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gray · neutral

#dadcda

a pale, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Gainsboro

Token name suggestion: Chalk Concrete

RGB
218, 220, 218
HSL
120°, 3%, 86%
CMYK
1, 0, 1, 14
Luminance
0.7115

#dadcda is a pale muted gray, 120° on the wheel and 51/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.23:1). As text it scores 1.38:1 on white — use #727872 instead. Nearest name is Gainsboro, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(120 3% 86%)rgb(218 220 218)Base step 200AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

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

Hex
#dadcda
Hue
120°
gray
Saturation
3%
muted
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7115
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
51/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
15.23:1
Closest name
Gainsboro
ΔE2000 1.7
Chroma
1.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.892
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 26
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue120° of 360°
Saturation3%
Lightness86%
Saturation × lightness field

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

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
Red21%
Green72%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#dadcda
HEX (8-digit)#dadcdaff
RGBrgb(218, 220, 218)
RGBArgba(218, 220, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(120, 3%, 86%)
HSV / HSBhsv(120, 1%, 86%)
HWBhwb(120 85% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 1%, 14%)
LABlab(87.6 -1.0 0.7)
LCHlch(87.6 1.3 144.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.892 0.004 145.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(67.16, 71.15, 76.51)
Decimal14343386
Display P3color(display-p3 0.855 0.863 0.855)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dadcda;
background-color: #dadcda;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dadcda;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dadcda] bg-[#dadcda]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dadcda;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.855, green: 0.863, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.855, green: 0.863, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DADCDA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDADCDA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDADCDA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 220, 218)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(218, 220, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(218, 220, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 218, 220, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8549f, 0.8627f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{218,220,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dadcda 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dadcda 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#3E423E, #E0E1E0);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dadcda 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: #dadcda;
  --brand-300: #C5C8C5;
  --brand-400: #A8ADA8;
  --brand-500: #8C928C;
  --brand-600: #777E77;
  --brand-700: #636963;
  --brand-800: #4F544F;
  --brand-900: #3C3F3C;
  --brand-950: #252725;
  --brand: #dadcda;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F7F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D5D7D5;
  --brand-hover: #C8CBC8;
  --brand-pressed: #B5B9B5;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1B1D1B;
    --brand-ink: #E0E1E0;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F8F7',
        100: '#EFF0EF',
        200: '#dadcda',
        300: '#C5C8C5',
        400: '#A8ADA8',
        500: '#8C928C',
        600: '#777E77',
        700: '#636963',
        800: '#4F544F',
        900: '#3C3F3C',
        950: '#252725',
        DEFAULT: '#dadcda',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F8F7,
  '100': #EFF0EF,
  '200': #dadcda,
  '300': #C5C8C5,
  '400': #A8ADA8,
  '500': #8C928C,
  '600': #777E77,
  '700': #636963,
  '800': #4F544F,
  '900': #3C3F3C,
  '950': #252725,
);
$brand-base: #dadcda;
$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": "#dadcda", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C5C8C5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A8ADA8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#8C928C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#777E77", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#636963", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#4F544F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#3C3F3C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#252725", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dadcda · 15.23:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.38:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.23:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dadcda as text scores 1.38:1 on white and 15.23:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #3E423E at 7.42:1.

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
#727872 · 4.52:1
AA on white−40% L
#727872
The quick fox
#545954 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−52% L
#545954
The quick fox
#dadcda · 15.23:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dadcda
The quick fox
#dadcda · 15.23:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dadcda

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8E948E 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
#dadcda on white: 1.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dadcda on black: 15.23:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.38:1AaAa
Slate 501.32:1AaAa
Slate 1001.26:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.86:1AaAa
Slate 5003.45:1AaAa
Slate 6005.50:1AaAa
Slate 7007.51:1AaAa
Slate 80010.61:1AaAa
Slate 90012.95:1AaAa
Black15.23:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DCDCDA
deuteranopia · #DCDBDA
tritanopia · #DADCDB

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. #dadcda is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F8F7
#EFF0EF
#dadcda
#C5C8C5
#A8ADA8
#8C928C
#777E77
#636963
#4F544F
#3C3F3C
#252725
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F7F8F7Darkest = 950 · #252725Text 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 0.001 145.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.001 145.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.002 145.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.003 145.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.003 145.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.004 145.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.004 145.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.003 145.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.003 145.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.002 145.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.002 145.5);
}

Colors that work with #dadcda

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#D5D7D5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#707670
Captions on the surface
Accent#69606C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#3E423E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F2F3F2
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1B1D1B
Dark-mode background
Hover#C8CBC8
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B5B9B5
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F5F5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E2E9E2
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 #dadcda

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 #3E423E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8E948E

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 high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight14/100
  • 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#DCDADC
Analogous left#DBDCDA
Analogous right#DADCDB
Split-complement 1#DBDADC
Split-complement 2#DCDADB
Triadic 1#DADADC
Triadic 2#DCDADA
Tetradic#DADBDC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°120°

#dadcda sits at 120°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red85.5%
Green86.3%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
218
0xda
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow0.9%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 16%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dadcda text on a black background

contrast 15.23:1

Card sample

#dadcda text on a white background

contrast 1.38:1

Card sample

#dadcda on grey

1.26:1

#dadcda on its own surface

1.30:1

#dadcda on its dark surface

12.30:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(218, 220, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(218, 220, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dadcda;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dadcda, #DADCDB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

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

Marked up text

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

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dadcda 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(218, 220, 218, 0.5)
rgb(218 220 218 / 50%)
#dadcda80
hsl(120 3% 86% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dadcda 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dadcda1a#FBFCFB
20%#dadcda33#F8F8F8
40%#dadcda66#F0F1F0
60%#dadcda99#E9EAE9
80%#dadcdacc#E1E3E1

Gradients from #dadcda

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, #F5F5F5, #dadcda 45%, #3E423E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dadcda, #CACDCC);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dadcda, #DCDADC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F7F8F7 0%, #dadcda 45%, #3E423E 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%, #F5F5F4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EAEBEA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #3E423E 0%, transparent 65%), #dadcda;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dadcda

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.

#dadcda 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

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 15.23:1.

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.

#dadcda, answered

What color is #dadcda?

#dadcda is a pale muted gray, closest to Gainsboro (ΔE2000 1.7). It sits at 120° on the hue wheel with 3% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #dadcda?

rgb(218, 220, 218) — 218 red, 220 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 85.5% / 86.3% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #dadcda in HSL and HSV?

hsl(120, 3%, 86%) and hsv(120, 1%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dadcda a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7115 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.23:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dadcda?

Black. It scores 15.23:1 against #dadcda, versus 1.38:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dadcda accessible on a white background?

#dadcda on white scores 1.38:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #727872 to reach 4.5:1, or #545954 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dadcda?

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

What colors go well with #dadcda?

For interface work: #F7F8F7 as the surface, #D5D7D5 for borders, #707670 for secondary text, #69606C as an accent and #3E423E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DBDCDA and #DADCDB stays calm, while #DCDADC is the loudest partner.

What is #dadcda in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 1%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dadcda 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 #E4E0DC; nudged cooler, #D0D6DC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dadcda?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 26 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dadcda as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dadcda in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(218, 220, 218, 0.5), or #dadcda80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EDEEED; over black, #6D6E6D.

Is #dadcda a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dadcda 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 #dadcda?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F5F5F5, #dadcda 45%, #3E423E). For more colour, a short hue run to #CACDCC keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dadcda in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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