What is the hex code for charcoal?

Charcoal is #36454F. In RGB that is 54, 69, 79, and in HSL it is 204 degrees, 19 percent saturation, 26 percent lightness.

What is the CMYK value of charcoal?

#36454F converts to CMYK 32, 13, 0, 69. CMYK is a print space, so a screen can only ever approximate how it will actually be inked.

Is charcoal a standard color?

No. There is no standards body defining charcoal, so different sources give slightly different values. #36454F is the value in common use, and it is what every code and swatch on this page is built from.

Charcoal

#36454F

Charcoal is commonly given as the hex color #36454F, with RGB values 54, 69, 79. It is not a CSS keyword, so the value is a widely used convention rather than a standard.

NeutralCommon convention

Quick colors, then fill the screen

Or a gradient

Or let it move

#36454Frgb(54, 69, 79) · hsl(204, 19%, 26%)

Hue204°

Brightness100%

Charcoal color codes

Every value for #36454F, ready to paste. Click any code to copy it.

Channel values for #36454F in each number base
Channel	Decimal	Share	Hex	Octal	Binary
Red	54	21.18%	36	66	00110110
Green	69	27.06%	45	105	01000101
Blue	79	30.98%	4F	117	01001111

The nearest web-safe color is #333366, from the 216-color palette browsers agreed on before displays could be trusted with more.

About charcoal

A very dark grey with a blue lean, which is what stops it feeling as flat as pure grey. Widely used as a softer substitute for black in body text and interfaces.

Shades, tints and tones

Every step is generated from #36454F. Click a swatch to copy its hex.

Shades of charcoal

A shade is the base color with black mixed in. Shades read as deeper and more dramatic, and they are what you reach for when a color needs to recede or carry weight.

Tints of charcoal

A tint is the base color with white mixed in. Tints turn pastel as they lighten, which makes them useful for backgrounds and for anything that has to sit behind text.

Tones of charcoal

A tone is the base color with grey mixed in. Tones lose the shout without losing the hue, and they are usually what separates a considered palette from a loud one.

The charcoal scale

The same color as the 50 to 950 ladder every CSS framework uses, with #36454F at 500. Click a step to copy its hex, or take the whole scale as variables for a design system.

Color schemes built on charcoal

Harmonies are positions on the color wheel rather than matters of taste, which is why they keep working across very different designs.

Complementary

Two colors from opposite sides of the wheel. They make each other look more vivid, which is why the pairing is used for anything that needs to stand out.

Analogous

Three neighbours on the wheel. Nothing competes, so the result reads calm and settled, closer to how colour behaves in nature.

Split complementary

The base plus the two colors either side of its complement. It keeps most of the contrast while being much easier to balance.

Triadic

Three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Strong and lively, and usually best with one dominant color and two accents.

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs, forming a rectangle on the wheel. The richest scheme available, and the hardest to keep from shouting.

Monochromatic

One hue at different lightness levels. Effortlessly cohesive, and the safest way to build a palette around a brand color.

Colors close to #36454F

Near neighbours, for when this color is almost right. Each one shifts hue, saturation or lightness by a small step.

Charcoal color palettes

Five-color palettes built around #36454F, each following a different scheme. Click any swatch to copy it, or open the generator to build your own.

Analogous

Complementary

Triadic

Monochromatic

Open the palette generator to lock the colors you like and regenerate the rest.

Contrast and readability

Whether charcoal works as text, and what to put on top of it when it is the background. Ratios follow WCAG 2.1, where 4.5 is the bar for body text and 3 for large text.

Charcoal text on white background

9.9:1 · Excellent

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

Body AA
Body AAA
Large AA
Large AAA

Charcoal text on black background

2.12:1 · Poor

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

Body AA
Body AAA
Large AA
Large AAA

Used the other way round, #36454F as a background takes #FFFFFF text. That is the higher-contrast of the two, and it is what the tool picks automatically for any chrome sitting on your color.

Charcoal reads better on a white background of the two. Contrast is a property of the pair, not of one color, so a color that fails here can still be perfectly usable against a different partner.

The grey family

Charcoal sits in the grey family. Every named grey in the library, with charcoal first.

Name	Hex	RGB	HSL
Charcoal is the color on this page	#36454F	54, 69, 79	204, 19%, 26%
Silver is a CSS keyword	#C0C0C0	192, 192, 192	0, 0%, 75%
Slate gray is a CSS keyword	#708090	112, 128, 144	210, 13%, 50%
Platinum	#E5E4E2	229, 228, 226	40, 5%, 89%
Stone	#928E85	146, 142, 133	42, 6%, 55%
Pearl	#EAE0C8	234, 224, 200	42, 45%, 85%
Graphite	#4B4E53	75, 78, 83	217, 5%, 31%
Gainsboro is a CSS keyword	#DCDCDC	220, 220, 220	0, 0%, 86%
Dim gray is a CSS keyword	#696969	105, 105, 105	0, 0%, 41%