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Olive Core Dust
Color detail

Olive Core Dust

Lime · Hue 80
Metrics
S 26% · L 48%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white3.1:1AA Largeon black6.8:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Olive Core Dust (#859A5B) belongs to the lime family — hue 80°, 26% saturation, 48% 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-olive-core-dust: #859A5B;
  --colorarchive-olive-core-dust-hsl: hsl(80, 26%, 48%);
  --colorarchive-olive-core-dust-rgb: rgb(133, 154, 91);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

VibrantYouthfulDynamic
Common in

Gaming · Streetwear · Energy Drinks

Pairs well with

Black or dark purple for high-contrast impact, white for clean energy

Design tip

Best for accent elements that need to pop. Use with dark backgrounds for maximum visibility in gaming and tech interfaces.

Cultural context ▶

Electric lime signals youth culture, technology, and rebellion. Popular in gaming and urban fashion.

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 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 many 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 #859A5B.

  • Anthropicaccent
    Anthropic Green · #788C5D
    →
  • Notionneutral
    Notion Gray · #787774
    →
  • Microsoftneutral
    Slate Gray · #737373
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #859A5B.

  • IrelandPasture Green
    #7C9A4C · Limestone-base pastureland, the West
    →
  • AustraliaBush Khaki
    #8E895C · Outback grassland in dry season
    →
  • IcelandLichen Green
    #9CA577 · Cetraria islandica
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using lime and color in design.

Color TheorySeasonal Color Analysis Guide: Understanding Your Personal Color SeasonColor TheorySurface Finish and Color Perception: How Matte, Satin, and Gloss Change What You SeeColor TheoryMonochromatic Color Palette: How to Design with One Hue

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
Olive Radiant Dust
#94A86B · hsl(80, 26%, 54%)
Darker companion
Olive Velvet Dust
#74874F · hsl(80, 26%, 42%)
Complementary counterpoint
Orchid Core Dust
#705B9A · hsl(260, 26%, 48%)
Analogous lead
Moss Core Dust
#709A5B · hsl(100, 26%, 48%)
Analogous echo
Canary Core Dust
#9A955B · hsl(55, 26%, 48%)
Triadic +120°
Azure Core Dust
#5B859A · hsl(200, 26%, 48%)
Triadic +240°
Rose Core Dust
#9A5B85 · hsl(320, 26%, 48%)
Split-comp +150°
Indigo Core Dust
#5B659A · hsl(230, 26%, 48%)
Split-comp +210°
Magenta Core Dust
#905B9A · hsl(290, 26%, 48%)
Export preview
Base: Olive Core Dust #859A5B
Lighter companion: Olive Radiant Dust #94A86B
Darker companion: Olive Velvet Dust #74874F
Complementary counterpoint: Orchid Core Dust #705B9A
Analogous lead: Moss Core Dust #709A5B
Analogous echo: Canary Core Dust #9A955B
Triadic +120°: Azure Core Dust #5B859A
Triadic +240°: Rose Core Dust #9A5B85
Split-comp +150°: Indigo Core Dust #5B659A
Split-comp +210°: Magenta Core Dust #905B9A

Compare

See how Olive Core Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsOlive Radiant DustvsOlive Velvet DustvsOrchid Core DustvsMoss Core DustvsCanary Core DustvsAzure Core Dust

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Olive Core Muted
#829064 · hsl(80, 18%, 48%)
Nearby match
Olive Core Soft
#88A451 · hsl(80, 34%, 48%)
Nearby match
Olive Velvet Dust
#74874F · hsl(80, 26%, 42%)
Nearby match
Olive Radiant Dust
#94A86B · hsl(80, 26%, 54%)
Nearby match
Chartreuse Core Dust
#8A9A5B · hsl(75, 26%, 48%)
Nearby match
Olive Core Faint
#7E876E · hsl(80, 10%, 48%)

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
AA4.5:1
Orchid Shadow Bright
#330B83
AA4.6:1
Orchid Nocturne Dust
#2F2640
AA4.8:1
Orchid Nocturne Soft
#2D2244
AA5.1:1
Orchid Nocturne Clear
#2A174F
AA5.3:1
Orchid Nocturne Vivid
#260D59
AA5.3:1
Orchid Nocturne Bright
#25085E

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#8D8C73
Protanopia
#8F8F6E
Tritanopia
#867B7E
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Olive Core Faint#7E876E · hsl(80, 10%, 48%)Olive Core Muted#829064 · hsl(80, 18%, 48%)Olive Core Dust#859A5B · hsl(80, 26%, 48%)Olive Core Soft#88A451 · hsl(80, 34%, 48%)Olive Core Clear#90BC38 · hsl(80, 54%, 48%)Olive Core Vivid#99D520 · hsl(80, 74%, 48%)Olive Core Bright#9DE114 · hsl(80, 84%, 48%)Olive Core Pure#A0EB0A · hsl(80, 92%, 48%)
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