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gray · neutral

#c4baba

a light, muted gray · neutral · closest name: Silver

Token name suggestion: Drift Graphite

RGB
196, 186, 186
HSL
0°, 8%, 75%
CMYK
0, 5, 5, 23
Luminance
0.5040

#c4baba is a light muted gray, 0° on the wheel and 43/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.08:1). As text it scores 1.90:1 on white — use #847171 instead. Nearest name is Silver, nearest Tailwind family is neutral.

hsl(0 8% 75%)rgb(196 186 186)Base step 300AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c4baba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c4baba
Hue
gray
Saturation
8%
muted
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5040
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
43/100 cool
Color family
Gray
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
11.08:1
Closest name
Silver
ΔE2000 4.9
Chroma
3.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.797
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
neutral
500 · ΔE 24.2
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue0° of 360°
Saturation8%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c4baba.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool43% 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
Red23%
Green70%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#c4baba
HEX (8-digit)#c4babaff
RGBrgb(196, 186, 186)
RGBArgba(196, 186, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(0, 8%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(0, 5%, 77%)
HWBhwb(0 73% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 5%, 23%)
LABlab(76.3 3.5 1.3)
LCHlch(76.3 3.7 19.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.797 0.011 17.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.19, 50.40, 53.58)
Decimal12892858
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.729 0.729)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c4baba;
background-color: #c4baba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c4baba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c4baba] bg-[#c4baba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c4baba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C4BABA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC4BABA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC4BABA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 186, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 186, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 186, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 186, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.7294f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,186,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c4baba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c4baba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#453B3B, #E3DEDE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c4baba 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: #F8F7F7;
  --brand-100: #F1EFEF;
  --brand-200: #E0DCDC;
  --brand-300: #c4baba;
  --brand-400: #B1A4A4;
  --brand-500: #988686;
  --brand-600: #847171;
  --brand-700: #6E5E5E;
  --brand-800: #584B4B;
  --brand-900: #423939;
  --brand-950: #292424;
  --brand: #c4baba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F7F7;
  --brand-border: #D9D3D3;
  --brand-hover: #B4A7A7;
  --brand-pressed: #A39494;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1A1A;
    --brand-ink: #E3DEDE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F7',
        100: '#F1EFEF',
        200: '#E0DCDC',
        300: '#c4baba',
        400: '#B1A4A4',
        500: '#988686',
        600: '#847171',
        700: '#6E5E5E',
        800: '#584B4B',
        900: '#423939',
        950: '#292424',
        DEFAULT: '#c4baba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F7,
  '100': #F1EFEF,
  '200': #E0DCDC,
  '300': #c4baba,
  '400': #B1A4A4,
  '500': #988686,
  '600': #847171,
  '700': #6E5E5E,
  '800': #584B4B,
  '900': #423939,
  '950': #292424,
);
$brand-base: #c4baba;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F7F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EFEF", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0DCDC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#c4baba", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B1A4A4", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#988686", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#847171", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6E5E5E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#584B4B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#423939", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#292424", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c4baba · 11.08:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c4baba as text scores 1.90:1 on white and 11.08:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #453B3B at 5.71:1.

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
#847171 · 4.58:1
AA on white−27% L
#847171
The quick fox
#635454 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−39% L
#635454
The quick fox
#c4baba · 11.08:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c4baba
The quick fox
#c4baba · 11.08:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c4baba

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A19191 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
#c4baba on white: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c4baba on black: 11.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c4baba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c4baba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.90:1AaAa
Slate 501.81:1AaAa
Slate 1001.73:1AaAa
Slate 2001.54:1AaAa
Slate 3001.28:1AaAa
Slate 4001.35:1AaAa
Slate 5002.51:1AaAa
Slate 6004.00:1AaAa
Slate 7005.46:1AaAa
Slate 8007.72:1AaAa
Slate 9009.42:1AaAa
Black11.08:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BCBBBA
deuteranopia · #BEBDBA
tritanopia · #C6B9BA

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. #c4baba is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F7F7
#F1EFEF
#E0DCDC
#c4baba
#B1A4A4
#988686
#847171
#6E5E5E
#584B4B
#423939
#292424
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F7Darkest = 950 · #292424Text 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 17.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.005 17.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.007 17.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.009 17.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.010 17.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.011 17.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.011 17.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.011 17.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.009 17.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.008 17.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.006 17.4);
}

Colors that work with #c4baba

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#F8F7F7
Tinted page background
Border#D9D3D3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7C6A6A
Captions on the surface
Accent#59736C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#453B3B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F1F1
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1A1A
Dark-mode background
Hover#B4A7A7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A39494
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F4F4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3C0C0
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 #c4baba

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 #453B3B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A19191

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
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#BAC4C4
Analogous left#C4BABF
Analogous right#C4BFBA
Split-complement 1#BAC4BF
Split-complement 2#BABFC4
Triadic 1#BAC4BA
Triadic 2#BABAC4
Tetradic#BFC4BA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°0°

#c4baba sits at 0°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green72.9%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.1%
Yellow5.1%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 33%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c4baba text on a black background

contrast 11.08:1

Card sample

#c4baba text on a white background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

#c4baba on grey

1.73:1

#c4baba on its own surface

1.77:1

#c4baba on its dark surface

9.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c4baba;
Background color
Panel with #c4baba background
background-color: #c4baba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c4baba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 186, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 186, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c4baba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c4baba, #C4C1BA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c4baba, #C4C3BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c4baba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c4baba;
caret-color: #c4baba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c4baba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F1F1;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c4baba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c4baba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c4baba 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(196, 186, 186, 0.5)
rgb(196 186 186 / 50%)
#c4baba80
hsl(0 8% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c4baba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c4baba1a#F9F8F8
20%#c4baba33#F3F1F1
40%#c4baba66#E7E3E3
60%#c4baba99#DCD6D6
80%#c4babacc#D0C8C8

Gradients from #c4baba

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, #E0DBDB, #c4baba 45%, #453B3B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c4baba, #B6B3AA);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c4baba, #BAC4C4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EEEBEB 0%, #c4baba 45%, #453B3B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F7F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DBD5D9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D2CFCA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #453B3B 0%, transparent 65%), #c4baba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c4baba

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.

#c4baba 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 11.08:1.

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.

#c4baba, answered

What color is #c4baba?

#c4baba is a light muted gray, closest to Silver (ΔE2000 4.9). It sits at 0° on the hue wheel with 8% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #c4baba?

rgb(196, 186, 186) — 196 red, 186 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 72.9% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #c4baba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(0, 8%, 75%) and hsv(0, 5%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c4baba a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5040 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c4baba?

Black. It scores 11.08:1 against #c4baba, versus 1.90:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c4baba accessible on a white background?

#c4baba on white scores 1.90:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #847171 to reach 4.5:1, or #635454 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c4baba?

#BAC4C4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BAC4BF and #BABFC4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c4baba?

For interface work: #F8F7F7 as the surface, #D9D3D3 for borders, #7C6A6A for secondary text, #59736C as an accent and #453B3B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4BABF and #C4BFBA stays calm, while #BAC4C4 is the loudest partner.

What is #c4baba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 5%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c4baba warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 43 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CCC3BC; nudged cooler, #B0BAC4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c4baba?

The neutral family — its 500 step is #737373, ΔE2000 24.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c4baba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c4baba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c4baba] or text-[#c4baba], 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 #c4baba with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 186, 186, 0.5), or #c4baba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E2DDDD; over black, #625D5D.

Is #c4baba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 6.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c4baba 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 #c4baba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0DBDB, #c4baba 45%, #453B3B). For more colour, a short hue run to #B6B3AA keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c4baba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c4baba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.