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Gray Color — #808080 HEX Code

Gray uses #808080, or RGB(128, 128, 128), in this color catalog. Explore complementary colors, palettes and text contrast below.

Theme palettes

Color Wheel

5
#808080
H: 0° · S: 0% · B: 50%
Brightness50%

Click a swatch to select · Click hex to copy

Colors adjacent on the wheel create a serene, comfortable palette. Ideal for nature-inspired designs and cohesive UI themes.

Gray

#808080

Gray color reference

Updated

Gray and grey are identical CSS colors: both use #808080. Gray is common in US English and grey in UK English; neither spelling changes the RGB values.

CSS keywords: gray, grey. Each resolves to #808080 in sRGB.

HEX — exact
#808080
RGB — exact 8-bit channels
128, 128, 128
HSL — rounded
none, 0%, 50%

What is the complementary color?

This neutral has no hue, so it has no unique hue-wheel complement. Build a neutral palette by changing lightness and testing the text pairs.

Black or white text on Gray?

Black text: 5.317:1Normal-text AA: PassInspect this text pair
White text: 3.949:1Normal-text AA: FailInspect this text pair

AA requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text. Results use opaque colors and unrounded contrast values; a passing pair does not establish complete accessibility.

A worked palette in this color family

For secondary text, see a neutral catalog example that darkens a faint supporting label while retaining hierarchy through spacing and type.

The collection uses its own listed HEX values; it does not substitute them for this #808080 reference.

Neutral Color Palettes: roles, contrast checks and CSS

Use #808080 in a real interface

Exact match in the Color Match reference list: Gray. Reference names are browsing labels; not every name is a CSS keyword.

This value falls short for normal text on white. Try it as an accent surface with the tested label below, or use the contrast fixer for a darker text role.

A passing foreground/background check covers that pair only. Inspect focus, hover and meaningful boundaries against their actual neighbors.

Assign roles and check the pair

The lightest and darkest supplied values are the starting reading pair. The accent label adds black or white, whichever has greater contrast. You can change the accent below.

A palette in context

Use this preview to inspect reading text and an accent label.

Example action

Reading text #111827 on #808080: 4.492:1 - Fail normal text AA.

Accent label #000000 on #808080: 5.317:1.

Checks use unrounded ratios and opaque sRGB. The example action is a visual sample. Test boundaries, focus and hover in your actual component.

Find a passing reading color
All color pairs: normal text AA
Rows are text; columns are backgrounds. Each cell gives the ratio and AA result.
Text / background#808080#111827
#8080801.00:1 Fail4.49:1 Fail
#1118274.49:1 Fail1.00:1 Fail
:root {
  --surface: #808080;
  --text: #111827;
  --accent: #808080;
  --on-accent: #000000;
}

Shades & Tints

Tints (Adding White)

Shades (Adding Black)

Theme Palettes

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Pastel

Vintage

Neon

Dark Mode

Nature

Live Website Preview

Preview your landing page

See your selected colors on headings, surfaces and example actions.

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Primary action
Try your primary color on an example action.
Supporting surface
Compare a card with the page background.
Reading text
Inspect a short heading and supporting copy.
Example call to action
Sample content for inspecting your palette in a layout.
Example action

Accessibility

Text contrast on Gray

Each sample uses this color as the background. Results describe opaque text contrast, not the accessibility of a whole design.

White text

A normal-size text example.

#FFFFFF on #808080

WCAG: 3.949:1

Normal text: Fail. Large text: AA.

APCA: -72.40 Lc (supplementary).

Inspect this pair and find a fix

Black text

A normal-size text example.

#000000 on #808080

WCAG: 5.317:1

Normal text: AA. Large text: AAA.

APCA: 37.19 Lc (supplementary).

Inspect this pair and find a fix

AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Large text is at least 24 CSS px, or about 18.67 CSS px and bold. Methods and limitations

Vision Simulator

Color Vision
Environment

Normal Vision

Gray — Original
#808080
No change
#808080

Vision: Viénot 1999 + Machado 2009. Environment: approximate perceptual simulation.

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