Color style

Neutral Colors: Names, HEX Codes & Quiet Shades

Neutral colors are the quiet ones: grays, blacks, whites, soft browns and any color with very little saturation. Here a color is neutral when it is achromatic, when it is a brown with HSL saturation of 60% or less, or when its saturation is 20% or lower.

Neutrals do the quiet work in a design: text, backgrounds, borders, shadows and dividers. A palette with a few neutrals and one or two accent colors is easy to keep consistent.

Neutral colors at a glance

99neutral colors in the library

58%average HSL lightness

38%average HSL saturation

28%reach 4.5:1 contrast with white text

74%reach 4.5:1 contrast with black text

Extremes among neutral colors
Extreme	Color	HEX	HSL
Lightest	White	`#FFFFFF`	`hsl(0, 0%, 100%)`
Darkest	Black	`#000000`	`hsl(0, 0%, 0%)`
Most saturated	Very Light Pink	`#FFF4F2`	`hsl(9, 100%, 97%)`
Least saturated	Black	`#000000`	`hsl(0, 0%, 0%)`

Popular neutral colors

Black#000000 Charcoal#343837 Brown#A52A2A Gray#808080 Tan#D2B48C Silver#C0C0C0 Beige#F5F5DC Lavender#E6E6FA Ivory#FFFFF0 White#FFFFFF Dark Slate Gray#2F4F4F Sienna#A0522D

Using neutral colors

Text, borders, dividers and background layers.
A base for a palette, with accent colors added on top.
Product, editorial and interior designs that need a calm look.
Backgrounds that let photos and charts stand out.

Warm neutrals, with a little red or yellow, feel softer. Cool neutrals, with a little blue, feel crisper. Keep the temperature consistent across a design.

Check contrast again whenever you adjust a neutral by a small amount. The ratio changes quickly near the 4.5:1 line.

All 99 neutral colors

Adobe#BD6C48 Alice Blue#F0F8FF Almost Black#070D0D Azure#F0FFFF Battleship Gray#6B7C85 Beige#F5F5DC Black#000000 Blue Gray#607C8E Brown#A52A2A Brown Gray#8D8468 Burlywood#DEB887 Camel#C69F59 Cement#A5A391 Charcoal#343837 Charcoal Gray#3C4142 Clay#B66A50 Clay Brown#B2713D Cocoa#875F42 Coffee#A6814C Cool Gray#95A3A6 Dark Beige#AC9362 Dark Blue Gray#1F3B4D Dark Gray#A9A9A9 Dark Lavender#856798 Dark Sand#A88F59 Dark Slate Gray#2F4F4F Dark Tan#AF884A Dark Taupe#7F684E Desert#CCAD60 Dim Gray#696969 Dirt#8A6E45 Dirt Brown#836539 Dull Brown#876E4B Dull Purple#84597E Dusky Rose#BA6873 Dust#B2996E Dusty Lavender#AC86A8 Dusty Purple#825F87 Dusty Rose#C0737A Earth#A2653E Faded Purple#916E99 Fawn#CFAF7B Floral White#FFFAF0 Gainsboro#DCDCDC Ghost White#F8F8FF Gray#808080 Gray Brown#7F7053 Gray Green#789B73 Gray Purple#826D8C Green Gray#77926F Gunmetal#536267 Heather#A484AC Honeydew#F0FFF0 Ivory#FFFFF0 Lavender#E6E6FA Lavender Blush#FFF0F5 Leather#AC7434 Light Blue Gray#B7C9E2 Light Gray#D3D3D3 Light Maroon#A24857 Light Slate Gray#778899 Linen#FAF0E6 Medium Gray#7D7F7C Mint Cream#F5FFFA Mocha#9D7651 Mushroom#BA9E88 Muted Purple#805B87 Off White#FFFFE4 Old Lace#FDF5E6 Old Rose#C87F89 Pale Brown#B1916E Peru#CD853F Puce#A57E52 Purple Brown#673A3F Purple Gray#866F85 Putty#BEAE8A Rosy Brown#BC8F8F Sand Brown#CBA560 Sandstone#C9AE74 Seashell#FFF5EE Sepia#985E2B Sienna#A0522D Silver#C0C0C0 Slate#516572 Slate Gray#708090 Slate Green#658D6D Snow#FFFAFA Steel Gray#6F828A Stone#ADA587 Tan#D2B48C Tan Brown#AB7E4C Taupe#B9A281 Terracotta#CA6641 Very Dark Brown#1D0200 Very Light Brown#D3B683 Very Light Pink#FFF4F2 Warm Gray#978A84 White#FFFFFF White Smoke#F5F5F5

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