#4E5D59
Charcoal · dark neutral
About #4E5D59
#4E5D59 is a near-neutral, dark shade in the gray family. On screen it is built from 31% red, 36% green and 35% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 16% cyan, 0% magenta, 4% yellow and 64% black. It is close to neutral, so it sits comfortably next to both warm and cool colours.
Of the common colour names it is similar to Charcoal (ΔE 13.3); Umber comes next. Its complementary colour, directly opposite on the colour wheel, is #5D4E52 — a umber tone that gives the strongest contrast in hue.
Designers tend to use dark tones like #4E5D59 for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. Put white text on top of it — 6.92:1, a WCAG AA pass. Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (6.92:1).
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Closest named colours
ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.
Text on #4E5D59
WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.
Colour-blindness preview
How #4E5D59 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 #4E5D59?
#4E5D59 is a near-neutral, dark shade in the gray family. On screen it is built from 31% red, 36% green and 35% blue; for print, its CMYK mix is 16% cyan, 0% magenta, 4% yellow and 64% black. It is close to neutral, so it sits comfortably next to both warm and cool colours.
›What text colour should I use on #4E5D59?
Use white text. White on #4E5D59 has a contrast ratio of 6.92:1 (AA).
›What colours go with #4E5D59?
Its complementary colour is #5D4E52, and analogous partners are #4E5D52 and #4E5A5D.