Named shades of gray — from pure white-gray and silver through warm, cool, and off-grays to jet black.
Platinum
#E5E4E2
rgb(229, 228, 226)
Cool pale gray with metallic associations
Gainsboro
#DCDCDC
rgb(220, 220, 220)
Very light gray — barely distinguishable from white
Light Gray
#D3D3D3
rgb(211, 211, 211)
Standard light gray — clean and neutral
Silver
#C0C0C0
rgb(192, 192, 192)
The canonical silver — metallic and reflective
Medium Gray
#BEBEBE
rgb(190, 190, 190)
Balanced mid gray — versatile and clean
Spanish Gray
#989898
rgb(152, 152, 152)
Standard medium-dark gray — a practical neutral
Stone Gray
#928E85
rgb(146, 142, 133)
Warm medium gray — like natural stone
Rocket Metallic
#8A7F8D
rgb(138, 127, 141)
Purple-gray — named for metallic rocket finishes
Battleship Gray
#848482
rgb(132, 132, 130)
Dark flat gray — the color of warship hulls
Gray
#808080
rgb(128, 128, 128)
The CSS mid gray — exactly halfway between black and white
Xanadu
#738678
rgb(115, 134, 120)
Grayish-green — a muted tone named for an ancient city
Nickel
#727472
rgb(114, 116, 114)
Slightly warm medium gray — named for the metal
Dim Gray
#696969
rgb(105, 105, 105)
Dark medium gray — muted and reserved
Davy's Gray
#555555
rgb(85, 85, 85)
Dark gray with a slightly warm cast
Jet
#343434
rgb(52, 52, 52)
Very dark gray — like the fossil resin it's named for
Cinereous
#98817B
rgb(152, 129, 123)
Warm medium gray with slight pink — like ash
Taupe
#483C32
rgb(72, 60, 50)
Dark warm gray-brown — the quintessential elegant neutral
Ash Gray
#B2BEB5
rgb(178, 190, 181)
Muted gray with slight green — like wood ash
Gray-Green
#5E716A
rgb(94, 113, 106)
Dark muted green-gray — earthy and complex
Gunmetal
#2A3439
rgb(42, 52, 57)
Dark blue-black gray — heavy and industrial
Charcoal
#36454F
rgb(54, 69, 79)
Very dark blue-gray — deep and sophisticated
Cadet Gray
#91A3B0
rgb(145, 163, 176)
Blue-gray — the color of military cadet uniforms
Blue-Gray
#6699CC
rgb(102, 153, 204)
Steel blue-gray — both colors at the same time
Slate Gray
#708090
rgb(112, 128, 144)
Dark blue-gray — the textbook cool gray
Marengo
#4C5866
rgb(76, 88, 102)
Dark blue-gray — named for Napoleon's battle
Glaucous
#6082B6
rgb(96, 130, 182)
Desaturated blue-gray — like sea glass
Cool Gray
#9090C0
rgb(144, 144, 192)
Gray with a clear blue-purple cast
Rose Quartz
#AA98A9
rgb(170, 152, 169)
Muted pinkish-gray — Pantone's 2016 Color of the Year
Puce
#CC8899
rgb(204, 136, 153)
Warm red-pink gray — reportedly the color of fleas
About Shades of Gray
Gray is the color of neutrality — technically an achromatic value, a mix of black and white with no hue. But in practice most grays carry subtle color casts that dramatically affect how they feel. Cool grays have blue or green undertones and feel crisp, modern, and clinical. Warm grays — sometimes called "greige" when they lean toward beige — feel cozy, sophisticated, and timeless. Grays with slight purple undertones (like gunmetal) feel sleek and slightly moody.
Grays are among the most important colors in design precisely because they're not colors in the traditional sense — they serve as foils for everything else. A warm gray background makes adjacent colors feel richer and more grounded. A cool gray makes the same colors feel bolder and more contrasted. The specific gray you choose in a design often matters more than the accent colors around it.