Teal

Teal is a dark shade of cyan, a color that sits between blue and green. It is classified as a tertiary color, meaning it is a color created by mixing primary and secondary colors. This specific hue is significant because it appears in nature, technology, and various human cultures. In digital spaces, teal is a fundamental color. It is one of the first 16 HTML/CSS web colors used in computer coding. This makes it a standard building block for how we see colors on the internet.

To understand how teal is created, we can look at different mixing methods. In physical art, you can make teal by mixing cyan with black or gray to darken it. On computer screens and televisions, the process uses the RGB model. This model uses red, green, and blue light to create all colors. To produce teal on a screen, the brightness of cyan is reduced to about one half. This reduction in light intensity results in the darker, saturated look we recognize as teal.

There are several distinct variations of this color family. Teal blue is a medium tone that contains more blue than standard teal. This specific variation was recorded in English in 1927 and comes from the Plochere Color System. This system was created in 1948 to help interior designers choose colors for rooms. Another variation is teal green, which is a darker shade with more green. Teal green is described as a dark bluish-green that is stronger than colors like pine tree. There is also deep sea green, which is a specific paint color made by the company Benjamin Moore.

The name teal comes from a specific bird called the Eurasian teal, or *Anas crecca*. The male of this species has a bright stripe on its head. This stripe is a structural color, which means the color is not caused by pigment alone. Instead, the color changes based on the angle of the light hitting it. The history of the word itself goes back much further than the color name. The first English use of "teal" as a color was in 1917. However, the word for the duck comes from the Middle English word *tele*, which is related to the Dutch *taling*.

Teal has a massive presence in global culture and national symbols. It appears on the flags of Hungary and Mozambique as a greenish-teal stripe. On the flag of Sri Lanka, the teal stripe represents the country's Muslim population. In the world of transportation, the Kochi Metro in India uses teal as its official color. In New Zealand, the airline Tasman Empire Airways Limited, or TEAL, used the color for its planes and bags. This airline was the forerunner to the modern Air New Zealand.

In North America, teal became a major fashion fad during the 1990s. This popularity spread heavily into professional sports. The Charlotte Hornets of the NBA and the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL use teal as a primary color. The San Jose Sharks in the NHL use a variation called Deep Pacific Teal. Even in film, teal is important. Many modern movies use an "orange and teal" look. This technique uses color grading to make the two colors stand out against each other.

Finally, teal serves important roles in social and political systems. In Australia, "teal independents" refers to a group of political candidates from the 2022 election. They are named after the color because it blends the blue of one party with the green of another. Teal is also used for medical awareness, specifically for ovarian cancer. People wear teal ribbons or hats to bring attention to the disease. In some religious groups, like the Hermit Intercessors of the Lamb, teal symbolizes a connection between heaven and earth.