Tailwind CSS v3 color

Tailwind gray-50 #F9FAFB

Tailwind CSS v3's gray-50 is #F9FAFB. It is an off-white in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.985 with chroma 0.002, too low for hue to matter. The nearest CSS named color is whitesmoke (#F5F5F5), ΔE2000 1.2 away.

Relative luminance
0.9548
OKLCH L · C · h
0.985 · 0.002 · 247.8
Best text
Black 20.09:1
Hue family
Neutral
Inspect this color Check contrast

#F9FAFB color codes

HEX
#F9FAFB
RGB
rgb(249, 250, 251)
HSL
hsl(210, 20%, 98%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.985 0.002 247.8)
OKLab
oklab(0.985 -0.001 -0.002)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 98.22, a* -0.15, b* -0.59
XYZ (D65)
X 90.66, Y 95.48, Z 104.90
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(1%, 0%, 0%, 2%)

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 #F9FAFB accessible?

Black text on it reaches 20.09:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 1.04:1.

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

    20.09:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +102

  • White text on it

    1.04:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc 0

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.04:1

  • As text on black

    20.09:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −104

  • As text on white

    1.04:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc 0

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.04:1

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #757677 4.55:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.98 to 0.56 reaches 4.55:1 on white, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

  • For text on black

    #F9FAFB 20.09:1

    It already reaches 20.09:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #F9FAFB 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 #F9FAFB

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #F9FAFB sits at step 50.

  1. 50This color#F9FAFB
    White
    1.04
    Black
    20.09
  2. 100#EAEBEC
    White
    1.19
    Black
    17.59
  3. 200#D7D7D8
    White
    1.43
    Black
    14.60
  4. 300#BDBEBF
    White
    1.86
    Black
    11.28
  5. 400#A1A1A2
    White
    2.58
    Black
    8.13
  6. 500#858687
    White
    3.64
    Black
    5.75
  7. 600#6E6F70
    White
    5.03
    Black
    4.17
  8. 700#575859
    White
    7.12
    Black
    2.94
  9. 800#3F4040
    White
    10.40
    Black
    2.01
  10. 900#282929
    White
    14.58
    Black
    1.43
  11. 950#161617
    White
    18.08
    Black
    1.16

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. 50This color#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. 500#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 #F9FAFB can get

A gray has no hue, so no gamut holds a more vivid version of #F9FAFB: 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
0.002
sRGB edge
No hue
Display P3 edge
No hue
Rec. 2020 edge
No hue
Dominant wavelength
None, near white
Excitation purity
1%
Chromaticity
x 0.3115, y 0.3281

Mixing

Mixing #F9FAFB

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%#FCFDFD
  • OKLab50%#FCFCFD
  • OKLCH50%#FCFCFD

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#7D7D7E
  • OKLab50%#616161
  • OKLCH50%#616161
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #f9fafb, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #f9fafb 50%, white);

In use

#F9FAFB 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, 4.5:120.09:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.04:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:11.04:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.04:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #757677 4.55:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:120.09:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:117.92:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:117.92:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:117.92:1 Passes

Color vision

How #F9FAFB looks with color blindness

As a neutral it barely changes under any simulation, ΔE2000 0.6 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

    #FAFAFB ΔE2000 0.5

    Imperceptible

    Reads as white

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #F9FAFB ΔE2000 0.0

    Imperceptible

    Reads as off-white

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #F9FAFA ΔE2000 0.5

    Imperceptible

    Reads as off-white

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #FAFAFA ΔE2000 0.6

    Imperceptible

    Reads as white

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 #F9FAFB

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 #161617 · 17.30:1

    Body text, AAA

  • Step 700 #575859 · 6.82:1

    Body text, AA

  • Step 300 #BDBEBF · 1.78:1

    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-gray-50: #f9fafb;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js — already built in as gray-50;
// pin the v3 value explicitly like this:
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        gray: { 50: '#f9fafb' },
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  /* v4 has its own gray-50; this pins the v3 value. */
  --color-gray-50: oklch(0.985 0.002 247.8);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "gray-50": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.9765, 0.9804, 0.9843],
        "hex": "#f9fafb"
      },
      "$description": "Tailwind CSS v3 gray-50"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let gray50 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.976, green: 0.980, blue: 0.984, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Gray50 = Color(0xFFF9FAFB)
}

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 #F9FAFB in the tools

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