Nearest-color comparison

Charcoal Blue vs Gunmetal

Charcoal Blue and Gunmetal are different blue colors with HEX values #263238 and #2A3439. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 4.6, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Charcoal Blue and Gunmetal are very close colors. Gunmetal is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Charcoal Blue#263238

Gunmetal#2A3439

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Charcoal Blue and Gunmetal across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance4.6

Pair contrast1.03:1

Luminance delta0.0026

Hue delta0 deg

Lighter colorGunmetal

More saturatedCharcoal Blue

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Charcoal Blue

Charcoal Blue is #263238, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Gunmetal, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#263238 RGB38, 50, 56 HSL200, 19, 18 CMYK32, 11, 0, 78 Luminance0.0298 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

blue color

Gunmetal

Gunmetal is #2A3439, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Charcoal Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#2A3439 RGB42, 52, 57 HSL200, 15, 19 CMYK26, 9, 0, 78 Luminance0.0324 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Charcoal Blue or Gunmetal

Choose Charcoal BlueCharcoal Blue is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #263238.

Choose GunmetalGunmetal is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #2A3439.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyCharcoal BlueGunmetal

HEX#263238#2A3439

RGB38, 50, 5642, 52, 57

HSL200, 19, 18200, 15, 19

CMYK32, 11, 0, 7826, 9, 0, 78

FamilyBlueBlue

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneDarkDark

Luminance0.02980.0324

Black contrast1.6:11.65:1

White contrast13.16:112.74:1

Shared tonesDark

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Charcoal Bluewhite text - 13.16:1

Gunmetalwhite text - 12.74:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Charcoal Blue#263238

Gunmetal#2A3439

#4A626D#4A626D

#50636D#50636D

#372B25#372B25

#382E29#382E29

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "charcoal-blue",
    "name": "Charcoal Blue",
    "hex": "#263238",
    "rgb": [
      38,
      50,
      56
    ],
    "hsl": [
      200,
      19,
      18
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      32,
      11,
      0,
      78
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0298,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.6,
      "white": 13.16
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 13.16
    },
    "description": "Charcoal Blue is #263238, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Gunmetal, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/charcoal-blue/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal-blue.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "gunmetal",
    "name": "Gunmetal",
    "hex": "#2A3439",
    "rgb": [
      42,
      52,
      57
    ],
    "hsl": [
      200,
      15,
      19
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      26,
      9,
      0,
      78
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0324,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.65,
      "white": 12.74
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 12.74
    },
    "description": "Gunmetal is #2A3439, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Charcoal Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/gunmetal/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/gunmetal.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 4.6,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 0,
    "saturation": 4,
    "lightness": 1
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0026,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "dark"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Gunmetal",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Charcoal Blue"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Charcoal Blue",
      "background": "#263238",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 13.16
    },
    {
      "color": "Gunmetal",
      "background": "#2A3439",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 12.74
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Charcoal Blue is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #263238.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Gunmetal is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #2A3439.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/charcoal-blue-vs-gunmetal.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/gunmetal.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "charcoal-blue-vs-gunmetal",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Charcoal Blue vs Gunmetal",
  "verdict": "Charcoal Blue and Gunmetal are very close colors. Gunmetal is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Charcoal Blue and Gunmetal are different blue colors with HEX values #263238 and #2A3439. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 4.6, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 4.6,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "charcoal-blue",
      "name": "Charcoal Blue",
      "hex": "#263238",
      "rgb": [
        38,
        50,
        56
      ],
      "hsl": [
        200,
        19,
        18
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        32,
        11,
        0,
        78
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0298,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.6,
        "white": 13.16
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 13.16
      },
      "description": "Charcoal Blue is #263238, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Gunmetal, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/charcoal-blue/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal-blue.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "gunmetal",
      "name": "Gunmetal",
      "hex": "#2A3439",
      "rgb": [
        42,
        52,
        57
      ],
      "hsl": [
        200,
        15,
        19
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        26,
        9,
        0,
        78
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0324,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.65,
        "white": 12.74
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 12.74
      },
      "description": "Gunmetal is #2A3439, a cool blue color with dark character. Compared with Charcoal Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/gunmetal/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/gunmetal.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 4.6,
    "contrastRatio": 1.03,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 0,
      "saturation": 4,
      "lightness": 1
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0026,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Gunmetal",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Charcoal Blue"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Charcoal Blue",
        "background": "#263238",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 13.16
      },
      {
        "color": "Gunmetal",
        "background": "#2A3439",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 12.74
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Charcoal Blue is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #263238.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Gunmetal is better when the design needs dark blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #2A3439.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/charcoal-blue-vs-gunmetal.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/gunmetal.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/charcoal-blue-vs-gunmetal/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/charcoal-blue-vs-gunmetal.json"
}