Tailwind CSS v3 color

Tailwind zinc-400 #A1A1AA

Tailwind CSS v3's zinc-400 is #A1A1AA. It is a gray in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.712 with chroma 0.013, too low for hue to matter. The nearest CSS named color is darkgray (#A9A9A9), ΔE2000 5.2 away.

Relative luminance
0.3597
OKLCH L · C · h
0.712 · 0.013 · 286.1
Best text
Black 8.19:1
Hue family
Neutral
Inspect this color Check contrast

#A1A1AA color codes

HEX
#A1A1AA
RGB
rgb(161, 161, 170)
HSL
hsl(240, 5%, 65%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.712 0.013 286.1)
OKLab
oklab(0.712 0.004 -0.012)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 66.50, a* 1.76, b* -4.66
XYZ (D65)
X 34.70, Y 35.97, Z 43.14
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(5%, 5%, 0%, 33%)

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 #A1A1AA accessible?

Black text on it reaches 8.19:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 2.56:1.

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

    8.19:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +53

  • White text on it

    2.56:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −55

  • As text on black

    8.19:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −51

  • As text on white

    2.56:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +50

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #75757E 4.56:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.71 to 0.57 reaches 4.56:1 on white, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

  • For text on black

    #A1A1AA 8.19:1

    It already reaches 8.19:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #A1A1AA 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 #A1A1AA

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #A1A1AA sits at step 400.

  1. 50#F4F4FC
    White
    1.09
    Black
    19.19
  2. 100#EAEAF2
    White
    1.19
    Black
    17.54
  3. 200#D6D6DF
    White
    1.44
    Black
    14.54
  4. 300#BDBDC5
    White
    1.86
    Black
    11.24
  5. 400This color#A1A1AA
    White
    2.56
    Black
    8.19
  6. 500#85858E
    White
    3.65
    Black
    5.74
  7. 600#6E6E76
    White
    5.05
    Black
    4.15
  8. 700#57575F
    White
    7.15
    Black
    2.93
  9. 800#3F3F46
    White
    10.44
    Black
    2.01
  10. 900#28282E
    White
    14.65
    Black
    1.43
  11. 950#16151A
    White
    18.16
    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.

  1. 50#FAFAFA
    White
    1.04
    Black
    20.11
  2. 100#F4F4F5
    White
    1.09
    Black
    19.10
  3. 200#E4E4E7
    White
    1.26
    Black
    16.55
  4. 300#D4D4D8
    White
    1.47
    Black
    14.20
  5. 400This color#A1A1AA
    White
    2.56
    Black
    8.19
  6. 500#71717A
    White
    4.83
    Black
    4.34
  7. 600#52525B
    White
    7.72
    Black
    2.71
  8. 700#3F3F46
    White
    10.44
    Black
    2.01
  9. 800#27272A
    White
    14.89
    Black
    1.40
  10. 900#18181B
    White
    17.71
    Black
    1.18
  11. 950#09090B
    White
    19.89
    Black
    1.05

Gamut

How vivid #A1A1AA can get

A gray has no hue, so no gamut holds a more vivid version of #A1A1AA: more chroma would make it another color.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.013
sRGB edge
No hue
Display P3 edge
No hue
Rec. 2020 edge
No hue
Dominant wavelength
464 nm
Excitation purity
4%
Chromaticity
x 0.3049, y 0.3161

Mixing

Mixing #A1A1AA

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%#D0D0D5
  • OKLab50%#CFCFD4
  • OKLCH50%#CFCFD4

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#515155
  • OKLab50%#3C3C3F
  • OKLCH50%#3C3C3F
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #a1a1aa, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #a1a1aa 50%, white);

In use

#A1A1AA 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, 4.5:18.19:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:12.56:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:12.56:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:12.56:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #75757E 4.56:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:18.19:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:17.30:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:17.30:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:17.30:1 Passes

Color vision

How #A1A1AA looks with color blindness

As a neutral it barely changes under any simulation, ΔE2000 4.8 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

    #9FA2AA ΔE2000 1.8

    Very close

    Reads as gray

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #9FA1AA ΔE2000 1.0

    Very close

    Reads as gray

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #9FA2A4 ΔE2000 4.4

    Close match

    Reads as gray

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #A2A2A2 ΔE2000 4.8

    Close match

    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 #A1A1AA

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 #16151A · 7.08:1

    Body text, AAA

  • Step 700 #57575F · 2.79:1

    Decoration only, under 3:1

  • Step 300 #BDBDC5 · 1.37:1

    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-400: #a1a1aa;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js — already built in as zinc-400;
// pin the v3 value explicitly like this:
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        zinc: { 400: '#a1a1aa' },
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  /* v4 has its own zinc-400; this pins the v3 value. */
  --color-zinc-400: oklch(0.712 0.013 286.1);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "zinc-400": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.6314, 0.6314, 0.6667],
        "hex": "#a1a1aa"
      },
      "$description": "Tailwind CSS v3 zinc-400"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let zinc400 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.631, green: 0.631, blue: 0.667, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Zinc400 = Color(0xFFA1A1AA)
}

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 #A1A1AA in the tools

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