What color is Slate Gray?
Slate gray is a cool, medium-dark gray with a quiet blue-green tint, hex #6D8196, close to the surface of a smooth river stone. It has enough blue in it to read as distinctly cooler than a neutral gray, without leaning into full blue.
What is the meaning of the color Slate Gray?
Named after the fine-grained rock quarried for roofing and writing surfaces, slate as a color term entered English use in the early 19th century tied to the distinctive hue of Welsh and Cornish quarried slate. Wales became one of the world’s largest slate producers by the 1800s, and the material was exported globally, making its gray-blue tone widely familiar. The color was later adopted in professional and institutional design for its neutral, reliable quality. The U.S. Navy has used slate gray tones in fleet vessel paint schemes as part of standardized warship camouflage specifications dating to the twentieth century.
What colors go with Slate Gray?
Colors that pair well with Slate gray include:
Navy blue: deepens the cool tone
Cream: soft, warming contrast
Burnt orange: bold, earthy warmth
Forest green: quiet, natural depth
Charcoal: strong tonal layering
Similar Colors
Conversions & Codes
| Format | Value | CSS |
|---|---|---|
| HEX | #6D8196 |
color: #6D8196;
|
| RGB | 109, 129, 150 |
color: rgb(109, 129, 150);
|
| RGB Percentage | 43%, 51%, 59% |
color: rgb(43%, 51%, 59%);
|
| CMYK | 27%, 14%, 0%, 41% | Not supported in CSS |
| HSL | 211°, 16%, 51% |
color: hsl(211, 16%, 51%);
|
| HSV | 211°, 27%, 59% | Not supported in CSS |
| CIE-LAB | 41, -4, -7 |
color: lab(41% -4 -7);
|
| Decimal | 7176598 | Not supported in CSS |
Color Variations
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Color Harmonies
Analogous
Complementary
Split Complementary
Triadic
Tetradic
Square
CSS & Dev Snippets
.slate-gray {
color: #6D8196;
}
$slate-gray: #6D8196;
rgb(109, 129, 150)