Tailwind CSS v3 color

Tailwind gray-500 #6B7280

Tailwind CSS v3's gray-500 is #6B7280. It is a grayish blue in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.551, chroma 0.023 and hue 264.4°. The nearest CSS named color is slategray (#708090), ΔE2000 6.1 away.

Relative luminance
0.1672
OKLCH L · C · h
0.551 · 0.023 · 264.4
Best text
White 4.83:1
Hue family
Neutral
Inspect this color Check contrast

#6B7280 color codes

HEX
#6B7280
RGB
rgb(107, 114, 128)
HSL
hsl(220, 9%, 46%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.551 0.023 264.4)
OKLab
oklab(0.551 -0.002 -0.023)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 47.90, a* 0.49, b* -8.59
XYZ (D65)
X 15.98, Y 16.72, Z 22.80
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(16%, 11%, 0%, 50%)

CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.

Legibility

Contrast: is #6B7280 accessible?

White text on it reaches 4.83:1, passing AA. Black text manages only 4.34:1, enough for large text only.

WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.

Open the Contrast System

  • Black text on it

    4.34:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large passes
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +30

  • White text on it

    4.83:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −78

  • As text on black

    4.34:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large passes
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −28

  • As text on white

    4.83:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +73

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #6B7280 4.83:1

    It already reaches 4.83:1 on white, so no change is needed.

  • For text on black

    #6E7583 4.53:1

    Lightening its OKLCH lightness from 0.55 to 0.56 reaches 4.53:1 on black, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #6B7280 live

Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.

The studio needs JavaScript.

Scale

Shades and tints of #6B7280

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #6B7280 sits at step 600.

  1. 50#F0F5FF
    White
    1.09
    Black
    19.21
  2. 100#E5EBF9
    White
    1.19
    Black
    17.58
  3. 200#D1D8E6
    White
    1.43
    Black
    14.67
  4. 300#B7BECC
    White
    1.86
    Black
    11.25
  5. 400#9AA2B0
    White
    2.57
    Black
    8.16
  6. 500#7F8695
    White
    3.65
    Black
    5.74
  7. 600This color#6B7280
    White
    4.83
    Black
    4.34
  8. 700#525865
    White
    7.13
    Black
    2.94
  9. 800#3A404B
    White
    10.42
    Black
    2.01
  10. 900#242933
    White
    14.58
    Black
    1.43
  11. 950#12161E
    White
    18.11
    Black
    1.15

Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.

Tailwind CSS v3 gray scale

The real Tailwind palette, for comparison with the computed ramp above.

  1. 50#F9FAFB
    White
    1.04
    Black
    20.09
  2. 100#F3F4F6
    White
    1.10
    Black
    19.08
  3. 200#E5E7EB
    White
    1.23
    Black
    16.96
  4. 300#D1D5DB
    White
    1.47
    Black
    14.25
  5. 400#9CA3AF
    White
    2.53
    Black
    8.27
  6. 500This color#6B7280
    White
    4.83
    Black
    4.34
  7. 600#4B5563
    White
    7.55
    Black
    2.77
  8. 700#374151
    White
    10.30
    Black
    2.03
  9. 800#1F2937
    White
    14.67
    Black
    1.43
  10. 900#111827
    White
    17.73
    Black
    1.18
  11. 950#030712
    White
    20.13
    Black
    1.04

Gamut

How vivid #6B7280 can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.248; #6B7280 uses 9% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.265 there: 7% more.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.023
sRGB edge
0.248
Display P3 edge
0.265
Rec. 2020 edge
0.269
Dominant wavelength
476 nm
Excitation purity
12%
Chromaticity
x 0.2879, y 0.3012
  • This color#6B7280
  • Most vivid in sRGB#235CFF
  • Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.551 0.265 264.4)

On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.

Use the wider color where screens show it
.accent {
  color: #6b7280;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.1797 0.3395 1); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #6B7280

Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.

White #FFFFFF

  • sRGB50%#B5B9C0
  • OKLab50%#B2B6BE
  • OKLCH50%#B2B6BE

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#363940
  • OKLab50%#25282E
  • OKLCH50%#25282E

Its complement #787163

  • sRGB50%#727272
  • OKLab50%#727272
  • OKLCH50%#647671
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #6b7280, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #6b7280 50%, white);

In use

#6B7280 in an interface

A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.

Light page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:14.83:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:14.83:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:14.83:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:14.83:1 Passes

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:14.83:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:13.87:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:13.87:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:13.87:1 Passes

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #777E8C 4.59:1

Color vision

How #6B7280 looks with color blindness

Tritanopia changes it most, ΔE2000 8.9; protanopia changes it least, 1.2.

Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.

Simulate a whole page What each type sees

  • Protanopia

    No working red (long-wavelength) cones

    #6E7381 ΔE2000 1.2

    Very close

    Reads as grayish blue

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #6C7180 ΔE2000 1.3

    Very close

    Reads as grayish blue

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #667576 ΔE2000 8.9

    Noticeable

    Reads as gray

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #727272 ΔE2000 7.2

    Noticeable

    Reads as gray

Pairing check

A near-neutral has no complementary hue to pair with, so tell it apart from neighboring grays by lightness contrast alone.

Harmony

Color harmonies for #6B7280

Its complement is #787163, a grayish amber.

Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.

Open the Harmony Studio
  • Base#6B7280
  • Complement#787163

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio
  • −30°#65747E
  • Base#6B7280
  • +30°#726F7F

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#6B7280
  • +120°#7F6D6B
  • +240°#6A7669

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#6B7280
  • +150°#7D6F65
  • +210°#717464

Split-complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

Code

Design tokens

Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-gray-500: #6b7280;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js — already built in as gray-500;
// pin the v3 value explicitly like this:
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        gray: { 500: '#6b7280' },
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  /* v4 has its own gray-500; this pins the v3 value. */
  --color-gray-500: oklch(0.551 0.023 264.4);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "gray-500": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.4196, 0.4471, 0.502],
        "hex": "#6b7280"
      },
      "$description": "Tailwind CSS v3 gray-500"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let gray500 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.420, green: 0.447, blue: 0.502, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Gray500 = Color(0xFF6B7280)
}

Matches

The nearest match in each system

The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.

Neighbors

The eight nearest colors on this site by ΔE2000, closest first. Under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side.

Tools

Open #6B7280 in the tools

Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.