Tailwind CSS v3 color

Tailwind zinc-500 #71717A

Tailwind CSS v3's zinc-500 is #71717A. It is a gray in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.552 with chroma 0.014, too low for hue to matter. The nearest CSS named color is dimgray (#696969), ΔE2000 6.1 away.

Relative luminance: 0.1673
OKLCH L · C · h: 0.552 · 0.014 · 285.9
Best text: White 4.83:1
Hue family: Neutral

Inspect this color Check contrast

#71717A color codes

HEX: #71717A
RGB: rgb(113, 113, 122)
HSL: hsl(240, 4%, 46%)
OKLCH: oklch(0.552 0.014 285.9)
OKLab: oklab(0.552 0.004 -0.013)
CIELAB (D65): L* 47.91, a* 1.89, b* -4.96
XYZ (D65): X 16.23, Y 16.73, Z 20.78
CMYK (naive): cmyk(7%, 7%, 0%, 52%)

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 #71717A 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

#71717A 4.83:1

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

#74747D 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 #71717A 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 #71717A

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #71717A sits at step 600.

50#F4F4FC

White
1.09
Black
19.19
100#EAEAF3

White
1.19
Black
17.56
200#D6D6DF

White
1.44
Black
14.54
300#BDBDC6

White
1.86
Black
11.25
400#A0A0AA

White
2.59
Black
8.10
500#85858E

White
3.65
Black
5.74
600This color#71717A

White
4.83
Black
4.34
700#57575F

White
7.15
Black
2.93
800#3F3F46
White
10.44
Black
2.01
900#28282F

White
14.63
Black
1.43
950#15151B

White
18.18
Black
1.15

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

Tailwind CSS v3 zinc scale

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

50#FAFAFA
White
1.04
Black
20.11
100#F4F4F5
White
1.09
Black
19.10
200#E4E4E7
White
1.26
Black
16.55
300#D4D4D8
White
1.47
Black
14.20
400#A1A1AA
White
2.56
Black
8.19
500This color#71717A

White
4.83
Black
4.34
600#52525B
White
7.72
Black
2.71
700#3F3F46
White
10.44
Black
2.01
800#27272A
White
14.89
Black
1.40
900#18181B
White
17.71
Black
1.18
950#09090B
White
19.89
Black
1.05

Gamut

How vivid #71717A can get

A gray has no hue, so no gamut holds a more vivid version of #71717A: more chroma would make it another color.

sRGB
Display P3
Rec. 2020
Dominant wavelength

OKLCH chroma: 0.014
sRGB edge: No hue
Display P3 edge: No hue
Rec. 2020 edge: No hue
Dominant wavelength: 464 nm
Excitation purity: 6%
Chromaticity: x 0.3020, y 0.3113

Mixing

Mixing #71717A

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%#B8B8BD
OKLab50%#B5B5BA
OKLCH50%#B5B5BA

Black #000000

sRGB50%#39393D
OKLab50%#27272B
OKLCH50%#27272B

In CSS

/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #71717a, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #71717a 50%, white);

In use

#71717A 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 #7D7D86 4.59:1

Color vision

How #71717A looks with color blindness

As a neutral it barely changes under any simulation, ΔE2000 5.1 at most.

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

#6F727A ΔE2000 1.9

Very close

Reads as gray
Deuteranopia

No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

#6F717A ΔE2000 1.1

Very close

Reads as gray
Tritanopia

No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

#6F7274 ΔE2000 4.7

Close match

Reads as gray
Achromatopsia

No cone color vision; lightness only

#727272 ΔE2000 5.1

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 #71717A

A neutral has no hue to rotate, so every harmony collapses back to the same gray. Pair it with an accent color instead.

Or pair it by lightness: steps of its own scale as text on it, and what each can carry.

Build a lightness scale in Harmony Studio

Step 950 #15151B · 3.76:1

Large text, icons and borders
Step 700 #57575F · 1.48:1

Decoration only, under 3:1
Step 300 #BDBDC6 · 2.59:1

Decoration only, under 3:1

Code

Design tokens

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

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-zinc-500: #71717a;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js — already built in as zinc-500;
// pin the v3 value explicitly like this:
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        zinc: { 500: '#71717a' },
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  /* v4 has its own zinc-500; this pins the v3 value. */
  --color-zinc-500: oklch(0.552 0.014 285.9);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "zinc-500": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.4431, 0.4431, 0.4784],
        "hex": "#71717a"
      },
      "$description": "Tailwind CSS v3 zinc-500"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let zinc500 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.443, green: 0.443, blue: 0.478, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Zinc500 = Color(0xFF71717A)
}

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.

Tools

Open #71717A in the tools

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