Shades of gray

For other uses, see Shades of gray (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Fifty Shades of Grey.
For a broader coverage related to this topic, see Grey.
Gray/Grey
Common connotations
pessimism, depression, boredom, neutrality, undefinedness, old age, contentment and elegance
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #808080
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (128, 128, 128)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 50)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 50%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Variations of gray or grey include achromatic grayscale shades, which lie exactly between white and black, and nearby colors with low colorfulness. A selection of a number of these various colors are shown below.

Chart of computer web color grays

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.

HTML Color Name Sample Hex triplet
(rendered by name) (rendered by hex triplet)
gainsboro #DCDCDC
lightgray #D3D3D3
silver #C0C0C0
darkgray #A9A9A9
gray #808080
dimgray #696969
lightslategray #778899
slategray #708090
darkslategray #2F4F4F

White and black

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

Main article: White
White
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #FFFFFF
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (255, 255, 255)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v) (-°, 0%, 100%)
Source By definition
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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

Main article: Black
Black
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #000000
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (0, 0, 0)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 100)
HSV       (h, s, v) (–°, –%, 0%)
Source By definition
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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

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

Gainsboro
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #DCDCDC
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (220, 220, 220)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 14)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 86[2]%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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

Light gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #D3D3D3
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (211, 211, 211)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 17)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 83[3]%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the web color light gray.

Silver

Main article: Silver (color)
Silver
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #C0C0C0
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (192, 192, 192)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 75%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color silver.

This color is a representation of the color of the metal silver

This is supposed to be a metallic color; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen.

Medium gray (gray (X11))

Gray (X11)
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #BEBEBE
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (190, 190, 190)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 26)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 75[4]%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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. The coordinates in the X11 were set at 190 to avoid gray being displayed as white on 2-bit grayscale displays.[5]

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 medium gray (dark gray (X11))

Dark gray (X11)
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #A9A9A9
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (169, 169, 169)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 34)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 66[6]%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the color dark medium gray, i.e. dark gray as defined in the X11 color names. This color, although 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.

Spanish gray

Gray (G&S)
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #989898
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (152, 152, 152)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 60)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 60%)
Source Gallego and Sanz[7]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Spanish gray is the color that is called gris (the Spanish word for "gray") in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Gray

Gray/Grey
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #808080
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (128, 128, 128)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 50)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 50[8]%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the color gray.

The first recorded use of gray as a color name in the English language was in 700.[9]

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

Dim gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #696969
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (105, 105, 105)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 59)
HSV       (h, s, v) (--°, 0%, 41[10]%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the web color dim gray.

This color is a dark tone of gray.


Gunmetal

Gunmetal
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #2a3439
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (16.49, 20.29, 22.25)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (19, 5, 0, 60)
HSV       (h, s, v) (195°, 19%, 40%)
Source Encycolorpedia
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)
Main article: Gunmetal § Color

The color gunmetal is displayed on the right.

Gunmetal may actually refer to a shade of gray that has a bluish purple tinge.

Davy's gray

Davy's gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #555555
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (85, 85, 85)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 67)
HSV       (h, s, v) (-°, 0%, 33[11]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Davy's gray is a dark gray color, made from powdered slate, iron oxide and carbon black named for Henry Davy.[12][13]

The first recorded use of Davy’s gray as a color name in English was around 1940.[14][15]


Jet

Jet
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #343434
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (52, 52, 52)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 0, 80)
HSV       (h, s, v) (-°, 0%, 20[16]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color jet is displayed at right.

The color jet is a representation of the color of the mineraloid Jet.

The first recorded use of jet as a color name in English was in 1450.[17]


Off-grays

Off-grays are colors that are very close to achromatic grays, but whose red, green, and blue color codes are not exactly equal.

Platinum

Main article: Platinum (color)

Platinum is a color that is the metallic tint of pale whitish grey resembling the metal platinum.

This is supposed to be a metallic color; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen.

The first recorded use of platinum as a color name in English was in 1918.[18]

Ash gray

Wood ash from a campfire
Ash gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #B2BEB5
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (178, 190, 181)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (6, 0, 5, 25)
HSV       (h, s, v) (135°, 6%, 75[19]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[20]


Battleship gray

"Battleship grey" redirects here. For the Tiësto song, see Battleship Grey (song).
Battleship gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #848482
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (132, 132, 130)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 0, 2, 48)
HSV       (h, s, v) (60°, 2%, 52[21]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color battleship gray is displayed at right. It is so called because the color is the shade of gray from the specular micaceous hematite paint used for rustproofing iron and steel battleships.[22]


Charcoal

Charcoal
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #36454F
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (54, 69, 79)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (32, 13, 0, 69)
HSV       (h, s, v) (204°, 31%, 31[23]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[24]

Source of color: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Charcoal (color sample #187).

Timberwolf

Timberwolf
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #DBD7D2
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (86, 84, 82)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 2, 4, 14)
HSV       (h, s, v) (33°, 11%, 84%)
Source Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The color timberwolf is displayed at the right.

Cool grays

Cool grays are colors that are noticeably blueish gray, grayish cyan, greenish gray, or violetish gray.

Cool gray

Cool gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #8C92AC
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (140, 146, 172)
HSV       (h, s, v) (229°, 19%, 68%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Cool gray, also spelled cool grey, is a medium light color gray mixed with the color blue.

Another name for this color is cool grey.

This color is a dull shade of blue-gray.

This color is identical with color sample #203 (identified as "gray 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[25] The phrase cool grey as applied to San Francisco refers to the frequent fogs from the Pacific Ocean that envelop the city.

Cadet gray

Cadet gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #91A3B0
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (145, 163, 176)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (18, 74, 0, 31)
HSV       (h, s, v) (205°, 18%, 69[21]%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Cadet gray is a slightly bluish shade of gray. The first recorded use of cadet grey as a color name in English was in 1912.[26]

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).[27]

Blue-gray

Main article: Blue-gray
Blue-gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #6699CC
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (102, 153, 204)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (50, 25, 0, 20)
HSV       (h, s, v) (210°, 50%, 80[28]%)
Source Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Blue-Gray was a Crayola crayon color from 1958 to 1990.

Glaucous

Main article: Glaucous
Glaucous
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #6082B6
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (96, 130, 182)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (47, 29, 0, 29)
HSV       (h, s, v) (216°, 47%, 71%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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

Main article: Slate gray
Slate gray
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #708090
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (112, 128, 144)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (60, 43, 34, 4)
HSV       (h, s, v) (210°, 22%, 56%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[29]


Warm grays

Warm grays are colors that are noticeably brownish, pinkish grays, or reddish purple 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

Main article: Puce

Puce is the French word for flea.

"Puce" has been in use as a color name in French since the 14th century.

Rose quartz

Rose quartz
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #AA98A9
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (170, 152, 169)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (14, 80, 14, 10)
HSV       (h, s, v) (330°, 12%, 50%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[30]


Cinereous

Main article: Cinereous
Cinereous
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #98817B
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (152, 129, 123)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 15, 19, 40)
HSV       (h, s, v) (12°, 19%, 60[31]%)
Source Maerz and Paul[32]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.[33]


Rocket metallic

Rocket metallic
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #8A7F8D
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (138, 129, 141)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (2, 10, 0, 45)
HSV       (h, s, v) (287°, 10%, 55[34]%)
Source Resene
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Displayed at right is the color rocket metallic.

Rocket metallic is a purplish tone of gray.

This is supposed to be a metallic color; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen.

Rocket metallic is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list widely popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color "rocket metallic" was formulated in 1999.


Taupe

Main article: Taupe
Taupe
    Color coordinates
Hex triplet #483C32
sRGBB  (r, g, b) (72, 60, 50)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (0, 60, 60, 30)
HSV       (h, s, v) (30°, 17%, 34%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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).[35]


See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords Archived 14 December 2010 at WebCite
  2. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #DCDCDC (Gainsboro):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  3. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #D3D3D3 (Light Gray):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  4. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #BEBEBE (Medium Gray (Gray (X11))):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  5. ↑ Gildea, Stephen (May 13, 1991). "change grey from 192 to 190 so less likely to be mapped to white on a 2-bit StaticGray visual". X consortium. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  6. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #A9A9A9 (Dark Medium Gray (Dark Gray (X11))):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  7. ↑ Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guía de coloraciones (Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guide to Colorations) Madrid: H. Blume. ISBN 84-89840-31-8
  8. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #808080 (Gray/Grey):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  9. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 196
  10. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #696969 (Dim Gray):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  11. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to h code 555555:. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  12. ↑ Paterson, Ian (2003), A Dictionary of Colour (1st paperback ed.), London: Thorogood (published 2004), p. 134, ISBN 1-85418-375-3, OCLC 60411025
  13. ↑ Eastaugh, Nicholas; Walsh, Valentine; Chaplin, Tracey; Siddall, Ruth (2004), Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments, Butterworth-Heinemann, p. 139, ISBN 978-0-7506-5749-5, OCLC 56444720
  14. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 194; Color Sample of Davy’s Grey: p. 117 Plate 47 Color Sample A4
  15. ↑ Davy's gray. Google Ngram Viewer
  16. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #343434 (Jet):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  17. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 197
  18. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 202; Color Sample of Platinum: p. 113 Plate 45 Color Sample A3
  19. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #B2BEB5 (Ash grey):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  20. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 189; Color Sample of Ash grey: p. 77 Plate 27 Color Sample A2
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #848482 (Battleship Grey):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  22. ↑ Thornton Kay SalvoNEWS: Shining ore, blotters, black lead and battleship grey
  23. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #36454F:. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  24. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 192; color sample: p. 117, plate 47 Color Sample A2 – Charcoal
  25. ↑ ''The Cool, Grey City of Love'' by George Sterling:. Alangullette.com (1920-12-11). Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  26. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 191; Color Sample of Cadet Grey: p. 95 Plate 36 Color Sample C4
  27. ↑ "Cadets, U.S. Military Academy, 1816–1817," Military Uniforms in America, Vol II, Years of Growth 1796–1851, Company of Military Historians, 1977
  28. ↑ www.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #6699CC (Blue-Gray):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  29. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 204; Color Sample of Slate Gray: p. 51 Plate 14 Color Sample A2
  30. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 203; Color Sample of Rose Quartz: p. 129 Plate 53 Color Sample B3
  31. ↑ "Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #98817B (Cinereous):". Web.forret.com. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
  32. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Color Sample of Cinereous: Page 93 Plate 35 Color Sample A3
  33. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 193; Color Sample of Cinereous: p. 93 Plate 35 Color Sample A3
  34. ↑ Color Conversion Tool set to color #8A7F8D (Rocket Metallic):. Web.forret.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.
  35. ↑ Maerz and Paul, p. 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, p. 183; Color Sample of Taupe: p. 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A6

Bibliography