#4E4E59
Charcoal · dark neutral
About #4E4E59
#4E4E59 is a near-neutral, dark shade in the gray family. On screen it is built from 31% red, 31% green and 35% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 12% cyan, 12% magenta, 0% yellow and 65% black. It is close to neutral, so it sits comfortably next to both warm and cool colours.
Of the common colour names it is very close to Charcoal (ΔE 7.9); Graphite comes next. Its complementary colour, directly opposite on the colour wheel, is #59594E — a umber tone that gives the strongest contrast in hue.
Designers tend to use dark tones like #4E4E59 for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. Put white text on top of it — 8.21:1, a WCAG AAA pass. Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (8.21:1).
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Closest named colours
ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.
Text on #4E4E59
WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.
Colour-blindness preview
How #4E4E59 appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.
Shades, tints & matching colours
Similar colours
Frequently asked questions
›What colour is #4E4E59?
#4E4E59 is a near-neutral, dark shade in the gray family. On screen it is built from 31% red, 31% green and 35% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 12% cyan, 12% magenta, 0% yellow and 65% black. It is close to neutral, so it sits comfortably next to both warm and cool colours.
›What text colour should I use on #4E4E59?
Use white text. White on #4E4E59 has a contrast ratio of 8.21:1 (AAA).
›What colours go with #4E4E59?
Its complementary colour is #59594E, and analogous partners are #4E5359 and #534E59.