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Sage Gray Dusk
Color detail

Sage Gray Dusk

Neutral gray · Hue 150
Metrics
S 5% · L 34%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white7:1AAon black3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Sage Gray Dusk (#525B57) belongs to the neutral grays — hue 150°, 5% saturation, 34% 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-sage-gray-dusk: #525B57;
  --colorarchive-sage-gray-dusk-hsl: hsl(150, 5%, 34%);
  --colorarchive-sage-gray-dusk-rgb: rgb(82, 91, 87);
}

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 #525B57.

  • Airbnbneutral
    Hof Gray · #484848
    →
  • Microsoftneutral
    Slate Gray · #737373
    →
  • Notionneutral
    Notion Gray · #787774
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #525B57.

  • France (Paris)Zinc Roof Grey
    #5E6566 · Oxidized zinc roof tiles, central Paris
    →
  • Italy (Tuscany)Cypress Green
    #3F5E47 · Tuscan hilltop cypresses
    →
  • ScandinaviaForest Green
    #3D5B49 · Spruce / fir forest in winter light
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using color in design.

Color Theory & DesignBackground Color Design: How Neutral Backgrounds Affect Every Other ColorTypographyChoosing the Right Gray for Typography: Warm Gray vs. Cool Gray and Why It MattersUI/UX DesignNeutral Color Palettes: Warm vs Cool and How to Choose

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
Sage Gray Velvet
#66706B · hsl(150, 5%, 42%)
Darker companion
Sage Gray Shadow
#444B47 · hsl(150, 5%, 28%)
Complementary counterpoint
Blush Dusk Faint
#5F4E57 · hsl(330, 10%, 34%)
Analogous lead
Cyan Dusk Faint
#4E5F5E · hsl(175, 10%, 34%)
Analogous echo
Mint Dusk Faint
#4E5F51 · hsl(130, 10%, 34%)
Triadic +120°
Plum Dusk Faint
#574E5F · hsl(270, 10%, 34%)
Triadic +240°
Warm Gray Dusk
#5C5751 · hsl(30, 6%, 34%)
Split-comp +150°
Fuchsia Dusk Faint
#5F4E5F · hsl(300, 10%, 34%)
Split-comp +210°
Crimson Dusk Faint
#5F4E4E · hsl(0, 10%, 34%)
Export preview
Base: Sage Gray Dusk #525B57
Lighter companion: Sage Gray Velvet #66706B
Darker companion: Sage Gray Shadow #444B47
Complementary counterpoint: Blush Dusk Faint #5F4E57
Analogous lead: Cyan Dusk Faint #4E5F5E
Analogous echo: Mint Dusk Faint #4E5F51
Triadic +120°: Plum Dusk Faint #574E5F
Triadic +240°: Warm Gray Dusk #5C5751
Split-comp +150°: Fuchsia Dusk Faint #5F4E5F
Split-comp +210°: Crimson Dusk Faint #5F4E4E

Compare

See how Sage Gray Dusk compares side by side with related colors.

vsSage Gray VelvetvsSage Gray ShadowvsBlush Dusk FaintvsCyan Dusk FaintvsMint Dusk FaintvsPlum Dusk Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Jade Dusk Faint
#4E5F57 · hsl(150, 10%, 34%)
Nearby match
Sage Gray Shadow
#444B47 · hsl(150, 5%, 28%)
Nearby match
Jade Dusk Muted
#476657 · hsl(150, 18%, 34%)
Nearby match
Sage Gray Velvet
#66706B · hsl(150, 5%, 42%)
Nearby match
Jade Shadow Faint
#404F47 · hsl(150, 10%, 28%)
Nearby match
Celadon Dusk Faint
#4E5F55 · hsl(145, 10%, 34%)

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
AAA7:1
Citrine Veil Pure
#FFFFF5
AA6.7:1
Blush Veil Faint
#FAF9FA
AA6.7:1
Blush Veil Muted
#FBF9FA
AA6.7:1
Blush Veil Dust
#FBF9FA
AA6.7:1
Blush Veil Soft
#FCF8FA
AA6.6:1
Blush Veil Clear
#FDF7FA

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#565558
Protanopia
#565658
Tritanopia
#525959
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Sage Gray Dusk#525B57 · hsl(150, 5%, 34%)Jade Dusk Faint#4E5F57 · hsl(150, 10%, 34%)Jade Dusk Muted#476657 · hsl(150, 18%, 34%)Jade Dusk Dust#406D57 · hsl(150, 26%, 34%)Jade Dusk Soft#397457 · hsl(150, 34%, 34%)Jade Dusk Clear#288657 · hsl(150, 54%, 34%)Jade Dusk Vivid#179757 · hsl(150, 74%, 34%)Jade Dusk Bright#0EA057 · hsl(150, 84%, 34%)Jade Dusk Pure#07A657 · hsl(150, 92%, 34%)