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blue · cool

#2f3239

a deep, muted blue · cool · closest name: Black

Token name suggestion: Abyss Denim

RGB
47, 50, 57
HSL
222°, 10%, 20%
CMYK
18, 12, 0, 78
Luminance
0.0318

#2f3239 is a deep muted blue, 222° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (12.83:1). As text it scores 12.83:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Black, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(222 10% 20%)rgb(47 50 57)Base step 900AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2f3239 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2f3239
Hue
222°
blue
Saturation
10%
muted
Lightness
20%
deep
Brightness
22%
HSV value
Perceived
20%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0318
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Muted
Best ink
White
12.83:1
Closest name
Black
ΔE2000 13.8
Chroma
4.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.317
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 22.2
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue222° of 360°
Saturation10%
Lightness20%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2f3239.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red19%
Green72%
Blue9%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#2f3239
HEX (8-digit)#2f3239ff
RGBrgb(47, 50, 57)
RGBArgba(47, 50, 57, 1)
HSLhsl(222, 10%, 20%)
HSV / HSBhsv(222, 18%, 22%)
HWBhwb(222 18% 78%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 12%, 0%, 78%)
LABlab(20.8 0.5 -4.9)
LCHlch(20.8 4.9 275.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.317 0.013 267.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(3.05, 3.18, 4.32)
Decimal3093049
Display P3color(display-p3 0.184 0.196 0.224)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2f3239;
background-color: #2f3239;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2f3239;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2f3239] bg-[#2f3239]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2f3239;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.184, green: 0.196, blue: 0.224)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.184, green: 0.196, blue: 0.224, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2F3239</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2F3239)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2F3239)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 50, 47)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(47, 50, 57)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(47, 50, 57)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 47, 50, 57)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1843f, 0.1961f, 0.2235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{47,50,57}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2f3239 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2f3239 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3A3D46, #DDDFE3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2f3239 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EFEFF1;
  --brand-200: #DBDDE1;
  --brand-300: #C2C5CC;
  --brand-400: #A3A8B3;
  --brand-500: #848A9A;
  --brand-600: #6F7686;
  --brand-700: #5C6270;
  --brand-800: #4A4E59;
  --brand-900: #2f3239;
  --brand-950: #23252A;
  --brand: #2f3239;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D2D5DA;
  --brand-hover: #1F2125;
  --brand-pressed: #0F1012;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191B1F;
    --brand-ink: #DDDFE3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#EFEFF1',
        200: '#DBDDE1',
        300: '#C2C5CC',
        400: '#A3A8B3',
        500: '#848A9A',
        600: '#6F7686',
        700: '#5C6270',
        800: '#4A4E59',
        900: '#2f3239',
        950: '#23252A',
        DEFAULT: '#2f3239',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #EFEFF1,
  '200': #DBDDE1,
  '300': #C2C5CC,
  '400': #A3A8B3,
  '500': #848A9A,
  '600': #6F7686,
  '700': #5C6270,
  '800': #4A4E59,
  '900': #2f3239,
  '950': #23252A,
);
$brand-base: #2f3239;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFEFF1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DBDDE1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C2C5CC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A3A8B3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#848A9A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6F7686", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5C6270", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4A4E59", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2f3239", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#23252A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #2f3239 · 12.83:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 12.83:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.64:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #2f3239 as text scores 12.83:1 on white and 1.64:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F1F2F3 at 11.45:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#2f3239 · 12.83:1
AA on whitealready passes
#2f3239
The quick fox
#2f3239 · 12.83:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#2f3239
The quick fox
#707787 · 4.68:1
AA on black+28% L
#707787
The quick fox
#9096A4 · 7.08:1
AAA on black+40% L
#9096A4

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #2F3239 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#2f3239 on white: 12.83:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2f3239 on black: 1.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2f3239 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2f3239.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White12.83:1AaAa
Slate 5012.27:1AaAa
Slate 10011.72:1AaAa
Slate 20010.41:1AaAa
Slate 3008.64:1AaAa
Slate 4005.01:1AaAa
Slate 5002.70:1AaAa
Slate 6001.69:1AaAa
Slate 7001.24:1AaAa
Slate 8001.14:1AaAa
Slate 9001.39:1AaAa
Black1.64:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #303239
deuteranopia · #2F3239
tritanopia · #2D3334

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #2f3239 is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F7F8
#EFEFF1
#DBDDE1
#C2C5CC
#A3A8B3
#848A9A
#6F7686
#5C6270
#4A4E59
#2f3239
#23252A
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #23252AText step on white = 600
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.003 267.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 267.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.008 267.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.010 267.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.012 267.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.013 267.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.013 267.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.012 267.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.011 267.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.009 267.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.007 267.1);
}

Colors that work with #2f3239

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F7F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D2D5DA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#686E7E
Captions on the surface
Accent#3B332D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3A3D46
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F2F3
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191B1F
Dark-mode background
Hover#1F2125
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0F1012
Two steps down
Disabled#626876
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#32394A
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #2f3239

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight80/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#39362F
Analogous left#2F3739
Analogous right#312F39
Split-complement 1#39312F
Split-complement 2#37392F
Triadic 1#392F32
Triadic 2#32392F
Tetradic#392F37
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°222°

#2f3239 sits at 222°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red18.4%
Green19.6%
Blue22.4%
R · 0–255
47
0x2f
G · 0–255
50
0x32
B · 0–255
57
0x39

CMYK percentages

Cyan17.5%
Magenta12.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)77.6%

Total ink coverage is 107%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2f3239 text on a black background

contrast 1.64:1

Card sample

#2f3239 text on a white background

contrast 12.83:1

Card sample

#2f3239 on grey

11.72:1

#2f3239 on its own surface

11.99:1

#2f3239 on its dark surface

1.34:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2f3239;
Background color
Panel with #2f3239 background
background-color: #2f3239;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2f3239;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(47, 50, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(47, 50, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2f3239;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2f3239, #332F39);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2f3239, #352F39);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2f3239;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2f3239;
caret-color: #2f3239;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2f3239;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1F2F3;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2f3239;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2f3239 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2f3239 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(47, 50, 57, 0.5)
rgb(47 50 57 / 50%)
#2f323980
hsl(222 10% 20% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2f3239 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2f32391a#EAEBEB
20%#2f323933#D5D6D7
40%#2f323966#ACADB0
60%#2f323999#828488
80%#2f3239cc#595B61

Gradients from #2f3239

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4B4F5B, #2f3239 45%, #3A3D46);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2f3239, #242128);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2f3239, #39362F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #595E6B 0%, #2f3239 45%, #3A3D46 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #465355 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #413D4A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3A3D46 0%, transparent 65%), #2f3239;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2f3239

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#2f3239 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.64:1 — lift it to #707787 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#2f3239, answered

What color is #2f3239?

#2f3239 is a deep muted blue, closest to Black (ΔE2000 13.8). It sits at 222° on the hue wheel with 10% saturation and 20% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2f3239?

rgb(47, 50, 57) — 47 red, 50 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 18.4% / 19.6% / 22.4% by channel.

What is #2f3239 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(222, 10%, 20%) and hsv(222, 18%, 22%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2f3239 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0318 and perceived brightness is 20%, so white text on it reaches 12.83:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2f3239?

White. It scores 12.83:1 against #2f3239, versus 1.64:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #2f3239 accessible on a white background?

#2f3239 on white scores 12.83:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #2f3239?

#39362F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39312F and #37392F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2f3239?

For interface work: #F7F7F8 as the surface, #D2D5DA for borders, #686E7E for secondary text, #3B332D as an accent and #3A3D46 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2F3739 and #312F39 stays calm, while #39362F is the loudest partner.

What is #2f3239 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 12%, 0%, 78%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #2f3239 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #413831; nudged cooler, #282F35.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2f3239?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 22.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #2f3239 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #2f3239 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2f3239] or text-[#2f3239], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #2f3239 with 50% opacity?

rgba(47, 50, 57, 0.5), or #2f323980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #97999C; over black, #18191D.

Is #2f3239 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 4.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2f3239 mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #2f3239?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #4B4F5B, #2f3239 45%, #3A3D46). For more colour, a short hue run to #242128 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2f3239 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2f3239 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.