NodlumeGray color: hex #808080, RGB and HSL
Gray is the CSS keyword gray (also grey), hex #808080, rgb(128, 128, 128), hsl(0, 0%, 50%). It is a medium neutral gray with no hue in the grays family. Below: the colors that go with it, its tints and shades, how it reads as text, and a complete interface palette built from it.
- CSS name
- gray, grey
- Hex
- #808080
- RGB
- rgb(128, 128, 128)
- HSL
- hsl(0, 0%, 50%)
- On white
- 3.95:1 — large text and UI only (3:1)
- On black
- 5.32:1 — passes AA for body text
.example {
color: gray; /* keyword */
color: #808080; /* hex */
color: rgb(128, 128, 128); /* rgb */
color: hsl(0, 0%, 50%); /* hsl */
}What colors go with gray
Gray has no hue, so the wheel has nothing to rotate — every match below is the same neutral. That is the point of a neutral: it pairs with any saturated color, which is why grays and near-whites are the background, surface, text and border roles of an interface rather than its brand color. Pick one hue for actions and let gray carry everything else.
Complementary
The opposite hue, 180° away — the strongest contrast, best kept to one accent per screen.
Split-complementary
The two neighbors of the complement, at 150° and 210° — most of the contrast with less tension, and two accents instead of one.
Triadic
Two hues at 120° and 240° — three evenly spaced signals, the scheme charts and category colors want.
Analogous
The neighbors at −30° and +30° — calm and cohesive, with emphasis coming from weight and size rather than hue.
Tints and shades of gray
Tints add lightness toward white; shades remove it toward black. The hue and saturation stay fixed, so every step still reads as gray — these are the hover, pressed, disabled and surface variants a single brand color needs.
Tints (lighter)
Shades (darker)
A UI color palette built from gray
The eight semantic roles an interface actually uses, derived from gray as the primary with the split-complementary rule: secondary and accent rotate around the wheel, and the five neutrals take the hue at lightness steps tuned for light and dark mode. This is the same derivation the palette generator runs — open it there to change the rule, drag the anchors, or export the set as CSS variables.
- primary
- #808080
- secondary
- #808080
- accent
- #808080
- background
- #fcfcfc
- surface
- #f5f5f5
- text
- #1a1a1a
- muted
- #737373
- border
- #e6e6e6
- primary
- #8c8c8c
- secondary
- #8c8c8c
- accent
- #8c8c8c
- background
- #141414
- surface
- #1f1f1f
- text
- #f5f5f5
- muted
- #a6a6a6
- border
- #383838
Using gray in an interface
Grays are text, borders and disabled states. The slate grays are the useful ones: a whisper of blue keeps them from looking like dirt against a colored primary. A semantic palette tints its grays toward the brand hue for the same reason. Whichever role gray takes, define it once as a token rather than repeating the keyword: the semantic palette guide covers the eight roles, and the guides to complementary, triadic and the other color schemes explain how to weight the matches above.
- What is the hex code for Gray?
- Gray is #808080. In CSS the keyword gray, the hex #808080, rgb(128, 128, 128) and hsl(0, 0%, 50%) all paint the same color. The keyword grey resolves to the same color.
- What colors go with Gray?
- Gray has no hue, so it goes with everything: neutrals like this one are the background, text and border colors that let a single brand hue stand out. Pair it with one saturated color for actions and keep the rest of the interface in the same gray family.
- What is the opposite of Gray on the color wheel?
- Gray is achromatic — it sits at the center of the wheel rather than on it, so it has no opposite. Any saturated hue contrasts with it equally.
- Can I use Gray for text?
- Gray as text on white has a contrast ratio of 3.95:1, which fails WCAG AA for body text (4.5:1) but passes for large text and UI components (3:1). On black it is 5.32:1, which passes for body text. Use it as text on dark surfaces, or as a fill with dark text on top.