Variations of

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

or grey include achromatic

grayscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysca ...

shades, which lie exactly between

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, and nearby colors with low

colorfulness Colorfulness, chroma and saturation are attributes of perceived color relating to chromatic intensity. As defined formally by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) they respectively describe three different aspects of chromatic ...

. A selection of a number of these various colors is shown below.

Chart of computer web color grays

Below is a chart showing the computer

web color Web colors are colors used in Web design, displaying web pages on the World Wide Web, and the methods for describing and specifying those colors. Colors may be specified as an RGB color model, RGB triplet or in hexadecimal format (a ''hex triple ...

grays. An ''achromatic gray'' is a gray color in which the red, green, and blue codes are exactly equal. The web colors ''gray'', ''gainsboro'', ''light gray'', ''dark gray'', and ''dim gray'' are all achromatic colors. A ''chromatic gray'' is a gray color in which the red, green, and blue codes are not exactly equal, but are close to each other, which is what makes it a shade of gray.

White and black

The colors

and

are not usually thought of as shades of gray, but they can be thought of as shades of achromatic gray, as both contain equal amounts of red, blue and green. White is at the extreme upper end of the achromatic

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

scale and black is at the extreme lower end of the achromatic value scale, with all the colors normally considered tones of achromatic gray colors in between. Since achromatic colors have no hue, the hue code (h code) is left blank for achromatic colors (usually marked as a dash).

White

White is a color, the

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...

of which is evoked by

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

that stimulates all three types of color sensitive

cone cells Cone cells, or cones, are photoreceptor cells in the retinas of vertebrate eyes including the human eye. They respond differently to light of different wavelengths, and the combination of their responses is responsible for color vision. Cones ...

in the human eye in equal amounts and with high

brightness Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminance, ...

compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of

hue In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called Color appearance model#Color appearance parameters, color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a Stimulus (physiology ...

and grayness. White is the lightest possible color.

Achromatic grays

Achromatic grays are colors in which the RGB (red, green, and blue) values are exactly equal. Since achromatic grays have no hue, the hue code (the h in the hsv values of the color) is indicated with a dash. Achromatic grays are the axis of the

color sphere Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

, with white at the

north pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

and black at the

south pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

of the color sphere. The various tones of achromatic gray are along the axis of the color sphere from white at the top of the axis to black at the bottom of the axis.

Gray

At right is displayed the color ''gray''. The first recorded use of ''gray'' as a color name in the English language was in 700. This tone of gray ( HTML gray) is universally used as the standard for gray because it is that tone of gray which is halfway between white and black.

Gainsboro

At right is displayed the

''Gainsboro'' ''Gainsboro'' is a pale tone of gray. Prior to standardization as a web color, ''Gainsboro'' was included as one of the

X11 color names In computing, on the X Window System, X11 color names are represented in a simple text file, which maps certain strings to RGB color values. It was traditionally shipped with every X11 installation, hence the name, and is usually located in ''<X ...

. It was, however, absent from the original 1987 version of the list, but present in Paul Raveling's version which added, amongst other things, " ght and off-white colors, copied from several Sinclair Paints color samples".

Silver

Displayed at right is the

''silver'' This color is a representation of the color of the metal

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

. This is supposed to be a

metallic color A metallic color is a color that appears to be that of a polished metal. The visual sensation usually associated with metals is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the mater ...

; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen.

Medium gray

At right is displayed the color ''medium gray'', or ''gray'' in the

, which is lighter than the HTML/CSS gray shown below. The coordinates in the X11 were set at 190 to avoid gray being displayed as white on 2-bit grayscale displays. See the chart Color names that clash between X11 and HTML/CSS in the X11 color names article to see those colors which are different in HTML/CSS and X11.

Spanish gray

''Spanish gray'' is the color that is called ''gris'' (gray in Spanish) in the ''Guía de coloraciones'' (''Guide to colorations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Davy's gray

''Davy's gray'' is a dark gray color, made from powdered

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

and

carbon black Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid ...

named for

Henry Davy Henry Davy (1793–1865) was an English landscape painter, engraver and lithographer active in East Anglia. Davy was born on 30 May 1793 in The Poplars, what is now Birketts Farm, on Westhall Common, near Halesworth, Suffolk. He was the tent ...

. The first recorded use of ''Davy’s gray'' as a color name in English was around 1940.

Off-grays

Off-grays are colors that are very close to achromatic grays, but whose red, green, and blue color codes are not exactly equal.

Xanadu

Displayed in the adjacent image is the color xanadu. The color "xanadu" is a greenish-gray color whose name is derived from the

Philodendron ''Philodendron'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Araceae. , the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted 489 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the gen ...

Platinum

''Platinum'' is a color that is the metallic

tint In color theory, a tint is a mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness, while a shade is a mixture with black, which increases darkness. Both processes affect the resulting color mixture's relative saturation. A tone is produc ...

of pale grayish-white resembling the metal

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

. This is supposed to be a metallic color; however, there is no mechanism for displaying metallic colors on a flat computer screen. The first recorded use of ''platinum'' as a color name in English was in 1918.

Ash gray

Displayed in the adjacent image is the color ''ash gray''. The color ''ash gray'' is a representation of the color of ash. The first recorded use of ''ash gray'' as a color name in English was in 1374.

Battleship gray

The color ''battleship gray'' is displayed in the adjacent image. It is so called because the color is the shade of gray from the specular

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

ceous

hematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

paint used for rustproofing iron and steel

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s. The normalized color coordinates for battleship gray are identical to old silver, first recorded as a color name in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in 1905.

Gunmetal

''Gunmetal'' is a shade of gray that has a bluish purple tinge. It describes the color of several metals used in industrial applications, such as tarnished

gunmetal Gun metal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze; an alloy of copper, tin and zinc. Proportions vary but 88% copper, 8–10% tin, and 2–4% zinc is an approximation. Originally used chiefly for making guns, it has la ...

, or

parkerized Phosphate conversion coating is a chemical treatment applied to steel parts that creates a thin adhering layer of iron, zinc, or manganese phosphates, to achieve corrosion resistance, lubrication, or as a foundation for subsequent coatings or pai ...

steel.

Charcoal

''Charcoal'' is a color that is a representation of the dark gray color of burned wood. The first recorded use of ''charcoal'' as a color name in English was in 1606.

Stone gray

''Stone gray'' is a color represented in the list of RAL classic colors from

RAL colour standard RAL is a color management, colour management system used in Europe that is created and administrated by the German (RAL non-profit LLC), which is a subsidiary of the German . In colloquial speech RAL refers to the RAL Classic system, mainly us ...

. This is the main color on the

Indian 500-rupee note The Indian 500-rupee banknote (500) is a denomination of the Indian rupee. In 1987, the ₹500 note was introduced, followed by the ₹1,000 note in 2000 while ₹1 and ₹2 notes were discontinued in 1995. The current ₹500 banknote, in circu ...

Cool grays

Cool grays have noticeably bluish,

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

ish, or violetish hues.

Cool gray

''Cool gray'', is a medium light color gray mixed with the color

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

. This color is a dull shade of ''

blue-gray Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'' meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'". ...

''. This color is identical with color sample No. 203 (identified as ''gray blue'') at the following website
http://tx4.us/nbs/nbs-g.htm
��The ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names (1955), a website for stamp collectors to evaluate the colors of their stamps. Poet

George Sterling George Sterling (December 1, 1869 – November 17, 1926) was an American writer based in the San Francisco, California Bay Area and Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was considered a prominent poet and playwright and proponent of Bohemianism during the f ...

once wrote a poem calling

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

the "cool grey city of love" The phrase ''cool grey'' as applied to San Francisco refers to the frequent fogs from the Pacific Ocean that envelop the city.

Cadet gray

''Cadet gray'' is a slightly bluish shade of gray. The first recorded use of ''cadet grey'' as a color name in English was in 1912. Before 1912, the word ''cadet gray'' was used as a name for a type of military issue uniforms. Most famously, it was the color of the uniforms of the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. In 1815, it had earlier become the color of the uniforms of the United States Military Academy (West Point).

Blue-gray

''Blue-gray'' was a

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvan ...

crayon color from 1958 to 1990.

Glaucous

''Glaucous'' (from the Latin ''glaucus'', meaning "bluish-gray", from the Greek ''glaukos'') is used to describe the pale gray or blue appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the

glaucous gull The glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus'') is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world. It breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin ''larus'', which a ...

(''Larus hyperboreus''),

glaucous-winged gull The glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens'') is a large, white-headed gull. The genus name is from Latin ''Larus'' which appears to have referred to a gull or other large seabird. The specific ''glaucescens'' is New Latin for " glaucous" fro ...

(''Larus glaucescens''), glaucous macaw (''Anodorhynchus glaucus''), and

glaucous tanager The glaucous tanager (''Thraupis glaucocolpa'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. The term ''glaucous'' describes its colouration. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist ...

(''Thraupis glaucocolpa'').

Slate gray

''Slate gray'' is a gray color with a slight azure tinge that is a representation of the average color of the material

. The first recorded use of ''slate gray'' as a color name in English was in 1705.

Gray-green

''Gray-green'' (also known as ''grayish-green'', ''greenish-gray'', ''emerald-gray'', or ''green-gray'') is a greenish-gray color.

Marengo

''Marengo'' is a shade of gray (black with gray tinge) or blue colors. Sometimes the color is described as the color of a wet asphalt.

Warm grays

''Warm grays'' are colors that are noticeably

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

ish,

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

ish grays, or reddish

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

grays. The color brown is itself a dark shade of

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. Brown colors also include dark shades of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, and

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

. Pink colors include light tones of rose, red, and orange. These tones of pink become warm grays when they are mixed with gray.

Rose quartz

There is a grayish tone of

called ''rose quartz''. The first recorded use of ''rose quartz'' as a color name in English was in 1926. Quartz, muscovite

Cinereous

''Cinereous'' is a color, ashy gray in appearance, either consisting of or resembling ashes, or a gray color tinged with coppery

. It is derived from the Latin ''cinereous'', from ''cinis'' (ashes). The first recorded use of ''cinereous'' as a color name in English was in 1661.

Taupe

The color displayed at right matches the color sample called ''taupe'' referenced below in the 1930 book ''A Dictionary of Color'', the world standard for color terms before the invention of computers. However, the word ''taupe'' may often be used to refer to lighter shades of taupe today, and therefore another name for this color is ''dark taupe''. The first use of ''taupe'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century.Maerz and Paul, p. 205; Discussion of Color Taupe, p. 183; Color Sample of Taupe: p. 55 Plate 16 Color Sample A6

References

Bibliography

*Maerz, Aloys John and Paul, M. Rea (1930) ''A Dictionary of Color'', New York: McGraw-Hill {{Color shades fr:Gris#Noms de nuances de gris