Specifying Color in CSS

There are five kinds of values that specify color in CSS — color keywords, system color keywords, hexadecimal color notation, decimal functional rgb notation, and percentage functional rgb notation.

Color Keywords

There are 17 Color Keywords, also called named colors, defined in CSS2.1:

aqua

rgb(0,255,255)

black

rgb(0,0,0)

blue

rgb(0,0,255)

fuchsia

rgb(255,0,255)

gray

rgb(128,128,128)

green

rgb(0,128,0)

lime

rgb(0,255,0)

maroon

rgb(128,0,0)

navy

rgb(0,0,128)

olive

rgb(128,128,0)

orange

rgb(255,80,0)

purple

rgb(128,0,128)

red

rgb(255,0,0)

silver

rgb(192,192,192)

teal

rgb(0,128,128)

white

rgb(255,255,255)

yellow

rgb(255,255,0)

Example 1: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:aqua">the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

There are 148 color keywords defined in CSS 3. However, there are only 139 individual colors. This is because there are a pair of color keywords for each of the gray colors — one spelt "gray" and the other spelt "grey". Also, fuchsia and magenta  is the same color, and so is aqua and cyan.

Internet Explorer 6 and 7 ignore the following color keywords: lightgray, darkgrey, grey, dimgrey, lightslategrey, slategrey, darkslategrey. Therefore, the keywords  lightgrey, darkgray, gray, ddimgray, lightslategray, slategray, darkslategray can be used instead because they refer to the same colors

Here is a table of the CSS 3 colors, source(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_colors#X11_color_names):

Color Keyword Hex code R G B Decimal code R G B Red colors indianred CD 5C 5C 205 92 92 lightcoral F0 80 80 240 128 128 salmon FA 80 72 250 128 114 darksalmon E9 96 7A 233 150 122 lightsalmon FF A0 7A 255 160 122 crimson DC 14 3C 220 20 60 red FF 00 00 255 0 0 firebrick B2 22 22 178 34 34 darkred 8B 00 00 139 0 0 Pink colors pink FF C0 CB 255 192 203 lightpink FF B6 C1 255 182 193 hotpink FF 69 B4 255 105 180 deeppink FF 14 93 255 20 147 mediumvioletred C7 15 85 199 21 133 palevioletred DB 70 93 219 112 147 Orange colors coral FF 7F 50 255 127 80 tomato FF 63 47 255 99 71 orangered FF 45 00 255 69 0 darkorange FF 8C 00 255 140 0 orange FF A5 00 255 165 0 Yellow colors gold FF D7 00 255 215 0 yellow FF FF 00 255 255 0 lightyellow FF FF E0 255 255 224 lemonchiffon FF FA CD 255 250 205 lightgoldenrodyellow FA FA D2 250 250 210 papayawhip FF EF D5 255 239 213 moccasin FF E4 B5 255 228 181 peachpuff FF DA B9 255 218 185 palegoldenrod EE E8 AA 238 232 170 khaki F0 E6 8C 240 230 140 darkkhaki BD B7 6B 189 183 107 Purple colors lavender E6 E6 FA 230 230 250 thistle D8 BF D8 216 191 216 plum DD A0 DD 221 160 221 violet EE 82 EE 238 130 238 orchid DA 70 D6 218 112 214 fuchsia FF 00 FF 255 0 255 magenta FF 00 FF 255 0 255 mediumorchid BA 55 D3 186 85 211 mediumpurple 93 70 DB 147 112 219 blueviolet 8A 2B E2 138 43 226 darkviolet 94 00 D3 148 0 211 darkorchid 99 32 CC 153 50 204 darkmagenta 8B 00 8B 139 0 139 purple 80 00 80 128 0 128 indigo 4B 00 82 75 0 130 slateblue 6A 5A CD 106 90 205 darkslateblue 48 3D 8B 72 61 139 mediumslateblue 7B 68 EE 123 104 238

Color Keyword Hex code R G B Decimal code R G B Green colors greenyellow AD FF 2F 173 255 47 chartreuse 7F FF 00 127 255 0 lawngreen 7C FC 00 124 252 0 lime 00 FF 00 0 255 0 limegreen 32 CD 32 50 205 50 palegreen 98 FB 98 152 251 152 lightgreen 90 EE 90 144 238 144 mediumspringgreen 00 FA 9A 0 250 154 springgreen 00 FF 7F 0 255 127 mediumseagreen 3C B3 71 60 179 113 seagreen 2E 8B 57 46 139 87 forestgreen 22 8B 22 34 139 34 green 00 80 00 0 128 0 darkgreen 00 64 00 0 100 0 yellowgreen 9A CD 32 154 205 50 olivedrab 6B 8E 23 107 142 35 olive 80 80 00 128 128 0 darkolivegreen 55 6B 2F 85 107 47 mediumaquamarine 66 CD AA 102 205 170 darkseagreen 8F BC 8F 143 188 143 lightseagreen 20 B2 AA 32 178 170 darkcyan 00 8B 8B 0 139 139 teal 00 80 80 0 128 128 Blue/Cyan colors aqua 00 FF FF 0 255 255 cyan 00 FF FF 0 255 255 lightcyan E0 FF FF 224 255 255 paleturquoise AF EE EE 175 238 238 aquamarine 7F FF D4 127 255 212 turquoise 40 E0 D0 64 224 208 mediumturquoise 48 D1 CC 72 209 204 darkturquoise 00 CE D1 0 206 209 cadetblue 5F 9E A0 95 158 160 steelblue 46 82 B4 70 130 180 lightsteelblue B0 C4 DE 176 196 222 powderblue B0 E0 E6 176 224 230 lightblue AD D8 E6 173 216 230 skyblue 87 CE EB 135 206 235 lightskyblue 87 CE FA 135 206 250 deepskyblue 00 BF FF 0 191 255 dodgerblue 1E 90 FF 30 144 255 cornflowerblue 64 95 ED 100 149 237 royalblue 41 69 E1 65 105 225 blue 00 00 FF 0 0 255 mediumblue 00 00 CD 0 0 205 darkblue 00 00 8B 0 0 139 navy 00 00 80 0 0 128 midnightblue 19 19 70 25 25 112

Color Keyword Hex code R G B Decimal code R G B Brown colors cornsilk FF F8 DC 255 248 220 blanchedalmond FF EB CD 255 235 205 bisque FF E4 C4 255 228 196 navajowhite FF DE AD 255 222 173 wheat F5 DE B3 245 222 179 burlywood DE B8 87 222 184 135 tan D2 B4 8C 210 180 140 rosybrown BC 8F 8F 188 143 143 sandybrown F4 A4 60 244 164 96 goldenrod DA A5 20 218 165 32 darkgoldenrod B8 86 0B 184 134 11 peru CD 85 3F 205 133 63 chocolate D2 69 1E 210 105 30 saddlebrown 8B 45 13 139 69 19 sienna A0 52 2D 160 82 45 brown A5 2A 2A 165 42 42 maroon 80 00 00 128 0 0 White colors white FF FF FF 255 255 255 snow FF FA FA 255 250 250 honeydew F0 FF F0 240 255 240 mintcream F5 FF FA 245 255 250 azure F0 FF FF 240 255 255 aliceblue F0 F8 FF 240 248 255 ghostwhite F8 F8 FF 248 248 255 whitesmoke F5 F5 F5 245 245 245 seashell FF F5 EE 255 245 238 beige F5 F5 DC 245 245 220 oldlace FD F5 E6 253 245 230 floralwhite FF FA F0 255 250 240 ivory FF FF F0 255 255 240 antiquewhite FA EB D7 250 235 215 linen FA F0 E6 250 240 230 lavenderblush FF F0 F5 255 240 245 mistyrose FF E4 E1 255 228 225 Grey colors gainsboro DC DC DC 220 220 220 lightgrey D3 D3 D3 211 211 211 silver C0 C0 C0 192 192 192 darkgray A9 A9 A9 169 169 169 gray 80 80 80 128 128 128 dimgray 69 69 69 105 105 105 lightslategray 77 88 99 119 136 153 SlateGray 70 80 90 112 128 144 darkslategray 2F 4F 4F 47 79 79 black 00 00 00 0 0 0

Example 2: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:crimson">the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

 

System Color Keywords

The system color keywords refer to the colors used by the operating system in its GUI. These keywords make it possible to create a web page with an interface that mimics the viewer's operating system GUI. CSS 2.1 specifies the following system color keywords (source: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS2/ui.html#system-colors).

ActiveBorder

Active window border.

ActiveCaption

Active window caption background color.

AppWorkspace

Background color of multiple document interface.

Background

Desktop background color.

ButtonFace

Face color for three-dimensional display elements.

ButtonHighlight

Highlight color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing away from the light source).

ButtonShadow

Shadow color for three-dimensional display elements.

ButtonText

Text on push buttons.

CaptionText

Text in caption, size box, and scrollbar arrow box.

GrayText

Grayed (disabled) text. This color is set to #000 if the current display driver does not support a solid gray color.

Highlight

Item(s) selected in a control background color.

HighlightText

Text of item(s) selected in a control.

InactiveBorder

Inactive window border.

InactiveCaption

Inactive window caption background color.

InactiveCaptionText

Color of text in an inactive caption.

InfoBackground

Background color for tooltip controls.

InfoText

Text color for tooltip controls.

Menu

Menu background color.

MenuText

Text in menus.

Scrollbar

Scroll bar gray area.

ThreeDDarkShadow

Dark shadow for three-dimensional display elements.

ThreeDFace

Face color for three-dimensional display elements.

ThreeDHighlight

Highlight color for three-dimensional display elements.

ThreeDLightShadow

Light color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing the light source).

ThreeDShadow

Dark shadow for three-dimensional display elements.

Window

Window background color.

WindowFrame

Window frame.

WindowText

Text in windows.

Example 3: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:WindowText">the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

Hexadecimal Notation

A hexadecimal notation color value consists of the pound sign (#) followed by six or three hexadecimal digits - example: #344da4. The first two digits (from the left) represent red, the next two digits represent green and the last two represent blue.

Since each two digit pair is in hexadecimal, the maximum value is ff or 255 in decimal. Thus, each of the three primary colors - red, green, blue are represented by 256 different levels.

For example, #344da4 represents a red level of 34 hexadecimal or 52 decimal, a green level of 4d hexadecimal or 77 decimal and a blue level of a4 hexadecimal or 164 decimal. A level of 255 represents the strongest level of a particular color and a level of 0 represents the weakest level - complete absence of the color.

Numbers can be converted from hexadecimal to decimal and vice versa using a calculator.

Example 4: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#FF7F50">coral the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

In the above example the color in decimal rgb notation is rgb(255,127,80).

A hexadecimal notation value can be shortened if the value of each primary color consists of a repeated number or letter.

Example 5: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:#AD9"> the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

In the above example, the color value can be expanded to #AADD99 which is equivalent to rgb(170,221,153).

Functional RGB Notation

The Functional RGB Notation consists of a decimal number triplet of either percentages or integers. The triplet represents the three primary colors red, green and blue.

Decimal Functional RGB Notation

In this notation the rgb triplet is specified as three comma separated decimal numbers enclosed in parentheses. The range of values is 0 to 255. Here is an example of the functional rgb notation using a decimal number triplet: rgb(156,45,56). In this example the level of red is 156, green is 45 and blue is 56.

Example 6: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:rgb(255,105,180)">the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

 

Percentage Functional RGB Notation

In this notation the rgb triplet is specified as three comma separated decimal percentages enclosed in parentheses. The range of values is 0% to 100%, decimal values (example 10.5%) are allowed. Any percentage greater than 100% is considered equal to 100%. Example: (350% is considered 100%). The color in the previous decimal functional rgb notation can be converted to percentage function rgb notation using the formula:

(primary color value ÷ 255) × 100

Only one decimal place is necessary since the rounded-off computed value can represent all the numbers from 0 to 255.

Example 7: <p style="font-size:35px;font-family:'Times New Roman';color:rgb(100%,49.8%,31.3%)">coral the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog</p>

In the above example, the color value can also be expressed as rgb(255, 127,80)