CSS HEX Colors

A hexadecimal color is specified with: #RRGGBB, where the RR (red), GG (green) and BB (blue) hexadecimal integers specify the components of the color.

HEX Color Values

In HTML, a color can be specified using a hexadecimal value in the form:

#rrggbb

Where rr (red), gg (green) and bb (blue) are hexadecimal values between 00 and ff (same as decimal 0-255).

For example, #ff0000 is displayed as red, because red is set to its highest value (ff), and the other two (green and blue) are set to 00.

Another example, #00ff00 is displayed as green, because green is set to its highest value (ff), and the other two (red and blue) are set to 00.

To display black, set all color parameters to 00, like this: #000000.

To display white, set all color parameters to ff, like this: #ffffff.

Experiment by mixing the HEX values below:

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Example

#ff0000

#0000ff

#3cb371

#ee82ee

#ffa500

#6a5acd

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Shades of Gray

Shades of gray are often defined using equal values for all three parameters:

Example

#404040

#686868

#a0a0a0

#bebebe

#dcdcdc

#f8f8f8

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3 Digit HEX Value

Sometimes you will see a 3-digit hex code in the CSS source.

The 3-digit hex code is a shorthand for some 6-digit hex codes.

The 3-digit hex code has the following form:

#rgb

Where r, g, and b represents the red, green, and blue components with values between 0 and f.

The 3-digit hex code can only be used when both the values (RR, GG, and BB) are the same for each components. So, if we have #ff00cc, it can be written like this: #f0c.

Here is an example:

Example

body {
  background-color: #fc9; /* same as #ffcc99 */
}

h1 {
  color: #f0f; /* same as #ff00ff */
}

p {
  color: #b58; /* same as #bb5588 */
}

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