CSS Colors

Colors are displayed combining RED, GREEN, and BLUE light.

Color Values

CSS colors are defined using a hexadecimal (hex) notation for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue color values (RGB). The lowest value that can be given to one of the light sources is 0 (hex 00). The highest value is 255 (hex FF).

Hex values are written as 3 double digit numbers, starting with a # sign.

Color Examples

Color	Color HEX	Color RGB
	#000000	rgb(0,0,0)
	#FF0000	rgb(255,0,0)
	#00FF00	rgb(0,255,0)
	#0000FF	rgb(0,0,255)
	#FFFF00	rgb(255,255,0)
	#00FFFF	rgb(0,255,255)
	#FF00FF	rgb(255,0,255)
	#C0C0C0	rgb(192,192,192)
	#FFFFFF	rgb(255,255,255)

Try it yourself »

16 Million Different Colors

The combination of Red, Green and Blue values from 0 to 255 gives a total of more than 16 million different colors to play with (256 x 256 x 256).

Most modern monitors are capable of displaying at least 16384 different colors.

If you look at the color table below, you will see the result of varying the red light from 0 to 255, while keeping the green and blue light at zero.

To see a full list of color mixes when the red light varies from 0 to 255, click on one of the hex or rgb values below.

Red Light	HEX	RGB
	#000000	rgb(0,0,0)
	#080000	rgb(8,0,0)
	#100000	rgb(16,0,0)
	#180000	rgb(24,0,0)
	#200000	rgb(32,0,0)
	#280000	rgb(40,0,0)
	#300000	rgb(48,0,0)
	#380000	rgb(56,0,0)
	#400000	rgb(64,0,0)
	#480000	rgb(72,0,0)
	#500000	rgb(80,0,0)
	#580000	rgb(88,0,0)
	#600000	rgb(96,0,0)
	#680000	rgb(104,0,0)
	#700000	rgb(112,0,0)
	#780000	rgb(120,0,0)
	#800000	rgb(128,0,0)
	#880000	rgb(136,0,0)
	#900000	rgb(144,0,0)
	#980000	rgb(152,0,0)
	#A00000	rgb(160,0,0)
	#A80000	rgb(168,0,0)
	#B00000	rgb(176,0,0)
	#B80000	rgb(184,0,0)
	#C00000	rgb(192,0,0)
	#C80000	rgb(200,0,0)
	#D00000	rgb(208,0,0)
	#D80000	rgb(216,0,0)
	#E00000	rgb(224,0,0)
	#E80000	rgb(232,0,0)
	#F00000	rgb(240,0,0)
	#F80000	rgb(248,0,0)
	#FF0000	rgb(255,0,0)

Shades of Gray

Gray colors are displayed using an equal amount of power to all of the light sources. To make it easier for you to select the right gray color we have compiled a table of gray shades for you:

Gray Shades	HEX	RGB
	#000000	rgb(0,0,0)
	#080808	rgb(8,8,8)
	#101010	rgb(16,16,16)
	#181818	rgb(24,24,24)
	#202020	rgb(32,32,32)
	#282828	rgb(40,40,40)
	#303030	rgb(48,48,48)
	#383838	rgb(56,56,56)
	#404040	rgb(64,64,64)
	#484848	rgb(72,72,72)
	#505050	rgb(80,80,80)
	#585858	rgb(88,88,88)
	#606060	rgb(96,96,96)
	#686868	rgb(104,104,104)
	#707070	rgb(112,112,112)
	#787878	rgb(120,120,120)
	#808080	rgb(128,128,128)
	#888888	rgb(136,136,136)
	#909090	rgb(144,144,144)
	#989898	rgb(152,152,152)
	#A0A0A0	rgb(160,160,160)
	#A8A8A8	rgb(168,168,168)
	#B0B0B0	rgb(176,176,176)
	#B8B8B8	rgb(184,184,184)
	#C0C0C0	rgb(192,192,192)
	#C8C8C8	rgb(200,200,200)
	#D0D0D0	rgb(208,208,208)
	#D8D8D8	rgb(216,216,216)
	#E0E0E0	rgb(224,224,224)
	#E8E8E8	rgb(232,232,232)
	#F0F0F0	rgb(240,240,240)
	#F8F8F8	rgb(248,248,248)
	#FFFFFF	rgb(255,255,255)

Cross-Browser Color Names

A collection of nearly 150 color names are supported by all major browsers.

View the cross-browser color names

Web Standard Color Names

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has listed 16 valid color names for HTML and CSS:

aqua, black, blue, fuchsia, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, purple, red, silver, teal, white, and yellow.

If you want to use other colors, you should specify their HEX value.

Web Safe Colors?

Some years ago, when computers supported max 256 different colors, a list of 216 "Web Safe Colors" was suggested as a Web standard, reserving 40 fixed system colors.

This is not important now, since most computers can display millions of different colors, but the choice is left to you.

The 216 cross-browser color palette was created to ensure that all computers would display the colors correctly when running a 256 color palette:

000000	000033	000066	000099	0000CC	0000FF
003300	003333	003366	003399	0033CC	0033FF
006600	006633	006666	006699	0066CC	0066FF
009900	009933	009966	009999	0099CC	0099FF
00CC00	00CC33	00CC66	00CC99	00CCCC	00CCFF
00FF00	00FF33	00FF66	00FF99	00FFCC	00FFFF
330000	330033	330066	330099	3300CC	3300FF
333300	333333	333366	333399	3333CC	3333FF
336600	336633	336666	336699	3366CC	3366FF
339900	339933	339966	339999	3399CC	3399FF
33CC00	33CC33	33CC66	33CC99	33CCCC	33CCFF
33FF00	33FF33	33FF66	33FF99	33FFCC	33FFFF
660000	660033	660066	660099	6600CC	6600FF
663300	663333	663366	663399	6633CC	6633FF
666600	666633	666666	666699	6666CC	6666FF
669900	669933	669966	669999	6699CC	6699FF
66CC00	66CC33	66CC66	66CC99	66CCCC	66CCFF
66FF00	66FF33	66FF66	66FF99	66FFCC	66FFFF
990000	990033	990066	990099	9900CC	9900FF
993300	993333	993366	993399	9933CC	9933FF
996600	996633	996666	996699	9966CC	9966FF
999900	999933	999966	999999	9999CC	9999FF
99CC00	99CC33	99CC66	99CC99	99CCCC	99CCFF
99FF00	99FF33	99FF66	99FF99	99FFCC	99FFFF
CC0000	CC0033	CC0066	CC0099	CC00CC	CC00FF
CC3300	CC3333	CC3366	CC3399	CC33CC	CC33FF
CC6600	CC6633	CC6666	CC6699	CC66CC	CC66FF
CC9900	CC9933	CC9966	CC9999	CC99CC	CC99FF
CCCC00	CCCC33	CCCC66	CCCC99	CCCCCC	CCCCFF
CCFF00	CCFF33	CCFF66	CCFF99	CCFFCC	CCFFFF
FF0000	FF0033	FF0066	FF0099	FF00CC	FF00FF
FF3300	FF3333	FF3366	FF3399	FF33CC	FF33FF
FF6600	FF6633	FF6666	FF6699	FF66CC	FF66FF
FF9900	FF9933	FF9966	FF9999	FF99CC	FF99FF
FFCC00	FFCC33	FFCC66	FFCC99	FFCCCC	FFCCFF
FFFF00	FFFF33	FFFF66	FFFF99	FFFFCC	FFFFFF

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