The 216 Browser-safe colors

The 216 Browser-Safe Colors

When I began writing HTML stuff, I was surprised to learn that there is a relatively small set of 216 colors which are all but guaranteed to be accurately reproduced on any web browser. These are sometimes called the 216 Browser-Safe Colors, also known as The Safety Colors. They are shown in the first of three charts below with the names given them by the people at Visibone, makers of many clever charts and other materials to assist the HTML designer with color selection.

The second chart below shows the hexadecimal codes for the 216 colors, which you can use in HTML documents to specify the red, green, and blue content. The hexadecimal numbers, when converted to decimal, are all multiples of 51.

Further research into these standard colors revealed the existence of another set of semi-standard colors called the X11 Colors, which are shown in the third color chart on this page. I first learned of these named colors from Bob Bickford, whose page refers to another one at the Microsoft web site. See the "Further Reading" section at the bottom of Microsoft's page on this subject for links to still more documents on the subject of careful color selection for publication on the web.

Lynda Weinman is also way ahead of me, having already written the book on this subject. It's called The Browser-Safe Color Palette.

This may already be a dead issue, as you can read on The Web-Safe Color Dilemma:

The only reason to use the browser-safe palette is if you have a concern that your Web design work will be viewed from a 256 color (8-bit) computer system. When I published the browser-safe color chart in my first book, Designing Web Graphics, waaaayyy back in 1996, the MAJORITY of computer users had 8-bit video cards. Today, the minority have them, so the justification for using the browser-safe palette has diminished greatly if you are developing your site for users who have current computer systems.

Anyway, the twelve major hues are:

Red , Orange , Yellow , Spring , Green , Teal , Cyan , Azure , Blue , Violet , Magenta and Pink .

But of course there are many variations of each hue, and several shades of gray, and they all add up to 216 colors. With a little HTML editing I put together this chart, which shows the names of all 216 colors, each on a background of that color, using the HTML<Span> function. Again I say, these colors' names were given to them by the people at Visibone.

White Pale Gray Light Gray Dark Gray Obscure Gray Black Red Light Hard Red Dark Hard Red Light Faded Red Medium Faded Red Dark Faded Red Pale Dull Red Light Dull Red Dark Dull Red Obscure Dull Red Pale Weak Red Light Weak Red Medium Weak Red Dark Weak Red Obscure Weak Red Red Red Orange Light Red Orange Dark Red Orange Light Orange Red Medium Orange Red Dark Orange Red Orange Orange Red Light Hard Orange Dark Hard Orange Pale Dull Orange Light Dull Orange Dark Dull Orange Obscure Dull Orange Orange Orange Yellow Light Orange Yellow Medium Orange Yellow Dark Orange Yellow Dark Yellow Orange Light Yellow Orange Yellow Yellow Orange Yellow Light Hard Yellow Dark Hard Yellow Light Faded Yellow Medium Faded Yellow Dark Faded Yellow Pale Dull Yellow Light Dull Yellow Dark Dull Yellow Obscure Dull Yellow Pale Weak Yellow Light Weak Yellow Medium Weak Yellow Dark Weak Yellow Obscure Weak Yellow Yellow Yellow Spring Light Yellow Spring Dark Yellow Spring Light Spring Yellow Medium Spring Yellow Dark Spring Yellow Spring Spring Yellow Light Hard Spring Dark Hard Spring Pale Dull Spring Light Dull Spring Dark Dull Spring Obscure Dull Spring Spring Spring Green Light Spring Green Medium Spring Green Dark Spring Green Light Green Spring Dark Green Spring Green Green Spring Green Light Hard Green Dark Hard Green Light Faded Green Medium Faded Green Dark Faded Green Pale Dull Green Light Dull Green Dark Dull Green Obscure Dull Green Pale Weak Green Light Weak Green Medium Weak Green Dark Weak Green Obscure Weak Green Green Green Teal Light Green Teal Dark Green Teal Light Teal Green Medium Teal Green Dark Teal Green Teal Teal Green Light Hard Teal Dark Hard Teal Pale Dull Teal Light Dull Teal Dark Dull Teal Obscure Dull Teal Teal Teal Cyan Light Teal Cyan Medium Teal Cyan Dark Teal Cyan Light Cyan Teal Dark Cyan Teal Cyan Cyan Teal Cyan Light Hard Cyan Dark Hard Cyan Light Faded Cyan Medium Faded Cyan Dark Faded Cyan Pale Dull Cyan Light Dull Cyan Dark Dull Cyan Obscure Dull Cyan Pale Weak Cyan Light Weak Cyan Medium Weak Cyan Dark Weak Cyan Obscure Weak Cyan Cyan Cyan Azure Light Cyan Azure Dark Cyan Azure Light Azure Cyan Medium Azure Cyan Dark Azure Cyan Azure Azure Cyan Light Hard Azure Dark Hard Azure Pale Dull Azure Light Dull Azure Dark Dull Azure Obscure Dull Azure Azure Azure Blue Light Azure Blue Medium Azure Blue Dark Azure Blue Light Blue Azure Dark Blue Azure Blue Blue Azure Blue Light Hard Blue Dark Hard Blue Light Faded Blue Medium Faded Blue Dark Faded Blue Pale Dull Blue Light Dull Blue Dark Dull Blue Obscure Dull Blue Pale Weak Blue Light Weak Blue Medium Weak Blue Dark Weak Blue Obscure Weak Blue Blue Blue Violet Light Blue Violet Dark Blue Violet Light Violet Blue Medium Violet Blue Dark Violet Blue Violet Violet Blue Light Hard Violet Dark Hard Violet Pale Dull Violet Light Dull Violet Dark Dull Violet Obscure Dull Violet Violet Violet Magenta Light Violet Magenta Medium Violet Magenta Dark Violet Magenta Light Magenta Violet Dark Magenta Violet Magenta Magenta Violet Magenta Light Hard Magenta Dark Hard Magenta Light Faded Magenta Medium Faded Magenta Dark Faded Magenta Pale Dull Magenta Light Dull Magenta Dark Dull Magenta Obscure Dull Magenta Pale Weak Magenta Light Weak Magenta Medium Weak Magenta Dark Weak Magenta Obscure Weak Magenta Magenta Magenta-Pink Light Magenta Pink Dark Magenta Pink Light Pink Magenta Medium Pink Magenta Dark Pink Magenta Pink Pink Magenta Light Hard Pink Dark Hard Pink Pale Dull Pink Light Dull Pink Dark Dull Pink Obscure Dull Pink Pink Pink-Red Light Pink Red Medium Pink Red Dark Pink Red Light Red Pink Dark Red Pink Red Red Pink

Here are the hexadecimal codes for the 216 "browser-safe" colors:

FF0000 FFFF00 00FF00 00FFFF 0000FF FF00FF
FF3333 FFFF33 33FF33 33FFFF 3333FF FF33FF
CC0000 CCCC00 00CC00 00CCCC 0000CC CC00CC
FF6666 FFFF66 66FF66 66FFFF 6666FF FF66FF
CC3333 CCCC33 33CC33 33CCCC 3333CC CC33CC
990000 999900 009900 009999 000099 990099
FF9999 FFFF99 99FF99 99FFFF 9999FF FF99FF
CC6666 CCCC66 66CC66 66CCCC 6666CC CC66CC
993333 999933 339933 339999 333399 993399
660000 666600 006600 006666 000066 660066
FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF
FFCCCC FFFFCC CCFFCC CCFFFF CCCCFF FFCCFF
CC9999 CCCC99 99CC99 99CCCC 9999CC CC99CC
996666 999966 669966 669999 666699 996699
663333 666633 336633 336666 333366 663366
330000 333300 003300 003333 000033 330033
000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000
FF3300 CCFF00 00FF33 00CCFF 3300FF FF00CC
FF6633 CCFF33 33FF66 33CCFF 6633FF FF33CC
CC3300 99CC00 00CC33 0099CC 3300CC CC0099
FF9966 CCFF66 66FF99 66CCFF 9966FF FF66CC
CC6633 99CC33 33CC66 3399CC 6633CC CC3399
993300 669900 009933 006699 330099 990066
FF6600 99FF00 00FF66 0099FF 6600FF FF0099
FF9933 99FF33 33FF99 3399FF 9933FF FF3399
CC6600 66CC00 00CC66 0066CC 6600CC CC0066
FFCC99 CCFF99 99FFCC 99CCFF CC99FF FF99CC
CC9966 99CC66 66CC99 6699CC 9966CC CC6699
996633 669933 339966 336699 663399 993366
663300 336600 006633 003366 330066 660033
FF9900 66FF00 00FF99 0066FF 9900FF FF0066
FFCC66 99FF66 66FFCC 6699FF CC66FF FF6699
CC9933 66CC33 33CC99 3366CC 9933CC CC3366
996600 339900 009966 003399 660099 990033
CC9900 66FF33 33FFCC 3366FF CC33FF FF3366
FFCC33 33CC00 00CC99 0033CC 9900CC CC0033
FFCC00 33FF00 00FFCC 0033FF CC00FF FF0033
FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF
CCCCCC CCCCCC CCCCCC CCCCCC CCCCCC CCCCCC
999999 999999 999999 999999 999999 999999
666666 666666 666666 666666 666666 666666
333333 333333 333333 333333 333333 333333
000000 000000 000000 000000 000000 000000

The X11 Colors are semi-standard colors which browsers actually recognize by name. By "semi-standard", I mean that they are recognized by the leading brands of web browser software, but they have not yet been included in any official specification.

aliceblue antiquewhite aqua aquamarine azure beige bisque black blanchedalmond blue blueviolet brown burlywood cadetblue chartreuse chocolate coral cornflowerblue cornsilk crimson cyan darkblue darkcyan darkgoldenrod darkgray darkgreen darkkhaki darkmagenta darkolivegreen darkorange darkorchid darkred darksalmon darkseagreen darkslateblue darkslategray darkturquoise darkviolet deeppink deepskyblue dimgray dodgerblue firebrick floralwhite forestgreen fuchsia gainsboro ghostwhite gold goldenrod gray green greenyellow honeydew hotpink indianred indigo ivory khaki lavender lavenderblush lawngreen lemonchiffon lightblue lightcoral lightcyan lightgoldenrodyellow lightgreen lightgrey lightpink lightsalmon lightseagreen lightskyblue lightslategray lightsteelblue lightyellow lime limegreen linen magenta maroon mediumaquamarine mediumblue mediumorchid mediumpurple mediumseagreen mediumslateblue mediumspringgreen mediumturquoise mediumvioletred midnightblue mintcream mistyrose moccasin navajowhite navy oldlace olive olivedrab orange orangered orchid palegoldenrod palegreen paleturquoise palevioletred papayawhip peachpuff peru pink plum powderblue purple red rosybrown royalblue saddlebrown salmon sandybrown seagreen seashell sienna silver skyblue slateblue slategray snow springgreen steelblue tan teal thistle tomato turquoise violet wheat white whitesmoke yellow yellowgreen