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Cool Gray Shadow
Color detail

Cool Gray Shadow

Neutral gray · Hue 210
Metrics
S 6% · L 28%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white9.4:1AAon black2.2:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cool Gray Shadow (#43474C) belongs to the neutral grays — hue 210°, 6% saturation, 28% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-cool-gray-shadow: #43474C;
  --colorarchive-cool-gray-shadow-hsl: hsl(210, 6%, 28%);
  --colorarchive-cool-gray-shadow-rgb: rgb(67, 71, 76);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Color Origins

Neutral family

Not a color, but the canvas every color lives on.

Heritage

Bone black, lamp black, and ivory black are the classical pigment lineage of black, with Mars black a 20th-century addition; lead white (now heavily restricted), zinc white, and titanium white are the whites; and every gray sits between them. Charcoal and graphite extend the lineage. Painters historically mixed their warm and cool grays rather than taking them from a tube — Vermeer tinted grays of lead white, black, and umber with ultramarine. Scandinavian and Japanese design traditions have refined the use of pure neutrals to the point of philosophy.

Across cultures

In Western culture black is mourning (since the Roman Empire), formal (since late-medieval European courts), and rebellious (since 20th-century counterculture). In China and much of East Asia white is the traditional funeral color, though Japan has worn black since the Meiji era. Black-and-white photography defined visual journalism for a century. Concrete gray, since Brutalism, has come to read as both serious-civic and dystopian, depending on context. Scandinavian interiors often lean on the calibration of warm vs cool grays.

In the wild

Apple's restraint is essentially a religion of neutrals — white packaging and, since it dropped the rainbow logo in 1999, a single-color Apple mark. Chanel built a fashion empire on black-and-white. Muji's identity is the absence of identity — the name means 'no-brand quality goods', and its color range is deliberately limited. Vercel, Linear, GitHub, and many modern developer tools dial the saturation way down to make their content shine. The film noir aesthetic and modern minimalist branding both converge on neutrals.

How it reads

Pure neutrals (true gray) are eye-rest colors — they carry no hue of their own. Warm neutrals (taupe, warm gray) read as inviting, hospitality-friendly, soft. Cool neutrals (cool gray, slate) read as technical, premium, slightly distant. Off-whites and creams are heritage-luxury colors; near-blacks (charcoal, ink) read as serious without the harshness of pure black. Designers often choose a slightly warm or slightly cool neutral over true gray because it feels more deliberate and human.

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #43474C.

  • Airbnbneutral
    Hof Gray · #484848
    →
  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #43474C.

  • ScandinaviaForest Green
    #3D5B49 · Spruce / fir forest in winter light
    →
  • Italy (Tuscany)Cypress Green
    #3F5E47 · Tuscan hilltop cypresses
    →
  • IrelandPeat Brown
    #604024 · Cut turf bog, Mayo + Connemara
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using color in design.

Design PrinciplesNegative Space in Color Design: The Power of RestraintColor Theory & DesignBackground Color Design: How Neutral Backgrounds Affect Every Other ColorTypographyChoosing the Right Gray for Typography: Warm Gray vs. Cool Gray and Why It Matters

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Cool Gray Dusk
#51575C · hsl(210, 6%, 34%)
Darker companion
Cool Gray Nocturne
#303336 · hsl(210, 6%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Warm Gray Shadow
#4C4743 · hsl(30, 6%, 28%)
Analogous lead
Indigo Shadow Faint
#40434F · hsl(230, 10%, 28%)
Analogous echo
Cerulean Shadow Faint
#404C4F · hsl(190, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +120°
Blush Shadow Faint
#4F4047 · hsl(330, 10%, 28%)
Triadic +240°
Lime Shadow Faint
#474F40 · hsl(90, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +150°
Crimson Shadow Faint
#4F4040 · hsl(0, 10%, 28%)
Split-comp +210°
Citrine Shadow Faint
#4F4F40 · hsl(60, 10%, 28%)
Export preview
Base: Cool Gray Shadow #43474C
Lighter companion: Cool Gray Dusk #51575C
Darker companion: Cool Gray Nocturne #303336
Complementary counterpoint: Warm Gray Shadow #4C4743
Analogous lead: Indigo Shadow Faint #40434F
Analogous echo: Cerulean Shadow Faint #404C4F
Triadic +120°: Blush Shadow Faint #4F4047
Triadic +240°: Lime Shadow Faint #474F40
Split-comp +150°: Crimson Shadow Faint #4F4040
Split-comp +210°: Citrine Shadow Faint #4F4F40

Compare

See how Cool Gray Shadow compares side by side with related colors.

vsCool Gray DuskvsCool Gray NocturnevsWarm Gray ShadowvsIndigo Shadow FaintvsCerulean Shadow FaintvsBlush Shadow Faint

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Sapphire Shadow Faint
#40474F · hsl(210, 10%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cool Gray Dusk
#51575C · hsl(210, 6%, 34%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Shadow Muted
#3B4754 · hsl(210, 18%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cool Gray Nocturne
#303336 · hsl(210, 6%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Dusk Faint
#4E575F · hsl(210, 10%, 34%)
Nearby match
Steel Shadow Faint
#40494F · hsl(205, 10%, 28%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Clear
#FDFAF7
AAA9:1
Coral Veil Vivid
#FEFAF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#45444B
Protanopia
#45454B
Tritanopia
#434A4A
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cool Gray Shadow#43474C · hsl(210, 6%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Faint#40474F · hsl(210, 10%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Muted#3B4754 · hsl(210, 18%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Dust#35475A · hsl(210, 26%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Soft#2F4760 · hsl(210, 34%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Clear#21476E · hsl(210, 54%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Vivid#13477C · hsl(210, 74%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Bright#0B4783 · hsl(210, 84%, 28%)Sapphire Shadow Pure#064789 · hsl(210, 92%, 28%)
Appears in collections
Film NoirRaw ConcreteEditorial MonochromeMotion Brand VividPure Monochrome SystemUrban Bold ContrastNorthern ForestForest Rain