#9CA3AF color
The swatch above shows #9CA3AF with its hex code written on it in white and in black, so you can see which of the two is legible before reading the measured ratios below.
#9CA3AF is a light, muted blue, closest to the CSS named color darkgray (#A9A9A9).
It is also a Tailwind CSS default: gray-400. That means you can write bg-gray-400 or text-gray-400 directly, with no arbitrary-value brackets and no entry in your theme config.
Color values
| HEX | #9CA3AF |
| RGB | rgb(156, 163, 175) |
| HSL | hsl(218, 11%, 65%) |
| CMYK | cmyk(11%, 7%, 0%, 31%) |
| Decimal | 10265519 |
| CSS | color: #9CA3AF; |
| Android | 0xFF9CA3AF |
| Swift | UIColor(red: 0.612, green: 0.639, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1) |
Accessibility and contrast
| White text on #9CA3AF | 2.54:1 — AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail |
| Black text on #9CA3AF | 8.27:1 — AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass |
| Recommended text color | black |
WCAG 2.1 asks for at least 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text (18 pt, or 14 pt bold).
Tints and shades of #9CA3AF
Each swatch keeps the hue and saturation of #9CA3AF and varies only lightness — the quickest way to build a usable scale from a single brand color.
Colors that go with #9CA3AF
Harmonies generated by rotating the hue on the color wheel while holding saturation and lightness constant.
Using #9CA3AF in code
/* CSS */
.element { color: #9CA3AF; background-color: #9CA3AF; }
.element { color: rgb(156 163 175); }
.element { color: hsl(218 11% 65%); }
/* Tailwind */
<div class="bg-gray-400 text-black">
/* SCSS variable */
$brand: #9CA3AF;Frequently asked questions
What color is #9CA3AF?
#9CA3AF is a light, muted blue. Its hue sits at 218° on the color wheel, with 11% saturation and 65% lightness.
What is #9CA3AF in RGB?
#9CA3AF converts to rgb(156, 163, 175) — 156 red, 163 green and 175 blue.
What is #9CA3AF in CMYK?
Approximately cmyk(11%, 7%, 0%, 31%). Print output depends on the ICC profile of the press and paper, so treat this as a starting point rather than an exact match.
Should text on #9CA3AF be white or black?
Black gives the better contrast ratio (8.27:1 versus 2.54:1).
What is the complementary color of #9CA3AF?
#B0A89C — the hue directly opposite #9CA3AF on the color wheel.