Spring green #00FF80: named shade, meaning and history

Spring green is a vivid green colour, placed halfway between green and cyan on the RGB colour wheel, with a hex code of #00FF80. The name first appeared in English in 1766, originally describing a different shade now called spring bud, but today it refers to the web colour used in digital design.

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Spring green is halfway between green and cyan on the RGB colour wheel.
Its hex code is #00FF80.
First recorded as a colour name in English in 1766.
Now a standard web and digital colour.
The traditional spring green is now called spring bud.

What colour is Spring green?

Spring green is a vivid, bright green that sits exactly between green and cyan on the RGB colour wheel. It is lighter and more bluish than traditional greens, but not as blue as cyan. In digital systems, it is defined by the hex code #00FF80, making it a standard web colour. Its appearance is clear and striking, often used to represent freshness or new growth in digital and print media.

Where does Spring green come from?

The name 'spring green' was first used in English in 1766, but at that time it described a different, more yellowish shade now called spring bud. The modern meaning comes from the RGB colour model, where spring green is the precise midpoint between green and cyan. This definition became common with the rise of computer graphics and web design, especially after the X11 colour list was published in 1987.

How Spring green is defined

Spring green as a web colour is not made from pigments or dyes, but is defined by digital values: in RGB, it is 0 red, 255 green, and 128 blue. In the CMYK system for printing, it is represented as 100% cyan, 0% magenta, 50% yellow, and 0% black. Its position on the visible spectrum is about 505 nanometres.

Where Spring green is used

Spring green is widely used in digital design, web pages, and computer graphics as a standard colour. It also appears in printed materials that use the CMYK colour system. Its clear, bright tone makes it popular for backgrounds, highlights, and accents where a fresh, modern look is wanted.

Green around the world

What the green family means from country to country.

🇦🇷 Argentina

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 protest Hope Source: Green scarf

🇦🇺 Australia

Green 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 celebration Pride Source: National colours of Australia

🇦🇺 Australia

A 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 celebration Pride Source: Baggy green

🇧🇩 Bangladesh

The 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 renewal Politics and protest Hope Source: Flag of Bangladesh

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

The 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 protest Nature and renewal Source: Flag of Bulgaria

🇧🇷 Brazil

The 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 protest Nature and renewal Pride Source: Flag of Brazil

Shades and relatives of Spring green

Several related shades are linked to spring green. 'Medium spring green' is a web colour close to but not exactly on the colour wheel, leaning slightly more toward cyan. 'Mint cream' is a pale pastel tint of spring green, while 'sea green', 'aquamarine', and 'viridian' are other nearby hues. The traditional 'spring green' is now called 'spring bud' to avoid confusion.

Colours that go with Spring green

ComplementaryIts opposite on the wheel

#00FF80 #FF0080

AnalogousIts neighbours

#00FF80 #00FF00 #00FFFF

TriadicThree evenly spaced

#00FF80 #8000FF #FF8000

Split complementaryEither side of its opposite

#00FF80 #FF00FF #FF0000

TintsLighter

#00FF80 #47FFA3 #8FFFC7 #CEFDE6

ShadesDarker

#00FF80 #00C261 #008542 #004724

White text 1.34:1fails

Black text 15.62:1passes AAA

Harmonies are worked out from the value #00FF80. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.

Questions people ask about Spring green

What colour is spring green?

Spring green is a bright, vivid green that sits exactly between green and cyan on the RGB colour wheel, with a hex code of #00FF80.

Where does the name 'spring green' come from?

The name was first recorded in English in 1766, originally for a more yellowish shade now called spring bud. The current meaning comes from digital colour systems.

How is spring green used?

Spring green is mainly used in web design, digital graphics, and print as a standard colour for backgrounds, highlights, and accents.

Is spring green a pigment or dye?

No, spring green as used today is a digital colour defined by RGB or CMYK values, not a physical pigment or dye.

What are some related colours to spring green?

Related shades include medium spring green, mint cream, sea green, aquamarine, and viridian. The traditional spring green is now called spring bud.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Spring green", 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.

Spring green