Charcoal Grey Color
Charcoal Grey is a gray color with hex code #3C4142. This page covers its meaning, all color values, harmonies, colors that go with charcoal grey, shades, tints, similar colors, CSS examples, FAQs, and WCAG contrast ratios.
Charcoal Grey Color Values
What Does Charcoal Grey Mean?
Charcoal Grey belongs to the gray family of colors. Gray settles arguments between colors. Practical, quiet, and hard to date-stamp, it lets brighter hues carry the personality while providing structure. Warm grays cozy a room up; cool grays keep it businesslike. Being on the dark side, Charcoal Grey adds weight and depth. It suits text, shadows, and grounding elements more than wide-open backgrounds.
In the ISCC-NBS color naming system, Charcoal Grey is classified as a green (nearest centroid: dark grayish green, #3A4B47). It is also known as Cannon Barrel.
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Colors That Go With Charcoal Grey
Charcoal Grey and #433E3D are complements, parked opposite each other on the wheel. Together they hit maximum contrast, so a rough 70/30 split keeps the pairing from shouting.
Analogous neighbors — #3D4341 and #3D3F43, which sit beside charcoal grey on the wheel. Pairings like this feel calm and settled, which suits backgrounds and gradients.
For an energetic three-color palette, pair charcoal grey with triadic partners #433D42 and #42433D. All three sit evenly spaced around the wheel, so the scheme stays lively without clashing.
Build and test these combinations in our Color Wheel Tool or check text readability with the Contrast Checker.
Tints and Shades
Tints (lighter)
Shades (darker)
Similar Colors
- Cape Cod —
#3C4443(Delta E 2) - Outer Space —
#414A4C(Delta E 4) - Charcoal —
#343837(Delta E 4) - Dark Grey —
#363737(Delta E 4) - Masala —
#403B38(Delta E 5)
CSS Examples
.text { color: #3C4142; }
.background { background-color: #3C4142; }
.border { border: 2px solid #3C4142; }
.shadow { box-shadow: 0 4px 6px #3C414240; }WCAG Contrast
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hex code for charcoal grey?
Charcoal Grey has the hex code #3C4142. In RGB notation it is rgb(60, 65, 66), in HSL it is hsl(190, 5%, 25%), and its OKLCH value is 0.371, 0.007, 211.
What does the color charcoal grey mean?
Gray-family colors like charcoal grey carry distinct psychological associations. Charcoal Grey belongs to the gray family of colors. Gray settles arguments between colors. Practical, quiet, and hard to date-stamp, it lets brighter hues carry the personality while providing structure. Warm grays cozy a room up; cool grays keep it businesslike. Being on the dark side, Charcoal Grey adds weight and depth. It suits text, shadows, and grounding elements more than wide-open backgrounds.
What colors go with charcoal grey?
Charcoal Grey has three easy routes: its complement #433E3D for punch, its neighbors #3D4341 and #3D3F43 for something calmer, or triadic partners #433D42 and #42433D when you want energy.
Is charcoal grey a standard web color?
No — Charcoal Grey is not a CSS keyword. Use its hex value #3C4142 or any RGB/HSL equivalent in your stylesheets.
How do I make charcoal grey lighter or darker?
To lighten charcoal grey, add white to create tints; to darken it, add black to create shades. The tints and shades table above shows five computed steps of each, from #DFE1E2 (lightest tint) to #0A0B0B (darkest shade).
About Charcoal Grey
Charcoal Grey is classified as a Green in the ISCC-NBS color naming system, within the Gray hue family. It has alternative names including Cannon Barrel. The color is recognized by XKCD, meodai.
Use our Color Converter to convert #3C4142 to any other color format, or explore the Color Wheel to find harmonious color combinations.