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gray · neutral

#afb4ad

a light, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: Linen Concrete

RGB
175, 180, 173
HSL
103°, 5%, 69%
CMYK
3, 0, 4, 29
Luminance
0.4477

#afb4ad is a light muted gray, 103° on the wheel and 51/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.95:1). As text it scores 2.11:1 on white — use #71786E instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(103 5% 69%)rgb(175 180 173)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #afb4ad is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#afb4ad
Hue
103°
gray
Saturation
5%
muted
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4477
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
51/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
9.95:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
4.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.764
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 21.7
Web-safe
#99CC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue103° of 360°
Saturation5%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #afb4ad.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool51% cool

Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.

Luminance by channel
Red20%
Green73%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#afb4ad
HEX (8-digit)#afb4adff
RGBrgb(175, 180, 173)
RGBArgba(175, 180, 173, 1)
HSLhsl(103, 5%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(103, 4%, 71%)
HWBhwb(103 68% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 4%, 29%)
LABlab(72.7 -3.1 3.0)
LCHlch(72.7 4.3 136.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.764 0.011 136.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.54, 44.77, 45.98)
Decimal11515053
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.706 0.678)
Web-safe#99CC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #afb4ad;
background-color: #afb4ad;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #afb4ad;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#afb4ad] bg-[#afb4ad]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #afb4ad;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.706, blue: 0.678)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.686, green: 0.706, blue: 0.678, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AFB4AD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAFB4AD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAFB4AD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(173, 180, 175)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(175, 180, 173)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(175, 180, 173)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 175, 180, 173)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6863f, 0.7059f, 0.6784f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{175,180,173}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #afb4ad 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #afb4ad 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3F433D, #E0E2DF);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #afb4ad 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: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-100: #EFF0EF;
  --brand-200: #DDDFDD;
  --brand-300: #C6C9C4;
  --brand-400: #afb4ad;
  --brand-500: #8D948A;
  --brand-600: #788075;
  --brand-700: #646B61;
  --brand-800: #50554E;
  --brand-900: #3C403B;
  --brand-950: #262825;
  --brand: #afb4ad;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D5D8D4;
  --brand-hover: #9DA39A;
  --brand-pressed: #8B9288;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1C1D1B;
    --brand-ink: #E0E2DF;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F8F7',
        100: '#EFF0EF',
        200: '#DDDFDD',
        300: '#C6C9C4',
        400: '#afb4ad',
        500: '#8D948A',
        600: '#788075',
        700: '#646B61',
        800: '#50554E',
        900: '#3C403B',
        950: '#262825',
        DEFAULT: '#afb4ad',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F8F7,
  '100': #EFF0EF,
  '200': #DDDFDD,
  '300': #C6C9C4,
  '400': #afb4ad,
  '500': #8D948A,
  '600': #788075,
  '700': #646B61,
  '800': #50554E,
  '900': #3C403B,
  '950': #262825,
);
$brand-base: #afb4ad;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EFF0EF", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DDDFDD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C6C9C4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#afb4ad", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8D948A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#788075", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#646B61", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#50554E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3C403B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#262825", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #afb4ad · 9.95:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.11:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #afb4ad as text scores 2.11:1 on white and 9.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3F433D at 4.78:1.

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
#71786E · 4.55:1
AA on white−24% L
#71786E
The quick fox
#535851 · 7.29:1
AAA on white−36% L
#535851
The quick fox
#afb4ad · 9.95:1
AA on blackalready passes
#afb4ad
The quick fox
#afb4ad · 9.95:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#afb4ad

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #90978D 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
#afb4ad on white: 2.11:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#afb4ad on black: 9.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #afb4ad as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #afb4ad.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.11:1AaAa
Slate 502.02:1AaAa
Slate 1001.93:1AaAa
Slate 2001.71:1AaAa
Slate 3001.42:1AaAa
Slate 4001.22:1AaAa
Slate 5002.26:1AaAa
Slate 6003.59:1AaAa
Slate 7004.91:1AaAa
Slate 8006.93:1AaAa
Slate 9008.46:1AaAa
Black9.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B5B3AD
deuteranopia · #B4B2AD
tritanopia · #AFB3B2

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. #afb4ad is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F8F7
#EFF0EF
#DDDFDD
#C6C9C4
#afb4ad
#8D948A
#788075
#646B61
#50554E
#3C403B
#262825
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F7F8F7Darkest = 950 · #262825Text step on white = 700
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 0.003 136.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 136.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.007 136.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.009 136.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.010 136.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.011 136.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.011 136.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.011 136.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.009 136.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.008 136.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.006 136.6);
}

Colors that work with #afb4ad

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

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F7F8F7
Tinted page background
Border#D5D8D4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#71786E
Captions on the surface
Accent#655E6E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3F433D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F3F2
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1C1D1B
Dark-mode background
Hover#9DA39A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8B9288
Two steps down
Disabled#E8EAE8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B6C5B1
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 #afb4ad

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Neutral UI chrome and typography
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #3F433D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #90978D

Meaning and mood

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

neutralquieteditorialengineered

Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states.

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

Worth knowing

Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight31/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • 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#B2ADB4
Analogous left#B2B4AD
Analogous right#ADB4AE
Split-complement 1#AEADB4
Split-complement 2#B4ADB2
Triadic 1#ADAFB4
Triadic 2#B4ADAF
Tetradic#ADB2B4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°103°

#afb4ad sits at 103°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green70.6%
Blue67.8%
R · 0–255
175
0xaf
G · 0–255
180
0xb4
B · 0–255
173
0xad

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow3.9%
Key (black)29.4%

Total ink coverage is 36%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#afb4ad text on a black background

contrast 9.95:1

Card sample

#afb4ad text on a white background

contrast 2.11:1

Card sample

#afb4ad on grey

1.93:1

#afb4ad on its own surface

1.98:1

#afb4ad on its dark surface

8.02:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #afb4ad;
Background color
Panel with #afb4ad background
background-color: #afb4ad;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #afb4ad;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 180, 173, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 180, 173, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #afb4ad;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #afb4ad, #ADB4B0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #afb4ad, #ADB4B1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #afb4ad;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #afb4ad;
caret-color: #afb4ad;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #afb4ad;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F2F3F2;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #afb4ad;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#afb4ad 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #afb4ad 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(175, 180, 173, 0.5)
rgb(175 180 173 / 50%)
#afb4ad80
hsl(103 5% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #afb4ad 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#afb4ad1a#F7F8F7
20%#afb4ad33#EFF0EF
40%#afb4ad66#DFE1DE
60%#afb4ad99#CFD2CE
80%#afb4adcc#BFC3BD

Gradients from #afb4ad

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, #CED1CD, #afb4ad 45%, #3F433D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #afb4ad, #9DA5A1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #afb4ad, #B2ADB4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DEE0DD 0%, #afb4ad 45%, #3F433D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F7F8F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CCCCC8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BDC3BF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3F433D 0%, transparent 65%), #afb4ad;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #afb4ad

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.

#afb4ad in the real world

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

Industries
EditorialArchitectureEnterpriseLuxury goods
Common UI roles
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

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

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 9.95:1.

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.

#afb4ad, answered

What color is #afb4ad?

#afb4ad is a light muted gray, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 103° on the hue wheel with 5% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #afb4ad?

rgb(175, 180, 173) — 175 red, 180 green and 173 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 70.6% / 67.8% by channel.

What is #afb4ad in HSL and HSV?

hsl(103, 5%, 69%) and hsv(103, 4%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #afb4ad a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4477 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #afb4ad?

Black. It scores 9.95:1 against #afb4ad, versus 2.11:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #afb4ad accessible on a white background?

#afb4ad on white scores 2.11:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #71786E to reach 4.5:1, or #535851 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #afb4ad?

#B2ADB4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AEADB4 and #B4ADB2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #afb4ad?

For interface work: #F7F8F7 as the surface, #D5D8D4 for borders, #71786E for secondary text, #655E6E as an accent and #3F433D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B2B4AD and #ADB4AE stays calm, while #B2ADB4 is the loudest partner.

What is #afb4ad in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 4%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #afb4ad warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 51 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C0B4AB; nudged cooler, #A0ABB7.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #afb4ad?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 21.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #afb4ad as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #afb4ad in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#afb4ad] or text-[#afb4ad], 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 #afb4ad with 50% opacity?

rgba(175, 180, 173, 0.5), or #afb4ad80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7DAD6; over black, #585A57.

Is #afb4ad a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CC99, ΔE2000 17.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #afb4ad mean?

As a gray, it reads neutral, quiet, editorial. Grey is the material the rest of the interface is built from: type, rules, surfaces, disabled states. At this low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #afb4ad?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CED1CD, #afb4ad 45%, #3F433D). For more colour, a short hue run to #9DA5A1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #afb4ad in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #afb4ad at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.