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Lime Shadow Faint
Color detail

Lime Shadow Faint

Lime · Hue 90
Metrics
S 10% · L 28%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white8.5:1AAon black2.5:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Lime Shadow Faint (#474F40) belongs to the lime family — hue 90°, 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-lime-shadow-faint: #474F40;
  --colorarchive-lime-shadow-faint-hsl: hsl(90, 10%, 28%);
  --colorarchive-lime-shadow-faint-rgb: rgb(71, 79, 64);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

OrganicSustainableGrounded
Common in

Agriculture · Sustainable Fashion · Landscape Architecture

Pairs well with

Earth tones (brown, tan), warm whites, or muted terracotta

Design tip

Ideal for brands emphasizing sustainability. Olive tones work well in navigation and secondary UI elements.

Cultural context ▶

Olive and dark lime connect to nature, military, and sustainability. Evokes resilience and growth.

Color Origins

Lime family

Half spring leaf, half pop-art neon.

Heritage

Lime — the yellow-green region of the spectrum — was often mixed by painters, for example verdigris combined with lead-tin yellow or yellow ochre. Synthetic pigments of the 19th and 20th centuries made saturated lime far easier to mix, which is why lime feels visually 'modern' even though grass and leaves have always lived there.

Across cultures

In Japan, moegi — the yellow-green of young leaves sprouting in spring — is a traditional color that falls within lime. In American pop culture, fluorescent Day-Glo pigments, popularized by 1960s psychedelic art, made neon brights like lime part of the visual vocabulary. In sportswear lime carries 'high-visibility' connotations (running gear, safety vests) that have lately come back into fashion as a deliberate aesthetic.

In the wild

Tennis balls turned lime-yellow ('optic yellow') after 1972, when the ITF adopted them as easier to see on color TV; Wimbledon kept white balls until 1986. Xbox's brand palette includes a light green that sits at the lime end, though Spotify's green and the main Xbox green are true greens. BP's Helios mark mixes green with yellow. Mountain Dew's drink is a vivid chartreuse. In film, The Matrix's coded rain is green-on-black — the choice was originally about the look of phosphor CRT terminals.

How it reads

Lime is the youngest-feeling green: it reads as fresh, citric, energetic, and slightly synthetic. At low saturation it becomes olive or moss, both heavily associated with craft, sustainability, and slow design. At high saturation it reads as sport, beverage, or technology. Lime is one of the harder hues to use as a primary brand color without trending toward 'energy drink' — many brands therefore use it as an accent against deep neutrals.

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 #474F40.

  • 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 #474F40.

  • ScandinaviaForest Green
    #3D5B49 · Spruce / fir forest in winter light
    →
  • Italy (Tuscany)Cypress Green
    #3F5E47 · Tuscan hilltop cypresses
    →
  • IrelandPeat Brown
    #604024 · Cut turf bog, Mayo + Connemara
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using lime and color in design.

Color SystemsChromatic Neutrals: Why Gray Is Never Actually Gray in Professional DesignBrand & MarketingColor in Packaging Design: What Works and WhyColor TheoryFluorescent and Neon Colors: When They Work and When They Don't

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
Lime Dusk Faint
#575F4E · hsl(90, 10%, 34%)
Darker companion
Lime Nocturne Faint
#33382E · hsl(90, 10%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Plum Shadow Faint
#47404F · hsl(270, 10%, 28%)
Analogous lead
Clover Shadow Faint
#414F40 · hsl(115, 10%, 28%)
Analogous echo
Honey Shadow Faint
#4C4F40 · hsl(70, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +120°
Sapphire Shadow Faint
#40474F · hsl(210, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +240°
Blush Shadow Faint
#4F4047 · hsl(330, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +150°
Iris Shadow Faint
#40404F · hsl(240, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +210°
Fuchsia Shadow Faint
#4F404F · hsl(300, 10%, 28%)
Export preview
Base: Lime Shadow Faint #474F40
Lighter companion: Lime Dusk Faint #575F4E
Darker companion: Lime Nocturne Faint #33382E
Complementary counterpoint: Plum Shadow Faint #47404F
Analogous lead: Clover Shadow Faint #414F40
Analogous echo: Honey Shadow Faint #4C4F40
Triadic +120°: Sapphire Shadow Faint #40474F
Triadic +240°: Blush Shadow Faint #4F4047
Split-comp +150°: Iris Shadow Faint #40404F
Split-comp +210°: Fuchsia Shadow Faint #4F404F

Compare

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

vsLime Dusk FaintvsLime Nocturne FaintvsPlum Shadow FaintvsClover Shadow FaintvsHoney Shadow FaintvsSapphire Shadow Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Lime Shadow Muted
#47543B · hsl(90, 18%, 28%)
Nearby match
Lime Dusk Faint
#575F4E · hsl(90, 10%, 34%)
Nearby match
Lime Nocturne Faint
#33382E · hsl(90, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Lime Shadow Dust
#475A35 · hsl(90, 26%, 28%)
Nearby match
Lime Dusk Muted
#576647 · hsl(90, 18%, 34%)
Nearby match
Lime Nocturne Muted
#333C2A · hsl(90, 18%, 20%)

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
AAA8.1:1
Plum Veil Faint
#FAF9FA
AAA8.1:1
Plum Veil Muted
#FAF9FB
AAA8.1:1
Plum Veil Dust
#FAF9FB
AAA8.1:1
Plum Veil Soft
#FAF8FC
AAA8:1
Plum Veil Clear
#FAF7FD
AAA8:1
Plum Veil Vivid
#FAF6FE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#4A4A45
Protanopia
#4B4B44
Tritanopia
#474748
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Lime Shadow Faint#474F40 · hsl(90, 10%, 28%)Lime Shadow Muted#47543B · hsl(90, 18%, 28%)Lime Shadow Dust#475A35 · hsl(90, 26%, 28%)Lime Shadow Soft#47602F · hsl(90, 34%, 28%)Lime Shadow Clear#476E21 · hsl(90, 54%, 28%)Lime Shadow Vivid#477C13 · hsl(90, 74%, 28%)Lime Shadow Bright#47830B · hsl(90, 84%, 28%)Lime Shadow Pure#478906 · hsl(90, 92%, 28%)
More from Lime →