 0, 255, 255
• RGB Percentage- 0, 100, 100
• CMYK- 100, 0, 0, 0
• Binary- 00000000, 11111111, 11111111
• XYZ- 53.081, 78.733, 106.95
• XYY- 0.225, 0.329, 78.733
• CIELAB- 91.113, -48.088, -14.131
• HSL- 180°, 100, 50
• CIE-LUV- 91.113, -70.477, -15.204
• HSV/HSB- 180°, 100, 100
• Web Safe- #00FFFF
• CIE-LCH- 91.113, 50.121, 196.376
• HunterLab- 88.731, -42.982, -14.726

You may notice that the spot aqua occupies in the RGB scheme contains 0% red but, at the same time, contains 100% in both blue and green.

In the CMYK schema, you can see aqua often gets used interchangeably with cyan as there it is 100% Cyan but 0% across the board with Magenta, Yellow, and Black.

The shades of aqua come in a rather remarkable range, many of which are surprisingly common for all that they differ from base aqua.

In addition to aqua and cyan, you have:

• Aqua Cyan- #01F1F1

• Aqua Clear- #8B0DD

• Deep Aqua- #014B43

• Aqua Foam- #ADC3B4

• Aqua Green- #12E193

• Aqua Forest- #5FA777

• Bright Aqua- #0BF9EA

• Deep Aquamarine- #78DBE2

• Aqua Frost- #A9D1D7

• Aqua Tint- #E5F1EE

• Aqua Island- #A1DAD7

• Aqua Lake- #30949D

• Aqua Sea- #6BAAAE

• Aqua Sky- #7BC4C4

• Aquamarine- #2EE8BB

• Aquamarine Blue- #71D9E2

• Bleached Aqua- #BCE3DF

• Aqua Obscura- #05696B

• Medium Aquamarine- #66DDAA

• Pale Aqua- #BCD4E1

• Pearl Aqua- #88D8C0

• Sweet Aqua- #A7E8D3

You may have noticed the surprising amount of shades that look almost grayer than they do blue or green, such as Pale Aqua, Aqua Tint, and Aqua Foam.

Then you have shades that lean more towards green in a way not necessarily evocative of the sea, as with Deep Aqua, Aqua Green, and Aqua Forest.

Many of the shades that lean more towards blue do not do so to the extent that the more extreme green shades of aqua do, with the exception of Bright Aqua and Aqua Cyan.

How Do I Use Aqua?

As stated earlier, aqua works excellently as an accent. You can combine it with such cool colors as black or even dark gray.

Just as aqua pairs well with cool colors, so too does it pair well with warm colors like bright oranges and yellows. The former especially if you want something that really draws the eye.

Aqua also complements reds and oranges very well.

Usually, when you use aqua, it is to instill a soothing or calming mood. Perhaps something evocative of a comfortable breeze blowing off the seas onto the beach.

For obvious reasons, it is also clear that aqua has strong associations with tropical, summery, and beachside imagery.

Bottom Line

Though on the surface aqua might appear limited, it is in fact quite versatile in terms of shades and applications.

Hope you enjoyed learning about the aqua color.