Terracotta and Teal color palette
chocolate · 0.029
teal · 0.018
Designers reach for this pair when a space or brand needs warmth and trust at the same time, without going beige or corporate blue. Terracotta #C66B3D brings the clay-pot warmth of a sunbaked wall. Teal #0E7C86 cools it with a deep ocean blue-green. The sit 159 degrees apart, so they read as a strong complementary in hue while staying close in tone.
That closeness matters: the measured contrast is only 1.31 to 1, so the two should not touch as text and background. Use them as adjacent blocks instead. In interiors, think a teal sofa against a terracotta wall. In branding, pair them over a neutral like off-white or their muted olive-brown midpoint (#837968) to let both colors breathe.
See Terracotta and Teal in use
better
Terracotta Tailwind scale (50-900)
Teal Tailwind scale (50-900)
Terracotta to Teal blend
A continuous interpolation from Terracotta to Teal, sampled into the 10 steps below. Tap any swatch to copy its hex.
Why Terracotta and Teal blend best in OKLab
The same two colors blended three ways. This site uses OKLab, which keeps the blend smooth and evenly lit. The other two are shown so you can see what to avoid: sRGB darkens and muddies the middle, and HSL detours through colors that are not in your palette.
Accessibility
Do not place Terracotta text on Teal (or the reverse) for body copy. For readable text, pair a dark scale step such as terracotta-800 or teal-900 with a light one like teal-50.
Contrast pairing grid
Rows are Terracotta steps, columns are Teal steps. Each mark is a Terracotta step shown on a Teal step: a check means it clears WCAG AA for text (4.5:1). If you can read the mark, the pairing is legible.
| 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 100 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 200 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 300 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 400 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 500 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| 600 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 700 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 800 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 900 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
✓ passes AA ✗ fails AA
Copy for Tailwind
Tailwind v4 — @theme (paste into your CSS)
@theme {
--color-terracotta-50: #FCF6F3;
--color-terracotta-100: #FAEDE7;
--color-terracotta-200: #F5DED4;
--color-terracotta-300: #EECAB9;
--color-terracotta-400: #E3AE95;
--color-terracotta-500: #C66B3D;
--color-terracotta-600: #A25630;
--color-terracotta-700: #7A3F22;
--color-terracotta-800: #472210;
--color-terracotta-900: #1D0B03;
--color-teal-50: #F2F7F7;
--color-teal-100: #E5EFF0;
--color-teal-200: #CFE1E3;
--color-teal-300: #B1CFD2;
--color-teal-400: #88B6BB;
--color-teal-500: #0E7C86;
--color-teal-600: #09646D;
--color-teal-700: #054A51;
--color-teal-800: #02292D;
--color-teal-900: #000E10;
}
Tailwind v3 — tailwind.config.js
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'terracotta': {
50: '#FCF6F3',
100: '#FAEDE7',
200: '#F5DED4',
300: '#EECAB9',
400: '#E3AE95',
500: '#C66B3D',
600: '#A25630',
700: '#7A3F22',
800: '#472210',
900: '#1D0B03',
},
'teal': {
50: '#F2F7F7',
100: '#E5EFF0',
200: '#CFE1E3',
300: '#B1CFD2',
400: '#88B6BB',
500: '#0E7C86',
600: '#09646D',
700: '#054A51',
800: '#02292D',
900: '#000E10',
},
},
},
},
};
CSS variables
:root {
--terracotta-50: #FCF6F3;
--terracotta-100: #FAEDE7;
--terracotta-200: #F5DED4;
--terracotta-300: #EECAB9;
--terracotta-400: #E3AE95;
--terracotta-500: #C66B3D;
--terracotta-600: #A25630;
--terracotta-700: #7A3F22;
--terracotta-800: #472210;
--terracotta-900: #1D0B03;
--teal-50: #F2F7F7;
--teal-100: #E5EFF0;
--teal-200: #CFE1E3;
--teal-300: #B1CFD2;
--teal-400: #88B6BB;
--teal-500: #0E7C86;
--teal-600: #09646D;
--teal-700: #054A51;
--teal-800: #02292D;
--teal-900: #000E10;
}SCSS variables
$terracotta-50: #FCF6F3; $terracotta-100: #FAEDE7; $terracotta-200: #F5DED4; $terracotta-300: #EECAB9; $terracotta-400: #E3AE95; $terracotta-500: #C66B3D; $terracotta-600: #A25630; $terracotta-700: #7A3F22; $terracotta-800: #472210; $terracotta-900: #1D0B03; $teal-50: #F2F7F7; $teal-100: #E5EFF0; $teal-200: #CFE1E3; $teal-300: #B1CFD2; $teal-400: #88B6BB; $teal-500: #0E7C86; $teal-600: #09646D; $teal-700: #054A51; $teal-800: #02292D; $teal-900: #000E10;
JSON tokens
{
"terracotta": {
"50": "#FCF6F3",
"100": "#FAEDE7",
"200": "#F5DED4",
"300": "#EECAB9",
"400": "#E3AE95",
"500": "#C66B3D",
"600": "#A25630",
"700": "#7A3F22",
"800": "#472210",
"900": "#1D0B03"
},
"teal": {
"50": "#F2F7F7",
"100": "#E5EFF0",
"200": "#CFE1E3",
"300": "#B1CFD2",
"400": "#88B6BB",
"500": "#0E7C86",
"600": "#09646D",
"700": "#054A51",
"800": "#02292D",
"900": "#000E10"
}
}How we name colors
There is no single official authority for naming colors. We use the common, widely recognized name as the primary label for each color (here, Terracotta and Teal); many common names are themselves W3C CSS named colors. For transparency we also show the nearest W3C CSS named color and the perceptual distance, ΔE, measured in OKLab. A small ΔE means the name is essentially exact; a larger one means it is the closest standard name rather than a perfect match.
Sources: W3C CSS Color Module Level 4 and the open color-name-list dataset, used to verify every color sits near a recognized name.