Color comparison

Sage Green vs Olive Green

Sage Green and Olive Green are different green colors with HEX values #9CAF88 and #708238. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 101.8, their contrast ratio is 1.8:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Sage Green and Olive Green are clearly different colors. Sage Green is the lighter option. Olive Green reads warmer. Their mutual contrast is 1.8:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Sage Green#9CAF88

Olive Green#708238

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Sage Green and Olive Green across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance101.8

Pair contrast1.8:1

Luminance delta0.1981

Hue delta14 deg

Lighter colorSage Green

More saturatedOlive Green

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

green color

Sage Green

Sage Green is #9CAF88, a cool green color with muted and earth tone character. Compared with Olive Green, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for interior design, wellness branding, and natural palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#9CAF88 RGB156, 175, 136 HSL89, 20, 61 CMYK11, 0, 22, 31 Luminance0.3951 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

green color

Olive Green

Olive Green is #708238, a warm green color with earth tone and muted character. Compared with Sage Green, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for heritage palettes, outdoor brands, and natural product design, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#708238 RGB112, 130, 56 HSL75, 40, 36 CMYK14, 0, 57, 49 Luminance0.197 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Sage Green or Olive Green

Choose Sage GreenSage Green is better when the design needs muted and earth tone green character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #9CAF88.

Choose Olive GreenOlive Green is better when the design needs earth tone and muted green character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #708238.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertySage GreenOlive Green

HEX#9CAF88#708238

RGB156, 175, 136112, 130, 56

HSL89, 20, 6175, 40, 36

CMYK11, 0, 22, 3114, 0, 57, 49

FamilyGreenGreen

TemperatureCoolWarm

ToneMuted, Earth ToneEarth Tone, Muted

Luminance0.39510.197

Black contrast8.9:14.94:1

White contrast2.36:14.25:1

Shared tonesMuted, Earth Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Sage Greenblack text - 8.9:1

Olive Greenblack text - 4.94:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Sage Green#9CAF88

Olive Green#708238

#CAD4BF#CAD4BF

#A1B95B#A1B95B

#9B88AF#9B88AF

#493781#493781

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "sage-green",
    "name": "Sage Green",
    "hex": "#9CAF88",
    "rgb": [
      156,
      175,
      136
    ],
    "hsl": [
      89,
      20,
      61
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      11,
      0,
      22,
      31
    ],
    "family": "green",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "muted",
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.3951,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 8.9,
      "white": 2.36
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.9
    },
    "description": "Sage Green is #9CAF88, a cool green color with muted and earth tone character. Compared with Olive Green, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for interior design, wellness branding, and natural palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sage-green/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sage-green.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "olive-green",
    "name": "Olive Green",
    "hex": "#708238",
    "rgb": [
      112,
      130,
      56
    ],
    "hsl": [
      75,
      40,
      36
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      14,
      0,
      57,
      49
    ],
    "family": "green",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "earth-tone",
      "muted"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.197,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.94,
      "white": 4.25
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 4.94
    },
    "description": "Olive Green is #708238, a warm green color with earth tone and muted character. Compared with Sage Green, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for heritage palettes, outdoor brands, and natural product design, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/olive-green/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/olive-green.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 101.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.8,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 14,
    "saturation": 20,
    "lightness": 25
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.1981,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": false,
  "sharedTones": [
    "muted",
    "earth-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Sage Green",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Olive Green"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.8,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Sage Green",
      "background": "#9CAF88",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 8.9
    },
    {
      "color": "Olive Green",
      "background": "#708238",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 4.94
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Sage Green is better when the design needs muted and earth tone green character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #9CAF88.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Olive Green is better when the design needs earth tone and muted green character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #708238.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/sage-green-vs-olive-green.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sage-green.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/olive-green.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "sage-green-vs-olive-green",
  "type": "curated",
  "name": "Sage Green vs Olive Green",
  "verdict": "Sage Green and Olive Green are clearly different colors. Sage Green is the lighter option. Olive Green reads warmer. Their mutual contrast is 1.8:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Sage Green and Olive Green are different green colors with HEX values #9CAF88 and #708238. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 101.8, their contrast ratio is 1.8:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 101.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.8,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "sage-green",
      "name": "Sage Green",
      "hex": "#9CAF88",
      "rgb": [
        156,
        175,
        136
      ],
      "hsl": [
        89,
        20,
        61
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        11,
        0,
        22,
        31
      ],
      "family": "green",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "muted",
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.3951,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 8.9,
        "white": 2.36
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.9
      },
      "description": "Sage Green is #9CAF88, a cool green color with muted and earth tone character. Compared with Olive Green, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for interior design, wellness branding, and natural palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/sage-green/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sage-green.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "olive-green",
      "name": "Olive Green",
      "hex": "#708238",
      "rgb": [
        112,
        130,
        56
      ],
      "hsl": [
        75,
        40,
        36
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        14,
        0,
        57,
        49
      ],
      "family": "green",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "earth-tone",
        "muted"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.197,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.94,
        "white": 4.25
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 4.94
      },
      "description": "Olive Green is #708238, a warm green color with earth tone and muted character. Compared with Sage Green, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for heritage palettes, outdoor brands, and natural product design, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/olive-green/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/olive-green.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 101.8,
    "contrastRatio": 1.8,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 14,
      "saturation": 20,
      "lightness": 25
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.1981,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": false,
    "sharedTones": [
      "muted",
      "earth-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Sage Green",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Olive Green"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.8,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Sage Green",
        "background": "#9CAF88",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 8.9
      },
      {
        "color": "Olive Green",
        "background": "#708238",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 4.94
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Sage Green is better when the design needs muted and earth tone green character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #9CAF88.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Olive Green is better when the design needs earth tone and muted green character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #708238.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/sage-green-vs-olive-green.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/sage-green.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/olive-green.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/sage-green-vs-olive-green/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/sage-green-vs-olive-green.json"
}