Shades of black

Pure black. The reference black is #000000, as defined by the CSS named color.

HEX	`#000000`
RGB	`rgb(0, 0, 0)`
HSL	`hsl(0, 0%, 0%)`
HSV	`hsv(0, 0%, 0%)`
OKLCH	`oklch(0.0% 0.000 0.0)`
CMYK*	`0, 0, 0, 100`

* CMYK is a simple conversion without a print profile; ask your printer for exact values.

Open in color picker

What color is black?

Black is the absence of visible light, #000000 on a screen. Designers often prefer near-blacks with a hint of blue, green or brown, such as charcoal or jet, because pure black next to white can look harsh. In print, a rich black mixes cyan, magenta and yellow under the black ink for a deeper result.

Black hex codes by source

Color names are not standardized, so the same name can point to different colors. Here is every definition of black in our three sources, with how close each one is to the reference.

Name	HEX	Source	Compared with the reference
Black	`#000000`	CSS named color	Reference shown on this page
Black	`#000000`	xkcd Color Survey	Same color
Black	`#000000`	Color Names (meodai)	Same color

Black vs Navy Blue

Black
#000000

Navy Blue
#000080

Navy is a very dark blue that can pass for black in dim light. In numbers: the two are 0% similar (OKLab distance 0.330). See Navy Blue for its own codes.

Named shades of black

2 names in the CSS keywords and the xkcd Color Survey belong to the black family. To give a fuller range, 38 more black names come from the Color Names list. They are sorted from light to dark; click a swatch to copy its code, or open the ones with their own page.

Dark black shades 40

Black#000000CSS

Tints and shades of black

The same hue from light to dark, generated in OKLab so the steps look even. Click a step to copy its HEX code.

Colors that go with black

Classic color-wheel combinations built on #000000, computed in OKLCH so the partners keep the same lightness and intensity. Each swatch shows the nearest common name.

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Black with white and black text

White text21.00:1 · AAA

Black text1.00:1 · Fails

WCAG asks for a contrast of at least 4.5:1 for body text (AA) and 3:1 for large text. On a black background, white text is the better choice.

Use black in CSS

.black {
  color: #000000;
  /* or */ color: rgb(0 0 0);
  /* or */ color: hsl(0 0% 0%);
  /* or */ color: oklch(0.0% 0.000 0.0);
  /* CSS keyword */ color: black;
}