Crayola crayon color

Crayola Silver #CDC5C2

Crayola Silver is shown here as #CDC5C2, the commonly published value for the crayon. It is a light gray in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.829 with chroma 0.010, too low for hue to matter. The nearest CSS named color is silver (#C0C0C0), ΔE2000 4.2 away.

Relative luminance
0.5681
OKLCH L · C · h
0.829 · 0.010 · 41.9
Best text
Black 12.36:1
Hue family
Neutral
Inspect this color Check contrast

#CDC5C2 color codes

HEX
#CDC5C2
RGB
rgb(205, 197, 194)
HSL
hsl(16, 10%, 78%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.829 0.010 41.9)
OKLab
oklab(0.829 0.007 0.007)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 80.07, a* 2.25, b* 2.49
XYZ (D65)
X 54.88, Y 56.81, Z 59.10
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(0%, 4%, 5%, 20%)

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.

Crayola is a trademark of Crayola LLC, which this site is not affiliated with. The value is the commonly published sRGB rendering of the crayon, not a Crayola specification.

Legibility

Contrast: is #CDC5C2 accessible?

Black text on it reaches 12.36:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 1.69:1.

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

    12.36:1

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

  • White text on it

    1.69:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −34

  • As text on black

    12.36:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −72

  • As text on white

    1.69:1

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

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #7D7573 4.50:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.83 to 0.57 reaches 4.50:1 on white, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

  • For text on black

    #CDC5C2 12.36:1

    It already reaches 12.36:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #CDC5C2 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 #CDC5C2

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #CDC5C2 sits at step 300.

  1. 50#FAF3F1
    White
    1.09
    Black
    19.15
  2. 100#F0E9E7
    White
    1.19
    Black
    17.51
  3. 200#DDD6D3
    White
    1.43
    Black
    14.63
  4. 300This color#CDC5C2
    White
    1.69
    Black
    12.36
  5. 400#A7A09D
    White
    2.57
    Black
    8.15
  6. 500#8C8482
    White
    3.65
    Black
    5.73
  7. 600#746D6A
    White
    5.07
    Black
    4.13
  8. 700#5D5654
    White
    7.18
    Black
    2.92
  9. 800#443E3C
    White
    10.49
    Black
    2.00
  10. 900#2D2826
    White
    14.55
    Black
    1.44
  11. 950#191513
    White
    18.13
    Black
    1.15

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

Gamut

How vivid #CDC5C2 can get

A gray has no hue, so no gamut holds a more vivid version of #CDC5C2: 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
0.010
sRGB edge
No hue
Display P3 edge
No hue
Rec. 2020 edge
No hue
Dominant wavelength
588 nm
Excitation purity
3%
Chromaticity
x 0.3213, y 0.3326

Mixing

Mixing #CDC5C2

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%#E6E2E1
  • OKLab50%#E6E2E0
  • OKLCH50%#E6E2E0

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#676361
  • OKLab50%#4E4B49
  • OKLCH50%#4E4B49
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #cdc5c2, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #cdc5c2 50%, white);

In use

#CDC5C2 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, 4.5:112.36:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.69:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:11.69:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.69:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #7D7573 4.50:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:112.36:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:111.02:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:111.02:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:111.02:1 Passes

Color vision

How #CDC5C2 looks with color blindness

As a neutral it barely changes under any simulation, ΔE2000 3.8 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

    #C7C6C2 ΔE2000 3.8

    Close match

    Reads as light gray

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #C9C7C2 ΔE2000 3.5

    Close match

    Reads as light gray

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #CFC4C4 ΔE2000 2.3

    Close match

    Reads as light gray

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #C7C7C7 ΔE2000 3.8

    Close match

    Reads as light 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 #CDC5C2

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 #191513 · 10.67:1

    Body text, AAA

  • Step 700 #5D5654 · 4.22:1

    Large text, icons and borders

  • Step 300 #CDC5C2 · 1.00:1

    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-crayola-silver: #cdc5c2;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'crayola-silver': '#cdc5c2',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  --color-crayola-silver: oklch(0.829 0.010 41.9);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "crayola-silver": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.8039, 0.7725, 0.7608],
        "hex": "#cdc5c2"
      },
      "$description": "Crayola Silver"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let crayolaSilver = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.804, green: 0.773, blue: 0.761, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val CrayolaSilver = Color(0xFFCDC5C2)
}

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 #CDC5C2 in the tools

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