Colors Encyclopedia

Generated palette

Charcoal Palette

Charcoal Palette: #36454F, #4F4036, #364F4C, #36384F. Check roles, contrast and CSS variables; open source-color links and JSON.

Charcoal Palette assigns primary #36454F, secondary #4F4036, surface #364F4C, background #36384F, accent #FFFFFF. The set spans Gray, Orange, Cyan, and Blue families with cool, warm, and neutral temperatures. Luminance runs from #36384F at 0.0418 to #FFFFFF at 1; black gives higher contrast on 1 of 5 values.

All palettesSource colorAPI
5colors
Gray palettedominant group
7use cases

Palette Color Roles

Charcoal Palette maps 5 colors to practical UI roles for interfaces, brand systems, and CSS tokens.

Primary#36454FCharcoal
Secondary#4F4036#4F4036
Surface#364F4C#364F4C
Background#36384F#36384F
Accent#FFFFFFWhite

CSS Variables

--palette-charcoal-primary: #36454F;
--palette-charcoal-secondary: #4F4036;
--palette-charcoal-surface: #364F4C;
--palette-charcoal-background: #36384F;
--palette-charcoal-accent: #FFFFFF;

Accessibility Snapshot

Compare all 5 Charcoal Palette values against black and white text, with the stronger standard foreground identified for each role.

Primary#36454F
Black 2.12:1 · White 9.9:1
Best #FFFFFF
Secondary#4F4036
Black 2.12:1 · White 9.91:1
Best #FFFFFF
Surface#364F4C
Black 2.38:1 · White 8.82:1
Best #FFFFFF
Background#36384F
Black 1.84:1 · White 11.44:1
Best #FFFFFF
Accent#FFFFFF
Black 21:1 · White 1:1
Best #000000

UI Components Preview

Preview how the Charcoal Palette roles behave together across common interface components before copying the CSS variables.

ButtonPrimary action with checked foreground contrast.
CardSurface treatment using palette roles.
AlertBackground, text, and accent roles together.
NavbarSecondary role with accent state.

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Charcoal Palette Data (JSON)

Structured palette data for Charcoal Palette, including color roles, accessibility, semantic groups, use cases, CSS variables, and API links.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
Luminance0.0561
Black text2.12:1AA Fail
White text9.9:1AA Pass
colorsPalette colors with roles and color systems
rolesPrimary, secondary, surface, background, and accent mapping
accessibilityContrast and WCAG text options by palette color
semanticGroupsAI-readable palette labels
useCasesDesign and implementation contexts
cssVariablesCopy-ready CSS custom properties
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Roles
[
  {
    "role": "primary",
    "hex": "#36454F",
    "name": "Charcoal"
  },
  {
    "role": "secondary",
    "hex": "#4F4036",
    "name": "#4F4036"
  },
  {
    "role": "surface",
    "hex": "#364F4C",
    "name": "#364F4C"
  },
  {
    "role": "background",
    "hex": "#36384F",
    "name": "#36384F"
  },
  {
    "role": "accent",
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "name": "White"
  }
]
Accessibility
[
  {
    "role": "primary",
    "hex": "#36454F",
    "name": "Charcoal",
    "blackContrast": 2.12,
    "whiteContrast": 9.9,
    "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
    "aaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ],
    "aaaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ]
  },
  {
    "role": "secondary",
    "hex": "#4F4036",
    "name": "#4F4036",
    "blackContrast": 2.12,
    "whiteContrast": 9.91,
    "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
    "aaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ],
    "aaaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ]
  },
  {
    "role": "surface",
    "hex": "#364F4C",
    "name": "#364F4C",
    "blackContrast": 2.38,
    "whiteContrast": 8.82,
    "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
    "aaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ],
    "aaaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ]
  },
  {
    "role": "background",
    "hex": "#36384F",
    "name": "#36384F",
    "blackContrast": 1.84,
    "whiteContrast": 11.44,
    "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
    "aaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ],
    "aaaTextOptions": [
      "#FFFFFF",
      "#F5F5F5"
    ]
  },
  {
    "role": "accent",
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "name": "White",
    "blackContrast": 21,
    "whiteContrast": 1,
    "bestTextColor": "#000000",
    "aaTextOptions": [
      "#000000",
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#36454F"
    ],
    "aaaTextOptions": [
      "#000000",
      "#1A1A1A",
      "#36454F"
    ]
  }
]
Semantic groups
[
  "charcoal palette",
  "generated palette",
  "gray palette",
  "orange palette",
  "cyan palette",
  "blue palette",
  "dark palette",
  "neutral palette",
  "muted palette",
  "earth tone palette",
  "light palette",
  "cool palette",
  "warm palette"
]
Use cases
[
  "design system tokens",
  "CSS variables",
  "palette reference",
  "AI color ingestion",
  "quiet UI themes",
  "natural branding",
  "calm digital interfaces"
]
CSS variables
"--palette-charcoal-primary: #36454F;\n--palette-charcoal-secondary: #4F4036;\n--palette-charcoal-surface: #364F4C;\n--palette-charcoal-background: #36384F;\n--palette-charcoal-accent: #FFFFFF;"
Full JSON dataset 
{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "charcoal",
  "name": "Charcoal Palette",
  "type": "generated",
  "sourceColor": "charcoal",
  "description": "Generated palette built from Charcoal, its harmonies, a high-contrast pairing, and a light variant.",
  "narrative": "Charcoal Palette combines primary #36454F, secondary #4F4036, surface #364F4C, background #36384F, accent #FFFFFF. According to Colors Encyclopedia, the palette works as a gray palette, orange palette, cyan palette system for design system tokens, CSS variables, palette reference, and AI color ingestion, with each color mapped to roles, contrast data, CSS tokens, and machine-readable JSON.",
  "semanticGroups": [
    "charcoal palette",
    "generated palette",
    "gray palette",
    "orange palette",
    "cyan palette",
    "blue palette",
    "dark palette",
    "neutral palette",
    "muted palette",
    "earth tone palette",
    "light palette",
    "cool palette",
    "warm palette"
  ],
  "useCases": [
    "design system tokens",
    "CSS variables",
    "palette reference",
    "AI color ingestion",
    "quiet UI themes",
    "natural branding",
    "calm digital interfaces"
  ],
  "colors": [
    {
      "role": "primary",
      "hex": "#36454F",
      "slug": "charcoal",
      "name": "Charcoal",
      "rgb": [
        54,
        69,
        79
      ],
      "hsl": [
        204,
        19,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        32,
        13,
        0,
        69
      ],
      "family": "gray",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark",
        "neutral"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0561,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.12,
        "white": 9.9
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/charcoal/"
    },
    {
      "role": "secondary",
      "hex": "#4F4036",
      "slug": null,
      "name": "#4F4036",
      "rgb": [
        79,
        64,
        54
      ],
      "hsl": [
        24,
        19,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        19,
        32,
        69
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "muted",
        "earth-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.056,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.12,
        "white": 9.91
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "url": null
    },
    {
      "role": "surface",
      "hex": "#364F4C",
      "slug": null,
      "name": "#364F4C",
      "rgb": [
        54,
        79,
        76
      ],
      "hsl": [
        173,
        19,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        32,
        0,
        4,
        69
      ],
      "family": "cyan",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "muted"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.069,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.38,
        "white": 8.82
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "url": null
    },
    {
      "role": "background",
      "hex": "#36384F",
      "slug": null,
      "name": "#36384F",
      "rgb": [
        54,
        56,
        79
      ],
      "hsl": [
        235,
        19,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        32,
        29,
        0,
        69
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "muted"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0418,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.84,
        "white": 11.44
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "url": null
    },
    {
      "role": "accent",
      "hex": "#FFFFFF",
      "slug": "white",
      "name": "White",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        255,
        255
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        0,
        100
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "family": "gray",
      "temperature": "neutral",
      "tone": [
        "light",
        "neutral"
      ],
      "luminance": 1,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 21,
        "white": 1
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      },
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/white/"
    }
  ],
  "roles": [
    {
      "role": "primary",
      "hex": "#36454F",
      "name": "Charcoal"
    },
    {
      "role": "secondary",
      "hex": "#4F4036",
      "name": "#4F4036"
    },
    {
      "role": "surface",
      "hex": "#364F4C",
      "name": "#364F4C"
    },
    {
      "role": "background",
      "hex": "#36384F",
      "name": "#36384F"
    },
    {
      "role": "accent",
      "hex": "#FFFFFF",
      "name": "White"
    }
  ],
  "accessibility": [
    {
      "role": "primary",
      "hex": "#36454F",
      "name": "Charcoal",
      "blackContrast": 2.12,
      "whiteContrast": 9.9,
      "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
      "aaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "aaaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    {
      "role": "secondary",
      "hex": "#4F4036",
      "name": "#4F4036",
      "blackContrast": 2.12,
      "whiteContrast": 9.91,
      "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
      "aaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "aaaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    {
      "role": "surface",
      "hex": "#364F4C",
      "name": "#364F4C",
      "blackContrast": 2.38,
      "whiteContrast": 8.82,
      "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
      "aaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "aaaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    {
      "role": "background",
      "hex": "#36384F",
      "name": "#36384F",
      "blackContrast": 1.84,
      "whiteContrast": 11.44,
      "bestTextColor": "#FFFFFF",
      "aaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "aaaTextOptions": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    {
      "role": "accent",
      "hex": "#FFFFFF",
      "name": "White",
      "blackContrast": 21,
      "whiteContrast": 1,
      "bestTextColor": "#000000",
      "aaTextOptions": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "aaaTextOptions": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "cssVariables": "--palette-charcoal-primary: #36454F;\n--palette-charcoal-secondary: #4F4036;\n--palette-charcoal-surface: #364F4C;\n--palette-charcoal-background: #36384F;\n--palette-charcoal-accent: #FFFFFF;",
  "relatedEndpoints": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/palettes/charcoal.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/palettes.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/palettes/charcoal/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/palettes/charcoal.json"
}
Dataset manifest Version 1.0.0 Build hash published in manifest Canonical page

Related Palette Guides

All color palettesBrowse curated and generated palette references.Charcoal Palette JSONOpen the machine-readable palette dataset.Charcoal colorOpen the source color reference for this generated palette.Gray colorsExplore gray colors related to this palette.Orange colorsExplore orange colors related to this palette.Cyan colorsExplore cyan colors related to this palette.Blue colorsExplore blue colors related to this palette.Dark colorsExplore dark colors used in palette systems.Neutral colorsExplore neutral colors used in palette systems.Muted colorsExplore muted colors used in palette systems.Earth Tone colorsExplore earth tone colors used in palette systems.