#b2aaaf
a light, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Dark Gray
Token name suggestion: Meadow Graphite
#b2aaaf is a light muted gray, 323° on the wheel and 48/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.26:1). As text it scores 2.27:1 on white — use #7E727A instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.
At a glance
Every number on this page in one read: what #b2aaaf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.
Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b2aaaf.
Near-neutral, so temperature is a whisper rather than a statement — the tinted siblings below show which way it can lean.
Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.
Every format
| HEX | #b2aaaf |
| HEX (8-digit) | #b2aaafff |
| RGB | rgb(178, 170, 175) |
| RGBA | rgba(178, 170, 175, 1) |
| HSL | hsl(323, 5%, 68%) |
| HSV / HSB | hsv(322, 4%, 70%) |
| HWB | hwb(323 67% 30%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(0%, 5%, 2%, 30%) |
| LAB | lab(70.4 3.8 -1.5) |
| LCH | lch(70.4 4.1 337.8) |
| OKLCH | oklch(0.746 0.011 339.4) |
| XYZ (D65) | xyz(40.47, 41.31, 46.39) |
| Decimal | 11709103 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.698 0.667 0.686) |
| Web-safe | #999999 |
Copy-ready code
/* CSS */
color: #b2aaaf;
background-color: #b2aaaf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b2aaaf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b2aaaf] bg-[#b2aaaf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b2aaaf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.698, green: 0.667, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.698, green: 0.667, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B2AAAF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB2AAAF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB2AAAF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 170, 178)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(178, 170, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(178, 170, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 178, 170, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6980f, 0.6667f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{178,170,175}/* mix without leaving CSS */ background: color-mix(in oklab, #b2aaaf 85%, white); border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b2aaaf 40%, transparent); /* theme-aware in one line */ color: light-dark(#433D41, #E2DFE1); /* relative colour syntax */ --hover: hsl(from #b2aaaf h s calc(l - 7));
Design tokens
The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.
:root {
--brand-50: #F8F7F7;
--brand-100: #F0EFF0;
--brand-200: #DFDCDE;
--brand-300: #CAC4C8;
--brand-400: #b2aaaf;
--brand-500: #948990;
--brand-600: #80747C;
--brand-700: #6B6167;
--brand-800: #564E53;
--brand-900: #403A3E;
--brand-950: #282527;
--brand: #b2aaaf;
--brand-ink: #000000;
--brand-surface: #F8F7F7;
--brand-border: #D8D4D7;
--brand-hover: #A1979D;
--brand-pressed: #90848C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
:root {
--brand-surface: #1D1B1C;
--brand-ink: #E2DFE1;
}
}theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
brand: {
50: '#F8F7F7',
100: '#F0EFF0',
200: '#DFDCDE',
300: '#CAC4C8',
400: '#b2aaaf',
500: '#948990',
600: '#80747C',
700: '#6B6167',
800: '#564E53',
900: '#403A3E',
950: '#282527',
DEFAULT: '#b2aaaf',
},
},
},
}$brand: (
'50': #F8F7F7,
'100': #F0EFF0,
'200': #DFDCDE,
'300': #CAC4C8,
'400': #b2aaaf,
'500': #948990,
'600': #80747C,
'700': #6B6167,
'800': #564E53,
'900': #403A3E,
'950': #282527,
);
$brand-base: #b2aaaf;
$brand-ink: #000000;
@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }{
"color": {
"brand": {
"50": { "$value": "#F8F7F7", "$type": "color" },
"100": { "$value": "#F0EFF0", "$type": "color" },
"200": { "$value": "#DFDCDE", "$type": "color" },
"300": { "$value": "#CAC4C8", "$type": "color" },
"400": { "$value": "#b2aaaf", "$type": "color" },
"500": { "$value": "#948990", "$type": "color" },
"600": { "$value": "#80747C", "$type": "color" },
"700": { "$value": "#6B6167", "$type": "color" },
"800": { "$value": "#564E53", "$type": "color" },
"900": { "$value": "#403A3E", "$type": "color" },
"950": { "$value": "#282527", "$type": "color" }
},
"brandInk": { "$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.
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.
Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9C9298 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
Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b2aaaf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b2aaaf.
| Neutral | Ratio | Verdict | Both directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| White#ffffff | 2.27:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 50#f8fafc | 2.17:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 100#f1f5f9 | 2.07:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 200#e2e8f0 | 1.84:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 300#cbd5e1 | 1.53:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 400#94a3b8 | 1.13:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 500#64748b | 2.10:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 600#475569 | 3.34:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 700#334155 | 4.57:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 800#1e293b | 6.45:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Slate 900#0f172a | 7.87:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
| Black#000000 | 9.26:1 | AAAA lgAAA | AaAa |
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. #b2aaaf 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.
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.
:root {
--brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.003 339.4);
--brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 339.4);
--brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.007 339.4);
--brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.009 339.4);
--brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.011 339.4);
--brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.011 339.4);
--brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.011 339.4);
--brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.011 339.4);
--brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.010 339.4);
--brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.008 339.4);
--brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.006 339.4);
}Colors that work with #b2aaaf
Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.
Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.
Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.
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.
Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.
The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.
How to use #b2aaaf
Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.
- ✓Text and icons on dark surfaces
- ✓Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
- ✓Long-form reading surfaces
- ✓Card and section backgrounds
- ✓Neutral UI chrome and typography
- ⚠Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
- ⚠White text placed on it
- ⚠Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Meaning and mood
What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.
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.
Mid-greys are where accessibility quietly fails — check every step of your ladder, not just the ends.
- FormalityMedium
- EnergyLow
- Weight32/100
- 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 | #AAB2AD | Directly opposite — maximum tension | |
| Analogous left | #B1AAB2 | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Analogous right | #B2AAAB | Neighbour, quieter | |
| Split-complement 1 | #ABB2AA | Contrast without the clash | |
| Split-complement 2 | #AAB2B1 | Contrast without the clash | |
| Triadic 1 | #AFB2AA | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Triadic 2 | #AAAFB2 | Even thirds — balanced and loud | |
| Tetradic | #B2B1AA | Fourth corner of the square scheme |
#b2aaaf sits at 323°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.
RGB percentages
CMYK percentages
Total ink coverage is 36%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.
Color previews
#b2aaaf text on a black background
contrast 9.26:1
#b2aaaf text on a white background
contrast 2.27:1
#b2aaaf on grey
2.07:1
#b2aaaf on its own surface
2.12:1
#b2aaaf on its dark surface
7.56:1
CSS3 live lab
The quick brown fox
color: #b2aaaf;
background-color: #b2aaaf;
Glowing headline
text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b2aaaf;
Soft neon halo
text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(178, 170, 175, 0.45);
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(178, 170, 175, 0.45);
border: 3px solid #b2aaaf; background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b2aaaf, #B2AAAA);
Gradient headline
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b2aaaf, #B2ACAA); -webkit-background-clip: text; color: transparent;
outline: 2px solid #b2aaaf; outline-offset: 3px;
Marked up text
text-decoration-color: #b2aaaf; caret-color: #b2aaaf;
border-left: 4px solid #b2aaaf;
background: #F3F2F2; box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b2aaaf;
background: conic-gradient(#b2aaaf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);
Transparency
What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b2aaaf 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.
rgba(178, 170, 175, 0.5) rgb(178 170 175 / 50%) #b2aaaf80 hsl(323 5% 68% / 50%) color-mix(in srgb, #b2aaaf 50%, transparent)
| Alpha | 8-digit hex | Flat on white |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | #b2aaaf1a | #F7F7F7 |
| 20% | #b2aaaf33 | #F0EEEF |
| 40% | #b2aaaf66 | #E0DDDF |
| 60% | #b2aaaf99 | #D1CCCF |
| 80% | #b2aaafcc | #C1BBBF |
Gradients from #b2aaaf
Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #CFCACD, #b2aaaf 45%, #433D41);
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b2aaaf, #A39B9A);
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b2aaaf, #AAB2AD);
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DEDADC 0%, #b2aaaf 45%, #433D41 100%);
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F7F7, #ffffff);
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C9C5CA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C0BABA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #433D41 0%, transparent 65%), #b2aaaf;
Monochromatic scale
Palettes built from #b2aaaf
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.
Closest color with a full write-up: Silver (#c0c0c0) — ΔE2000 7.5 away, with its history, psychology and brand usage.
#b2aaaf in the real world
Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.
Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.
Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.
Usable as-is on a dark surface at 9.26:1.
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.
#b2aaaf, answered
What color is #b2aaaf?
#b2aaaf is a light muted gray, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 323° on the hue wheel with 5% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as neutral.
What is the RGB value of #b2aaaf?
rgb(178, 170, 175) — 178 red, 170 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 69.8% / 66.7% / 68.6% by channel.
What is #b2aaaf in HSL and HSV?
hsl(323, 5%, 68%) and hsv(322, 4%, 70%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.
Is #b2aaaf a light or a dark color?
It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4131 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.26:1.
Should I use black or white text on #b2aaaf?
Black. It scores 9.26:1 against #b2aaaf, versus 2.27:1 for white — AAA at any size.
Is #b2aaaf accessible on a white background?
#b2aaaf on white scores 2.27:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7E727A to reach 4.5:1, or #5E555B for 7:1.
What is the complementary color of #b2aaaf?
#AAB2AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ABB2AA and #AAB2B1, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.
What colors go well with #b2aaaf?
For interface work: #F8F7F7 as the surface, #D8D4D7 for borders, #786D74 for secondary text, #5D6F5E as an accent and #433D41 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B1AAB2 and #B2AAAB stays calm, while #AAB2AD is the loudest partner.
What is #b2aaaf in CMYK for printing?
cmyk(0%, 5%, 2%, 30%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.
Is #b2aaaf warm or cool?
Neutral — it scores 48 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BEB2A8; nudged cooler, #9DA8B5.
Which Tailwind color is closest to #b2aaaf?
The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 20.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b2aaaf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.
How do I use #b2aaaf in Tailwind CSS?
Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b2aaaf] or text-[#b2aaaf], 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 #b2aaaf with 50% opacity?
rgba(178, 170, 175, 0.5), or #b2aaaf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D9D5D7; over black, #595558.
Is #b2aaaf a web-safe color?
No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 7.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.
What does the color #b2aaaf 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 #b2aaaf?
The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CFCACD, #b2aaaf 45%, #433D41). For more colour, a short hue run to #A39B9A keeps it rich without turning muddy.
Work with #b2aaaf in the Color Lab
Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.
Every value on this page is computed from #b2aaaf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.