Color Naming Conventions and Standards

Only 16 of the color names are standardized (see the discussion of color in HTML at the W3C). The other two hundred or so color names recognized by modern browsers are not standardized... but we find them useful anyway, at least by comparison to the hexadecimal color codes. Hence we offer this chart -- organized by hue -- in an attempt to approach such a standard. However, this is only a draft, not the final word.

Here's how we developed it. First, we derived the names and hexadecimal values from Netscape's now-defunct HTML manual (alas, the link's gone dead.)

Second, we charted the colors with Paint Shop Pro's palette editor and sorter. This process conflated a few colors and codes, but we have cleaned up the list as best we could.

Thousands of color names have been invented yet there is no definitive list that we've been able to find. We hope this chart brings us a step closer.

We hope you find it useful. Better yet, improve it and

Resources for Using Color on the Web

• Colortools.net offers good info about using color on the web: a cool flash matrix of web-safe colors, lots more.

• A fascinating explanation of how color works including RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) is available thanks to Chris Kassa of RGB World, Inc.

• Here's an improved version of the color chart by Osamu "Nyan" Kondo. Thanks, Osamu!

• Perhaps the most definitive list we've found so far is this working draft for color names in CSS3 in HTML 4 at the W3C. It lists 140 color names.

• Visibone offers several excellent quick reference cards including The 216-color Webmaster's Palette and their Web Color Kilochart.

• An excellent color picker -- generates colors in coordinated "schemes".

• Here is Tim Kraft's color conversion spreadsheet. It converts hex to RGB values. He's been hard on work on reconciling the color name variations.

• HTML color names: http://adrianspages.com/colnmes.htm

• More HTML color names: http://www.learningwebdesign.com/colornames.html

• MIT color names: http://eies.njit.edu/~kevin/rgb.txt.html

• Two4U color names: http://www.two4u.com/color/big-table.html

• More discussion about color in HTML, especially the "web safe" palette: http://www.engr.colostate.edu/ens/support/web/htmlbasics/color.cfm.

• A blog by Brian Salchert who thinks about these things: http://journals.aol.com/thinkinglizard/sh/entries/2007/05/20/sw00430math-colors.hex.rgb/1547.

• The 144 color names recognized by Firefox 1.5 are:

  aliceblue antiquewhite aqua aquamarine azure beige bisque blanchedalmond blue blueviolet brown burlywood cadetblue chartreuse chocolate coral cornflowerblue cornsilk crimson cyan darkblue darkcyan darkgoldenrod darkgray darkgreen darkgrey darkkhaki darkmagenta darkolivegreen darkorange darkorchid darkred darksalmon darkseagreen darkslateblue darkslategray darkslategrey darkturquoise darkviolet deeppink deepskyblue dimgray dimgrey dodgerblue firebrick floralwhite forestgreen fuchsia gainsboro ghostwhite gold goldenrod gray green greenyellow grey honeydew hotpink indianred indigo ivory khaki lavender lavenderblush lawngreen lemonchiffon lightblue lightcoral lightcyan lightgoldenrodyellow lightgray lightgreen lightgrey lightpink lightsalmon lightseagreen lightskyblue lightslategray lightslategrey 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 slategrey snow springgreen steelblue teal thistle tomato turquoise violet wheat whitesmoke yellow yellowgreen

• The hexadecimal codes for these colors are listed at http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/list_of_HTML_color_names.php3.

• For instructions on how to use this information (the web-safe color palette in Photoshop) see http://www.uri.edu/home/help/color_guide.html.

• For choosing good color schemes for maps and other graphics, there's Cindy Brewer and Mark Harrower's ColorBrewer. Thanks to Andre Coleman for pointing this out.