There are many tints and shades of the color gray. A selection of these various colors are shown below.
| Gray/Grey | ||
|---|---|---|
| — Common connotations — | ||
| depression, boredom, neutrality, undefinedness, old age, contentment and speed | ||
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #808080 | |
| sRGBB | (r, g, b) | (128, 128, 128) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 50%) |
| Source | HTML/CSS[1] | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Contents |
Below is a chart showing the computer web color grays. An achromatic gray is a gray color in which the red, green, and blue codes are exactly equal. The web colors gray, gainsboro, light gray, dark gray, and dim gray are all achromatic colors. A chromatic gray is a gray color in which the red, green, and blue codes are not exactly equal, but are close to each other, which is what makes it a shade of gray.
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The colors white and black are not usually thought of as shades of gray, but they can be thought of as shades of achromatic gray, as both contain equal amounts of red, blue and green. White is at the extreme upper end of the achromatic value scale and black is at the extreme lower end of the achromatic value scale, with all the colors normally considered tones of achromatic gray colors in between. Since achromatic colors have no hue, the hue code (h code) is left blank for achromatic colors (usually marked as a dash).
| White | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #FFFFFF | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (255, 255, 255) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (-°, 0%, 100%) |
| Source | By definition | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness. White is the lightest possible color.
| Black | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #000000 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (0, 0, 0) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (-°, -%, 0%) |
| Source | By definition | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light. Black is the darkest possible color.
Achromatic grays are colors in which the rgb (red, green, and blue) values are exactly equal. Since achromatic grays have no hue, the hue code (the h in the hsv values of the color) is indicated with a dash. Achromatic grays are the axis of the color sphere, with white at the north pole and black at the south pole of the color sphere. The various tones of achromatic gray are along the axis of the color sphere from white at the top of the axis to black at the bottom of the axis.
| Gainsboro | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #DCDCDC | |
| sRGBB | (r, g, b) | (220, 220, 220) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 86[2]%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the web color gainsboro.
Gainsboro is a pale tone of gray.
There is no evidence the name gainsboro was used as a color name before it was included as one of the X11 colors when they were formulated in 1987.
| Light Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #D3D3D3 | |
| sRGBB | (r, g, b) | (211, 211, 211) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 83[3]%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the web color light gray.
| Gray (X11) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #BEBEBE | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (190, 190, 190) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 75[4]%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the color medium gray, i.e. gray as defined in the X11 color names, which is lighter than the HTML/CSS gray shown below.
See the chart Color names that clash between X11 and HTML/CSS in the X11 color names article to see those colors which are different in HTML/CSS and X11.
| Dark Gray (X11) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #A9A9A9 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (169, 169, 169) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 66[5]%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the color dark medium gray, i.e. dark gray as defined in the X11 color names. This color, altho it is called dark gray in X11, is actually lighter than the HTML/CSS gray shown below because it is called dark gray in relation to the X11 gray shown above.
| Gray/Grey | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #808080 | |
| sRGBB | (r, g, b) | (128, 128, 128) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 50[6]%) |
| Source | HTML/CSS[1] | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the color gray.
The first recorded use of gray as a color name in the English language was in 700.[7]
This tone of "gray" (HTML gray) is universally used as the standard for gray because it is that tone of gray which is halfway between white and black.
| Dim Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
||
| Hex triplet | #696969 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (105, 105, 105) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (--°, 0%, 41[8]%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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At right is displayed the web color dim gray.
This color is a dark tone of gray.
Off-grays are colors that are very close to achromatic grays, but whose red, green, and blue color codes are not exactly equal.
| Charcoal | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #36454F | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (54, 69, 79) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (204°, 31%, 31 [9]%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Charcoal is a color that is a representation of the dark gray color of burned wood.
The first recorded use of charcoal as a color name in English was in 1606.[10]
Source of color: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Charcoal (color sample #187).
Platinum is a color that is the metallic tint of pale grayish-white resembling the metal platinum.
The first recorded use of platinum as a color name in English was in 1918.[11]
| Timberwolf | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #DBD7D2 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (219, 215, 210) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (33°, 4%, 86%) |
| Source | Crayola | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Timberwolf is a light gray color with a hue that is somewhat toward the white. It is a representation of the color of the fur of lower snout and the legs of a gray wolf. It is between gray and white in terms of its value (darkness). Timberwolf was a color that was created by Crayola in 1993. It came from the Big Box of 96. The shade also appears in Crayola's 36 and 50 colored pencil sets as "Cool Gray".
| Ash gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #B2BEB5 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (178, 190, 181) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (135°, 6%, 75 [12]%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Displayed at right is the color ash gray.
The color ash gray is a representation of the average color of ash.
The first recorded use of ash gray as a color name in English was in 1374. [13]
| Battleship Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #848482 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (132, 132, 130) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (60°, 2%, 52[14]%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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The color battleship gray is displayed at right. It is so called because the color is the drab shade of gray used for battleship camouflage. It is also the color British Railways location cases are painted, after buying the excess paint from the Royal Navy following World War II.
Cool grays are colors that are noticeably blueish gray, cyanish gray, greenish gray, or violetish gray.
Cool gray is a medium light color gray mixed with the color blue.
This color is a dull shade of blue-gray.
This color is identical with color sample #203 (identified as a tone of "gray blue" or "grayish blue") at the following website: http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-g.htm—The ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names (1955), a website for stamp collectors to evaluate the colors of their stamps.
Poet George Sterling once wrote a poem calling San Francisco the Cool Grey City of Love. [15] The phrase cool grey as applied to San Francisco refers to the frequent fogs from the Pacific Ocean that envelop the city.
| Cadet Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
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— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #91A3B0 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (145, 163, 176) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (205°, 18%, 69[14]%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Cadet gray is a slightly bluish shade of the color gray. The first recorded use of cadet grey as a color name in English was in 1912.[16]
Before 1912, the word cadet gray was used as a name for a type of military issue uniforms. Most famously, it was the color of the uniforms of the Confederate Army. In 1815, it had earlier become the color of the uniforms of the United States Military Academy (West Point).[17]
| Blue-Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #6699CC | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (102, 153, 204) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (210°, 50%, 80[18]%) |
| Source | Crayola | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Blue-Gray was a Crayola crayon color from 1958 to 1990.
| Glaucous | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #6082B6 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (96, 130, 182) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (216°, 47%, 71%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Glaucous (from the Latin glaucus, meaning "bluish-gray", from the Greek glaukos) is used to describe the pale gray or blue appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens), Glaucous Macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus), and Glaucous Tanager (Thraupis glaucocolpa).
| Slate Gray | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #708090 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (112, 128, 144) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (210°, 22%, 56%) |
| Source | X11 | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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Slate gray is a gray color with a slight azure tinge that is a representation of the average color of the material slate.
The first recorded use of slate gray as a color name in English was in 1705. [19]
Warm grays are colors that are noticeably brownish or pinkish grays. The color brown is itself is a dark shade of orange. Brown colors also include dark shades of rose, red, and amber. Pink colors include light tones of rose, red, and orange. These tones of pink become warm grays when they are mixed with gray.
Puce is the color of the belly of a flea. Puce is the French word for flea.
"Puce" has been in use as a color name in French since the 14th century.
Mountbatten pink, also called Plymouth pink,[20] is a naval camouflage color, a grayish tone of mauve, invented by Louis Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy in autumn 1940 during World War II.
| Rose Quartz | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #AA98A9 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (170, 152, 169) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (330°, 12%, 50%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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There is a grayish tone of rose called rose quartz.
The first recorded use of rose quartz as a color name in English was in 1926.[21]
Cinereous is a color, meaning ashy gray in appearance, either consisting of or resembling ashes, or a gray color tinged with coppery brown. It is derived from the Latin cinereous, from cinis (ashes).
The first recorded use of cinereous as a color name in English was in 1661.[22]
| Taupe | ||
|---|---|---|
|
— Color coordinates — |
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| Hex triplet | #483C32 | |
| RGBB | (r, g, b) | (72, 60, 50) |
| HSV | (h, s, v) | (30°, 17%, 34%) |
| Source | ISCC-NBS | |
| B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) |
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The color displayed at right matches the color sample called taupe referenced below in the 1930 book A Dictionary of Color, the world standard for color terms before the invention of computers. However, the word taupe may often be used to refer to lighter shades of taupe today, and therefore another name for this color is dark taupe.
The first use of "taupe" as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact year is not known).[23]
| Shades of gray | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Ash gray | Battleship gray | Black | Cadet gray | Charcoal | Cool gray | Davy's gray | Payne's gray | Silver |
| Slate gray | Taupe | Purple taupe | Medium taupe | Rose quartz | Taupe gray | Timberwolf | White | ||
| The samples shown above are only indicative. | |||||||||