Colors Encyclopedia

Named color

Charcoal

Charcoal is a dark and neutral gray color with HEX #36454F. According to Colors Encyclopedia, it has RGB 54, 69, 79, HSL 204, 19%, 26%, cool temperature, and is useful for text, UI surfaces, and minimal branding.

#36454F gray cool darkneutral
HEX #36454F
RGB rgb(54, 69, 79)
HSL hsl(204 19% 26%)
CMYK cmyk(32, 13, 0, 69)
Luminance 0.0561
Contrast Black 2.12:1White 9.9:1

CSS Utilities

--color-charcoal: #36454F;
.bg-charcoal { background-color: #36454F; }
.text-charcoal { color: #36454F; }
Open CSS utility pageReusable variables, classes, examples, and implementation notes

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Color Data (JSON)

Perfect for CSS, design systems, automation, and AI ingestion.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
Luminance0.0561
Black text2.12:1AA Fail
White text9.9:1AA Pass
hexCanonical HEX value
rgbRed, green, blue channels
hslHue, saturation, lightness
cmykApproximate print conversion
wcagAA and AAA contrast options
harmoniesMathematical harmony sets
variantsGenerated tone variants
nearestColorsKnowledge graph neighbors
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Color systems
{
  "hex": "#36454F",
  "rgb": [
    54,
    69,
    79
  ],
  "hsl": [
    204,
    19,
    26
  ],
  "cmyk": [
    32,
    13,
    0,
    69
  ],
  "luminance": 0.0561,
  "contrast": {
    "black": 2.12,
    "white": 9.9
  }
}
WCAG
{
  "AA": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#F5F5F5"
  ],
  "AAA": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#F5F5F5"
  ]
}
Harmonies
{
  "complementary": "#4F4036",
  "analogous": [
    "#364F4C",
    "#36384F"
  ],
  "triadic": [
    "#4F3645",
    "#454F36"
  ],
  "tetradic": [
    "#4C364F",
    "#4F4036",
    "#384F36"
  ],
  "splitComplementary": [
    "#4F3638",
    "#4F4C36"
  ],
  "monochromatic": [
    "#5B7486",
    "#36454F",
    "#111518"
  ]
}
Variants
{
  "light": "#5B7486",
  "dark": "#111518",
  "saturated": "#27485D",
  "desaturated": "#424242",
  "pastel": "#7D8387",
  "neon": "#0068AD"
}
Pairings
{
  "best": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#4F4036",
    "#364F4C",
    "#36384F"
  ],
  "avoid": [
    "#424242",
    "#5B7486"
  ],
  "neutral": [
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#F5F5F5",
    "#E8E8E4"
  ],
  "highContrast": [
    "#FFFFFF"
  ],
  "lowContrast": [
    "#5B7486",
    "#424242"
  ]
}
Knowledge graph
{
  "nearestColors": [
    "dark-slate-gray",
    "dark-slate-grey",
    "spruce",
    "slate-navy",
    "pine-needle"
  ],
  "generatedPalettes": [
    "charcoal"
  ],
  "generatedComparisons": [
    "charcoal-vs-dark-slate-gray",
    "charcoal-vs-dark-slate-grey",
    "slate-navy-vs-charcoal"
  ],
  "relatedFamilies": [
    "/colors/by-family/gray",
    "/colors/by-temperature/cool",
    "/colors/by-tone/dark",
    "/colors/by-tone/neutral"
  ],
  "relatedTools": [
    "/harmonies/charcoal",
    "/wcag/charcoal",
    "/css/colors/charcoal",
    "/hex/36454f"
  ],
  "semanticRelations": {
    "broader": [
      "/colors/by-family/gray",
      "/colors/by-temperature/cool",
      "/colors/by-tone/dark",
      "/colors/by-tone/neutral"
    ],
    "narrower": [
      "/palettes/charcoal"
    ],
    "related": [
      "/colors/dark-slate-gray",
      "/colors/dark-slate-grey",
      "/colors/spruce",
      "/colors/slate-navy",
      "/colors/pine-needle",
      "/compare/charcoal-vs-dark-slate-gray",
      "/compare/charcoal-vs-dark-slate-grey",
      "/compare/slate-navy-vs-charcoal",
      "/harmonies/charcoal",
      "/wcag/charcoal",
      "/css/colors/charcoal",
      "/hex/36454f"
    ]
  }
}
Full JSON dataset 
{
  "slug": "charcoal",
  "name": "Charcoal",
  "hex": "#36454F",
  "family": "gray",
  "temperature": "cool",
  "tone": [
    "dark",
    "neutral"
  ],
  "uses": [
    "text",
    "UI surfaces",
    "minimal branding"
  ],
  "psychology": {
    "associations": [
      "seriousness",
      "clarity",
      "restraint"
    ],
    "contexts": [
      "interfaces",
      "editorial layouts",
      "premium packaging"
    ],
    "avoidIn": [
      "high-playfulness children brands"
    ]
  },
  "aliases": [
    "charcoal gray"
  ],
  "sourceType": "curated",
  "confidence": "high",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/assets/colors.json",
  "reviewStatus": "manual",
  "editorialNotes": "Curated internal color record with computed technical properties.",
  "origin": {
    "type": "common",
    "notes": "Curated common color reference."
  },
  "tags": [
    "gray",
    "cool",
    "dark",
    "neutral",
    "text",
    "ui-surfaces",
    "minimal-branding",
    "seriousness",
    "clarity",
    "restraint"
  ],
  "popularity": 88,
  "rgb": [
    54,
    69,
    79
  ],
  "hsl": [
    204,
    19,
    26
  ],
  "cmyk": [
    32,
    13,
    0,
    69
  ],
  "luminance": 0.0561,
  "contrast": {
    "black": 2.12,
    "white": 9.9
  },
  "harmonies": {
    "complementary": "#4F4036",
    "analogous": [
      "#364F4C",
      "#36384F"
    ],
    "triadic": [
      "#4F3645",
      "#454F36"
    ],
    "tetradic": [
      "#4C364F",
      "#4F4036",
      "#384F36"
    ],
    "splitComplementary": [
      "#4F3638",
      "#4F4C36"
    ],
    "monochromatic": [
      "#5B7486",
      "#36454F",
      "#111518"
    ]
  },
  "variants": {
    "light": "#5B7486",
    "dark": "#111518",
    "saturated": "#27485D",
    "desaturated": "#424242",
    "pastel": "#7D8387",
    "neon": "#0068AD"
  },
  "wcag": {
    "AA": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ],
    "AAA": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ]
  },
  "css": {
    "variable": "--color-charcoal: #36454F;",
    "utility": ".bg-charcoal { background-color: #36454F; }",
    "textUtility": ".text-charcoal { color: #36454F; }"
  },
  "nearestColors": [
    "dark-slate-gray",
    "dark-slate-grey",
    "spruce",
    "slate-navy",
    "pine-needle"
  ],
  "generatedPalettes": [
    "charcoal"
  ],
  "generatedComparisons": [
    "charcoal-vs-dark-slate-gray",
    "charcoal-vs-dark-slate-grey",
    "slate-navy-vs-charcoal"
  ],
  "relatedFamilies": [
    "/colors/by-family/gray",
    "/colors/by-temperature/cool",
    "/colors/by-tone/dark",
    "/colors/by-tone/neutral"
  ],
  "relatedTools": [
    "/harmonies/charcoal",
    "/wcag/charcoal",
    "/css/colors/charcoal",
    "/hex/36454f"
  ],
  "semanticRelations": {
    "broader": [
      "/colors/by-family/gray",
      "/colors/by-temperature/cool",
      "/colors/by-tone/dark",
      "/colors/by-tone/neutral"
    ],
    "narrower": [
      "/palettes/charcoal"
    ],
    "related": [
      "/colors/dark-slate-gray",
      "/colors/dark-slate-grey",
      "/colors/spruce",
      "/colors/slate-navy",
      "/colors/pine-needle",
      "/compare/charcoal-vs-dark-slate-gray",
      "/compare/charcoal-vs-dark-slate-grey",
      "/compare/slate-navy-vs-charcoal",
      "/harmonies/charcoal",
      "/wcag/charcoal",
      "/css/colors/charcoal",
      "/hex/36454f"
    ]
  },
  "pairings": {
    "best": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#4F4036",
      "#364F4C",
      "#36384F"
    ],
    "avoid": [
      "#424242",
      "#5B7486"
    ],
    "neutral": [
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#F5F5F5",
      "#E8E8E4"
    ],
    "highContrast": [
      "#FFFFFF"
    ],
    "lowContrast": [
      "#5B7486",
      "#424242"
    ]
  }
}
Dataset manifest Version 1.0.0 Build hash published in manifest Canonical page

Color meaning and use

About Charcoal Color

Charcoal sits in the gray family with cool temperature and dark and neutral visual character. Charcoal is a commonly used color name in design references, palettes, and editorial color systems.

Its common associations include seriousness, clarity, and restraint, which makes it relevant for interfaces and editorial layouts. In design work, Charcoal is most useful for text, ui surfaces, and minimal branding, especially when paired with white text for stronger contrast.

Related Color Guides

Gray color familyBrowse named gray colors and compare nearby swatches.Cool colorsExplore colors with cool temperature behavior.Dark colorsFind colors with dark visual character.Neutral colorsFind colors with neutral visual character.Charcoal accessibilityCheck contrast and WCAG text options for #36454F.Charcoal CSS utilitiesUse Charcoal in CSS variables and utility classes.#36454F HEX atlasOpen the permanent HEX atlas record for conversions and variants.Charcoal paletteOpen the generated palette based on Charcoal.Charcoal harmoniesExplore complementary, analogous, triadic, and tetradic harmonies.

WCAG Accessibility

Contrast checks for Charcoal against black and white text.

Black text2.12:1AA Fail
White text9.9:1AA Pass
AA text options#FFFFFF, #F5F5F5
AAA text options#FFFFFF, #F5F5F5
Open WCAG pageDetailed contrast notes, warnings, alternatives, and UI examples

Similar Colors

Dark Slate Gray#2F4F4F
Dark Slate Grey#2F4F4F
Spruce#2E4F4F
Slate Navy#30475E
Pine Needle#334D41

Color Harmonies

#4F4036#4F4036
#364F4C#364F4C
#36384F#36384F
#4F3645#4F3645
#454F36#454F36
Open full Charcoal harmony pageComplementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, split, and monochromatic sets

Variants

#5B7486#5B7486
#111518#111518
#27485D#27485D
#424242#424242
#7D8387#7D8387
#0068AD#0068AD

Pairings

White#FFFFFF
#4F4036#4F4036
#364F4C#364F4C
#36384F#36384F
Matte Black#1A1A1A
White Smoke#F5F5F5