Authors of web pages have a variety of options available for specifying colors for elements of web documents. Colors may be specified as an RGB triplet in hexadecimal format; they may also be specified according to their common English names in some cases.
The HTML 4.01 specification defines sixteen named colors, as follows:
Standard color names
| Color | Hexadecimal | Color | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | #000000 | Silver | #C0C0C0 |
| Gray | #808080 | White | #FFFFFF |
| Maroon | #800000 | Red | #FF0000 |
| Purple | #800080 | Fuchsia | #FF00FF |
| Green | #008000 | Lime | #00FF00 |
| Olive | #808000 | Yellow | #FFFF00 |
| Navy | #000080 | Blue | #0000FF |
| Teal | #008080 | Aqua | #00FFFF |
In addition, a number of colors are defined by browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. Some of these colors, along with their hexadecimal equivalents, are listed below.
Proprietary color names
| Color | Hexadecimal | Color | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| indianred | #CD5C5C | darksalmon | #E9967A |
| lightcoral | #F08080 | salmon | #FA8072 |
| orangered | #FF4500 | red | #FF0000 |
| crimson | #DC143C | firebrick | #B22222 |
| darkred | #8B0000 | mediumvioletred | #C71585 |
| pink | #FFC0CB | lightpink | #FFB6C1 |
| hotpink | #FF69B4 | deeppink | #FF1493 |
| palevioletred | #DB7093 | darkkhaki | #BDB76B |
| khaki | #F0E68C | palegoldenrod | #EEE8AA |
| lightgoldenrodyellow | #FAFAD2 | lightyellow | #FFFFE0 |
| lemonchiffon | #FFFACD | yellow | #FFFF00 |
| gold | #FFD700 | papayawhip | #FFEFD5 |
| moccasin | #FFE4B5 | peachpuff | #FFDAB9 |
| cyan | #00FFFF | aqua | #00FFFF |
| aquamarine | #7FFFD4 | turquoise | #40E0D0 |
| mediumturquoise | #48D1CC | darkturquoise | #00CED1 |
| cadetblue | #5F9EA0 | slategray | #708090 |
| lightcyan | #E0FFFF | paleturquoise | #AFEEEE |
| powderblue | #B0E0E6 | lightsteelblue | #B0C4DE |
| steelblue | #4682B4 | lightblue | #ADD8E6 |
| skyblue | #87CEEB | lightskyblue | #87CEFA |
| deepskyblue | #00BFFF | cornflowerblue | #6495ED |
| royalblue | #4169E1 | mediumslateblue | #7B68EE |
| dodgerblue | #1E90FF | blue | #0000FF |
| mediumblue | #0000CD | darkblue | #00008B |
| navy | #000080 | midnightblue | #191970 |
| lightsalmon | #FFA07A | orange | #FFA500 |
| darkorange | #FF8C00 | coral | #FF7F50 |
| tomato | #FF6347 | orangered | #FF4500 |
| aquamarine | #7FFFD4 | mediumspringgreen | #00FA9A |
| springgreen | #00FF7F | palegreen | #98FB98 |
| greenyellow | #ADFF2F | chartreuse | #7FFF00 |
| lawngreen | #7CFC00 | lime | #00FF00 |
| lightgreen | #90EE90
| yellowgreen | #9ACD32 |
| limegreen | #32CD32 | mediumseagreen | #3CB371 |
| darkseagreen | #8FBC8F | forestgreen | #228B22 |
| seagreen | #2E8B57 | green | #008000 |
| olivedrab | #6B8E23 | olive | #808000 |
| darkolivegreen | #556B2F | darkgreen | #006400 |
| mediumaquamarine | #66CDAA | turquoise | #40E0D0 |
| lightseagreen | #20B2AA | darkcyan | #008B8B |
| teal | #008080 | lavender | #E6E6FA |
| thistle | #D8BFD8 | plum | #DDA0DD |
| violet | #EE82EE | fuchsia | #FF00FF |
| magenta | #FF00FF | orchid | #DA70D6 |
| mediumorchid | #BA55D3 | darkorchid | #9932CC |
| blueviolet | #8A2BE2 | darkviolet | #9400D3 |
| mediumpurple | #9370DB | slateblue | #6A5ACD |
| purple | #800080 | darkmagenta | #8B008B |
| darkslateblue | #483D8B | indigo | #4B0082 |
| honeydew | #F0FFF0 | mintcream | #F5FFFA |
| azure | #F0FFFF | aliceblue | #F0F8FF |
| ghostwhite | #F8F8FF | whitesmoke | #F5F5F5 |
| lavenderblush | #FFF0F5 | mistyrose | #FFE4E1 |
| antiquewhite | #FAEBD7 | seashell | #FFF5EE |
| snow | #FFFAFA | white | #FFFFFF |
| beige | #F5F5DC | linen | #FAF0E6 |
| oldlace | #FDF5E6 | floralwhite | #FFFAF0 |
| ivory | #FFFFF0 | gainsboro | #DCDCDC |
| lightgrey | #D3D3D3 | silver | #C0C0C0 |
| darkgray | #A9A9A9 | gray | #808080 |
| dimgray | #696969 | darkslategray | #2F4F4F |
| lightslategray | #778899 | slategray | #708090 |
| cornsilk | #FFF8DC | blanchedalmond | #FFEBCD |
| bisque | #FFE4C4 | navajowhite | #FFDEAD |
| wheat | #F5DEB3 | sandybrown | #F4A460 |
| goldenrod | #DAA520 | darkgoldenrod | #B8860B |
| peru | #CD853F | chocolate | #D2691E |
| maroon | #800000 | saddlebrown | #8B4513 |
| brown | #A52A2A | sienna | #A0522D |
| darkred | #8B0000 | burlywood | #DEB887 |
| tan | #D2B48C | rosybrown | #BC8F8F |
| black | #000000 |
Another set of 216 color values are commonly considered to be the "web-safe" color palette; when the web-safe palette was developed, computer displays were often capable of displaying only 256 colors. A set of colors was needed that could be shown without dithering on 256-color displays; the number 216 was chosen partly because computer operating systems customarily reserved sixteen to twenty colors for their own use; it was also selected because it allows exactly six shades each of red, green, and blue. (6 × 6 × 6 = 216). The palette was first identified by Lynda Weinman.
The "web-safe" colors do not have names, but each can be specified by an RGB triplet. In the table below, a three-digit number is used as a shorthand notation for the six-digit hexadecimal numerals above. The digit "3" is equivalent to the hexadecimal numeral "33"; "C" is equivalent to "CC". For example, "F63" in the table below is equivalent to "#FF6633" in the system used previously. This table shows all of the "web-safe" colors.
Web-safe colors
| 000 | 300 | 600 | 900 | C00 | F00 | 003 | 303 | 603 | 903 | C03 | F03 |
| 006 | 306 | 606 | 906 | C06 | F06 | 009 | 309 | 609 | 909 | C09 | F09 |
| 00C | 30C | 60C | 90C | C0C
| F0C | 00F | 30F | 60F | 90F | C0F | F0F |
| 030 | 330 | 630 | 930 | C30 | F30 | 033 | 333 | 633 | 933 | C33 | F33 |
| 036 | 336
| 636 | 936 | C36 | F36 | 039 | 339 | 639 | 939 | C39 | F39 |
| 03C | 33C | 63C | 93C | C3C | F3C | 03F | 33F | 63F | 93F | C3F | F3F |
| 060 | 360 | 660 | 960 | C60 | F60 | 063 | 363 | 663 | 963 | C63 | F63 |
| 066 | 366 | 666 | 966 | C66 | F66 | 069 | 369 | 669 | 969
| C69 | F69 |
| 06C | 36C | 66C | 96C | C6C | F6C | 06F | 36F | 66F | 96F | C6F | F6F |
| 090 | 390 | 690 | 990 | C90 | F90 | 093 | 393 | 693 | 993 | C93 | F93 |
| 096 | 396 | 696 | 996 | C96 | F96 | 099 | 399 | 699 | 999 | C99 | F99 |
| 09C | 39C | 69C | 99C | C9C | F9C | 09F | 39F | 69F | 99F | C9F | F9F |
| 0C0 | 3C0 | 6C0 | 9C0 | CC0 | FC0 | 0C3 | 3C3 | 6C3 | 9C3 | CC3 | FC3 |
| 0C6 | 3C6 | 6C6 | 9C6 | CC6 | FC6 | 0C9 | 3C9 | 6C9 | 9C9 | CC9 | FC9 |
| 0CC | 3CC | 6CC | 9CC | CCC | FCC | 0CF | 3CF | 6CF | 9CF | CCF | FCF |
| 0F0 | 3F0 | 6F0 | 9F0 | CF0 | FF0 | 0F3 | 3F3 | 6F3 | 9F3 | CF3 | FF3 |
| 0F6 | 3F6 | 6F6 | 9F6 | CF6 | FF6 | 0F9 | 3F9 | 6F9 | 9F9 | CF9 | FF9 |
| 0FC | 3FC | 6FC | 9FC | CFC | FFC | 0FF | 3FF | 6FF | 9FF | CFF | FFF |
See also: RGB color space
Designers are often encouraged to stick to these 216 "web-safe" colors in their websites; however, 8-bit color displays are much less common in 2003 than they were when the 216-color palette was developed. David Lehn and Hadley Stern have since discovered that only 22 of the 216 colors in the web-safe palette are actually displayed without dithering on 16-bit computer displays; they called these 22 colors the "really safe" palette; it consists mainly of shades of green and yellow.
Really web safe colors
External links