Lime
A sharp yellow-green named for the skin of the lime fruit
Lime is a striking yellow-green, named after the citrus fruit whose peel it resembles. It sits between chartreuse and yellow on the colour wheel and is often used for its high visibility. The name has been in English since the late 1800s, and the colour appears in sports, safety gear, and design.
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- Named for the colour of lime fruit skin
- Sits between chartreuse and yellow on the colour wheel
- Used on some US fire engines for visibility
- A main colour for the Canberra Raiders and Seattle Seahawks
- Defined in digital design by hex code #BFFF00
What colour is Lime?
Lime is a vivid yellow-green shade, easily recognised for its brightness and clarity. It is named after the colour of lime fruit skin. On the colour wheel, it falls between chartreuse and yellow, making it one of the most noticeable greens. Its sharp, almost fluorescent look sets it apart from softer or darker greens.
Where does Lime come from?
The name 'lime' for this colour comes from the citrus fruit, chosen because the shade matches the outer skin of the lime. The word appeared in English colour names in the 1890s. Lime is also a spectral colour, meaning it can be found in the visible light spectrum at about 564 nanometres.
How Lime is defined
Lime as a digital colour is defined by its RGB values, with a hex code of #BFFF00. It is not made from a pigment or dye, but is produced by mixing green and yellow light in screen displays or by using specific codes in digital design.
Where Lime is used
Lime has become popular in design, sports, and safety equipment. It is used for its visibility, such as on some fire engines in the United States, and in team colours for clubs like the Canberra Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. The shade is also common in web design and digital graphics, where it stands out against most backgrounds.
Green around the world
What the green family means from country to country.
A green kerchief is the sign of the campaign for legal abortion. Huge crowds wore it in 2018, and the movement was called the green wave.
Politics and protestHopeSource: Green scarfGreen and gold have been the official national colours since 1984 and are worn by national sports teams. They echo the leaves and flowers of the golden wattle.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: National colours of AustraliaA Test cricketer is given a dark green cap, the baggy green, on first playing for Australia. Many players wear the same faded cap for a whole career.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: Baggy greenThe green field of the flag stands for the land and its rice fields. Many people also read it as the youth and vigour of the country.
Nature and renewalPolitics and protestHopeSource: Flag of BangladeshThe flag is white, green and red. The green band, which took the place of the blue in the Russian flag, is read as the country's forests and farmland.
Politics and protestNature and renewalSource: Flag of BulgariaThe green field of the flag is commonly said to stand for the forests. It was first the colour of the House of Braganza, the family of the first emperor.
Politics and protestNature and renewalPrideSource: Flag of BrazilShades and relatives of Lime
Several related shades exist: 'key lime' is a lighter version; 'lemon-lime' is a fluorescent chartreuse inspired by soft drinks; 'arctic lime' and 'electric lime' are bright, almost neon tints; 'peridot' is a lime shade with a yellowish tone, named after the gemstone. The web colour 'lime' matches the green primary in the RGB model, but can differ from 'green' in other systems.
Colours that go with Lime
Harmonies are worked out from the value #BFFF00. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Lime
What colour is lime?
Lime is a bright yellow-green shade, similar to the outer skin of a lime fruit. It is vivid and easily noticed.
Where does the name 'lime' come from?
The colour is named after the citrus fruit lime, as it closely matches the colour of its peel.
How is lime used?
Lime is used in digital design, sports team uniforms, and safety equipment like fire engines, where its high visibility is valued.
Is lime a natural or synthetic colour?
As a digital or web colour, lime is defined by specific RGB values rather than a physical pigment or dye.
Are there other names for lime?
Yes, it is also called yellow-green, lemon-lime, lime green, and bitter lime.
Good reading and sources
- Lime (color) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Lime (color)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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