Shades of gray

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
	By name	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

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

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

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 (X11: gray)

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, or gray 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 (X11: dark gray)

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, or dark gray 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 (gray in Spanish) 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)

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

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

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 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]

Nickel

Nickel
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#727472
sRGBB  (r, g, b)	(114, 116, 114)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)	(1, 0, 1, 55)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(120°, 2%, 46[23]%)
Source	[24]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Nickel is a color that resembles the metal nickel.

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

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[25]%)
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.^[26]

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

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.

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^[27] 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, 7, 0, 31)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(205°, 18%, 69[28]%)
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.^[29]

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).^[30]

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[31]%)
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

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

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.^[32]

Gray-green

Gray-green
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#5E716A
sRGBB  (r, g, b)	(94, 113, 106)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(158°, 17%, 44%)
Source	ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Gray green (also known as grayish green, greenish gray, or green gray) is a greenish-gray color.

Source of color: The ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names (1955)

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

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.^[33]

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[34]%)
Source	Maerz and Paul[35]
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.^[36]

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[37]%)
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

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).^[38]

See also

• Grisaille
• Payne's gray
• Eigengrau
• Shades of black
• Shades of white

References

Bibliography

• Maerz, Aloys John and Paul, M. Rea (1930) A Dictionary of Color, New York: McGraw-Hill

Shades of gray Gray Ash gray Battleship gray Black Blue-gray Cadet gray Charcoal Cool gray Davy's gray Payne's gray                     Gunmetal Platinum Silver Slate gray Taupe Purple taupe Medium taupe Rose quartz Taupe gray Timberwolf                     A typical sample is shown for each name; however, a range of color-variations is commonly associated with each color-name.

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