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Taupe Gray Nocturne
Color detail

Taupe Gray Nocturne

Neutral gray · Hue 40
Metrics
S 5% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white12.4:1AAon black1.7:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Taupe Gray Nocturne (#363430) belongs to the neutral grays — hue 40°, 5% saturation, 20% 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-taupe-gray-nocturne: #363430;
  --colorarchive-taupe-gray-nocturne-hsl: hsl(40, 5%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-taupe-gray-nocturne-rgb: rgb(54, 52, 48);
}

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 #363430.

  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →
  • Taobao 淘宝neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #363430.

  • BrazilAçaí Purple
    #3D1F4D · Euterpe oleracea berry
    →
  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • France (Paris)Bordeaux Wine
    #5C2E2A · Bordeaux region red wine
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using color in design.

Interface SystemsBuilding Neutral Color Palettes for Design SystemsColor SystemsChromatic Neutrals: Why Gray Is Never Actually Gray in Professional DesignInterface SystemsNeutral Color Palette: Building Systems That Let Other Colors Breathe

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
Taupe Gray Shadow
#4B4944 · hsl(40, 5%, 28%)
Darker companion
Taupe Gray Ink
#252422 · hsl(40, 5%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Cobalt Nocturne Faint
#2E3138 · hsl(220, 10%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Citrine Nocturne Faint
#38382E · hsl(60, 10%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Vermillion Nocturne Faint
#38302E · hsl(15, 10%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Teal Nocturne Faint
#2E3835 · hsl(160, 10%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Mulberry Nocturne Faint
#352E38 · hsl(280, 10%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Cerulean Nocturne Faint
#2E3638 · hsl(190, 10%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Violet Nocturne Faint
#302E38 · hsl(250, 10%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Taupe Gray Nocturne #363430
Lighter companion: Taupe Gray Shadow #4B4944
Darker companion: Taupe Gray Ink #252422
Complementary counterpoint: Cobalt Nocturne Faint #2E3138
Analogous lead: Citrine Nocturne Faint #38382E
Analogous echo: Vermillion Nocturne Faint #38302E
Triadic +120°: Teal Nocturne Faint #2E3835
Triadic +240°: Mulberry Nocturne Faint #352E38
Split-comp +150°: Cerulean Nocturne Faint #2E3638
Split-comp +210°: Violet Nocturne Faint #302E38

Compare

See how Taupe Gray Nocturne compares side by side with related colors.

vsTaupe Gray ShadowvsTaupe Gray InkvsCobalt Nocturne FaintvsCitrine Nocturne FaintvsVermillion Nocturne FaintvsTeal Nocturne Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Apricot Nocturne Faint
#38352E · hsl(40, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Taupe Gray Ink
#252422 · hsl(40, 5%, 14%)
Nearby match
Apricot Nocturne Muted
#3C362A · hsl(40, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Taupe Gray Shadow
#4B4944 · hsl(40, 5%, 28%)
Nearby match
Apricot Ink Faint
#272520 · hsl(40, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Saffron Nocturne Faint
#38362E · hsl(45, 10%, 20%)

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
AAA11.9:1
Cobalt Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA11.9:1
Cobalt Veil Muted
#F9FAFB
AAA11.8:1
Cobalt Veil Dust
#F9F9FB
AAA11.8:1
Cobalt Veil Soft
#F8F9FC
AAA11.8:1
Cobalt Veil Clear
#F7F9FD
AAA11.8:1
Cobalt Veil Vivid
#F6F9FE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#353531
Protanopia
#353531
Tritanopia
#363232
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Taupe Gray Nocturne#363430 · hsl(40, 5%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Faint#38352E · hsl(40, 10%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Muted#3C362A · hsl(40, 18%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Dust#403726 · hsl(40, 26%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Soft#443922 · hsl(40, 34%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Clear#4F3C17 · hsl(40, 54%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Vivid#59400D · hsl(40, 74%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Bright#5E4108 · hsl(40, 84%, 20%)Apricot Nocturne Pure#624304 · hsl(40, 92%, 20%)