The Browser-safe palette

Low-quality photo to demonstrate 8-bit color The image at right simulates a high-quality photograph displayed on a low-resolution monitor. At low resolution, we can still see a calico cat with green eyes but the image is “flat” and much of its detail has obviously been lost. Notice, too, how the cat’s shadow is now an olive-drab blob. This kind of thing often happens when the computer is forced to replace thousands or millions of colors with only a couple hundred. The effect can be even worse when an image has a large area of solid color - like the background of a web page.

All color monitors are not created equal. While most can display a spectrum of color richer than what the human eye can distinguish, others can handle a palette of only 256 colors. Also, some users purposely configure their monitors to display a limited palette in order to accommodate old software, or to save memory and boost speed.

While there’s no way to prevent an 8-bit (256-color) monitor from making a mess of a finely detailed photo, we can at least protect our text colors and backgrounds. Behold the “browser-safe” (or “Web-safe”) palette, a collection of 216 colors that tend to look the same on monitors with different configurations. Devised by Lynda Weinman in 1996, the palette has become one of the mainstays of web design. You may want to (but you don’t have to) use these colors for text, backgrounds, background colors in image files, and any other fields of solid color.

Use RGB values in your HTML and CSS coding. The Visibone names in this chart are descriptive only; Visibone names are not in any way “official,” and they are not valid for coding. (The Visibone Color Lab is an excellent online tool for trying out browser-safe color combinations.)

Four of the sixteen “named” colors are not Web-safe, but you needn’t be anxious about using them. They are gray (#777777), green (#007700), maroon (#770000), and navy (#000077).

Visibone
color name
Color RGB value

Black
#000000
#000
black
Obscure
Weak
Blue
#000033
#003
Obscure
Dull
Blue
#000066
#006
Dark
Faded
Blue
#000099
#009
Dark
Hard
Blue
#0000CC
#00C

Blue
#0000FF
#00F
blue
Obscure
Weak
Green
#003300
#030
Obscure
Weak
Cyan
#003333
#033
Obscure
Dull
Azure
#003366
#036
Dark
Azure-
Blue
#003399
#039
Dark
Blue-
Azure
#0033CC
#03C
Blue-
Blue-
Azure
#0033FF
#03F
Obscure
Dull
Green
#006600
#060
Obscure
Dull
Teal
#006633
#063
Obscure
Dull
Cyan
#006666
#066
teal
Dark
Azure-
Cyan
#006699
#069
Dark
Hard
Azure
#0066CC
#06C
Azure-
Azure-
Blue
#0066FF
#06F
Dark
Faded
Green
#009900
#090
Dark
Teal-
Green
#009933
#093
Dark
Teal-
Cyan
#009966
#096
Dark
Faded
Cyan
#009999
#099
Dark
Cyan-
Azure
#0099CC
#09C
Azure-
Azure-
Cyan
#0099FF
#09F
Dark
Hard
Green
#00CC00
#0C0
Dark
Green-
Teal
#00CC33
#0C3
Dark
Hard
Teal
#00CC66
#0C6
Dark
Cyan-
Teal
#00CC99
#0C9
Dark
Hard
Cyan
#00CCCC
#0CC
Cyan-
Cyan-
Azure
#00CCFF
#0CF

Green
#00FF00
#0F0
lime
Green-
Green-
Teal
#00FF33
#0F3
Teal-
Teal-
Green
#00FF66
#0F6
Teal-
Teal-
Cyan
#00FF99
#0F9
Cyan-
Cyan-
Teal
#00FFCC
#0FC

Cyan
#00FFFF
#0FF
aqua
Obscure
Weak
Red
#330000
#300
Obscure
Weak
Magenta
#330033
#303
Obscure
Dull
Violet
#330066
#306
Dark
Violet-
Blue
#330099
#309
Dark
Blue-
Violet
#3300CC
#30C
Blue-
Blue-
Violet
#3300FF
#30F
Obscure
Weak
Yellow
#333300
#330

Obscure
Gray
#333333
#333
Dark
Weak
Blue
#333366
#336
Dark
Dull
Blue
#333399
#339
Medium
Faded
Blue
#3333CC
#33C
Light
Hard
Blue
#3333FF
#33F
Obscure
Dull
Spring
#336600
#360
Dark
Weak
Green
#336633
#363
Dark
Weak
Cyan
#336666
#366
Dark
Dull
Azure
#336699
#369
Medium
Azure-
Blue
#3366CC
#36C
Light
Blue-
Azure
#3366FF
#36F
Dark
Spring-
Green
#339900
#390
Dark
Dull
Green
#339933
#393
Dark
Dull
Teal
#339966
#396
Dark
Dull
Cyan
#339999
#399
Medium
Azure-
Cyan
#3399CC
#39C
Light
Hard
Azure
#3399FF
#39F
Dark
Green-
Spring
#33CC00
#3C0
Medium
Faded
Green
#33CC33
#3C3
Medium
Teal-
Green
#33CC66
#3C6
Medium
Teal-
Cyan
#33CC99
#3C9
Medium
Faded
Cyan
#33CCCC
#3CC
Light
Cyan-
Azure
#33CCFF
#3CF
Green-
Green-
Spring
#33FF00
#3F0
Light
Hard
Green
#33FF33
#3F3
Light
Green-
Teal
#33FF66
#3F6
Light
Hard
Teal
#33FF99
#3F9
Light
Cyan-
Teal
#33FFCC
#3FC
Light
Hard
Cyan
#33FFFF
#3FF
Visibone
color name
Color RGB value
Obscure
Dark
Red
#660000
#600
Obscure
Dark
Pink
#660033
#603
Obscure
Dark
Magenta
#660066
#606
purple
Dark
Violet-
Magenta
#660099
#609
Dark
Hard
Violet
#6600CC
#60C
Violet-
Violet-
Blue
#6600FF
#60F
Obscure
Dark
Orange
#663300
#630
Dark
Weak
Red
#663333
#633
Dark
Weak
Magenta
#663366
#636
Dark
Dull
Violet
#663399
#639
Medium
Violet-
Blue
#6633CC
#63C
Light
Blue-
Violet
#6633FF
#63F
Obscure
Dark
Yellow
#666600
#660
olive
Dark
Weak
Yellow
#666633
#663

Dark
Gray
#666666
#666
silver
Medium
Weak
Blue
#666699
#669
Light
Dull
Blue
#6666CC
#66C
Light
Faded
Blue
#6666FF
#66F
Dark
Spring-
Yellow
#669900
#690
Dark
Dull
Spring
#669933
#693
Medium
Weak
Green
#669966
#696
Medium
Weak
Cyan
#669999
#699
Light
Dull
Azure
#6699CC
#69C
Light
Azure-
Blue
#6699FF
#69F
Dark
Hard
Spring
#66CC00
#6C0
Medium
Spring-
Green
#66CC33
#6C3
Light
Dull
Green
#66CC66
#6C6
Light
Dull
Teal
#66CC99
#6C9
Light
Dull
Cyan
#66CCCC
#6CC
Light
Azure-
Cyan
#66CCFF
#6CF
Spring-
Spring-
Green
#66FF00
#6F0
Light
Green-
Spring
#66FF33
#6F3
Light
Faded
Green
#66FF66
#6F6
Light
Teal-
Green
#66FF99
#6F9
Light
Teal-
Cyan
#66FFCC
#6FC
Light
Faded
Cyan
#66FFFF
#6FF
Dark
Faded
Red
#990000
#900
Dark
Pink-
Red
#990033
#903
Dark
Pink-
Magenta
#990066
#906
Dark
Faded
Magenta
#990099
#909
Dark
Magenta-
Violet
#9900CC
#90C
Violet-
Violet-
Magenta
#9900FF
#90F
Dark
Orange-
Red
#993300
#930
Dark
Dull
Red
#993333
#933
Dark
Dull
Purple
#993366
#936
Dark
Dull
Magenta
#993399
#939
Medium
Violet-
Magenta
#9933CC
#93C
Light
Hard
Violet
#9933FF
#93F
Dark
Orange-
Yellow
#996600
#960
Dark
Dull
Orange
#996633
#963
Medium
Weak
Red
#996666
#966
Medium
Weak
Magenta
#996699
#969
Light
Dull
Violet
#9966CC
#96C
Light
Violet-
Blue
#9966FF
#96F
Dark
Faded
Yellow
#999900
#990
Dark
Dull
Yellow
#999933
#993
Medium
Weak
Yellow
#999966
#996

Light
Gray
#999999
#999
Light
Weak
Blue
#9999CC
#99C
Pale
Dull
Blue
#9999FF
#99F
Dark
Yellow
Spring
#99CC00
#9C0
Medium
Spring
Yellow
#99CC33
#9C3
Light
Dull
Spring
#99CC66
#9C6
Light
Weak
Green
#99CC99
#9C9
Light
Weak
Cyan
#99CCCC
#9CC
Pale
Dull
Azure
#99CCFF
#9CF
Spring-
Spring-
Yellow
#99FF00
#9F0
Light
Hard
Spring
#99FF33
#9F3
Light
Spring-
Green
#99FF66
#9F6
Pale
Dull
Green
#99FF99
#9F9
Pale
Dull
Teal
#99FFCC
#9FC
Pale
Dull
Cyan
#99FFFF
#9FF
Visibone
color name
Color RGB value
Dark
Hard
Red
#CC0000
#C00
Dark
Red-
Pink
#CC0033
#C03
Dark
Hard
Pink
#CC0066
#C06
Dark
Magenta-
Pink
#CC0099
#C09
Dark
Hard
Magenta
#CC00CC
#C0C
Magenta-
Magenta-
Violet
#CC00FF
#C0F
Dark
Red-
Orange
#CC3300
#C30
Medium
Faded
Red
#CC3333
#C33
Medium
Pink-
Red
#CC3366
#C36
Medium
Pink-
Magenta
#CC3399
#C39
Medium
Faded
Magenta
#CC33CC
#C3C
Light
Magenta-
Violet
#CC33FF
#C3F
Dark
Hard
Orange
#CC6600
#C60
Medium
Orange
Red
#CC6633
#C63
Light
Dull
Red
#CC6666
#C66
Light
Dull
Pink
#CC6699
#C69
Light
Dull
Magenta
#CC66CC
#C6C
Light
Violet-
Magenta
#CC66FF
#C6F
Dark
Yellow-
Orange
#CC9900
#C90
Medium
Orange-
Yellow
#CC9933
#C93
Light
Dull
Orange
#CC9966
#C96
Light
Weak
Red
#CC9999
#C99
Light
Weak
Magenta
#CC99C
#C9C
Pale
Dull
Violet
#CC99FF
#C9F
Dark
Hard
Yellow
#CCCC00
#CC0
Medium
Faded
Yellow
#CCCC33
#CC3
Light
Dull
Yellow
#CCCC66
#CC6
Light
Weak
Yellow
#CCCC99
#CC9

Pale
Gray
#CCCCCC
#CCC
Pale
Weak
Blue
#CCCCFF
#CCF
Yellow-
Yellow-
Spring
#CCFF00
#CF0
Light
Yellow-
Spring
#CCFF33
#CF3
Light
Spring-
Yellow
#CCFF66
#CF6
Pale
Dull
Spring
#CCFF99
#CF9
Pale
Weak
Green
#CCFFCC
#CFC
Pale
Weak
Cyan
#CCFFFF
#CFF

Red
#FF0000
#F00
red
Red-
Red-
Pink
#FF0033
#F03
Pale
Pink-
Red
#FF0066
#F06
Pink-
Pink-
Magenta
#FF0099
#F09
Magenta-
Magenta-
Pink
#FF00CC
#F0C

Magenta
#FF00FF
#F0F
fuchsia
Red-
Red-
Orange
#FF3300
#F30
Light
Hard
Red
#FF3333
#F33
Light
Red-
Pink
#FF3366
#F36
Light
Hard
Pink
#FF3399
#F39
Light
Magenta-
Pink
#FF33CC
#F3C
Light
Hard
Magenta
#FF33FF
#F3F
Orange-
Orange-
Red
#FF6600
#F60
Light
Red-
Orange
#FF6633
#F63
Light
Faded
Red
#FF6666
#F66
Light
Pink-
Red
#FF6699
#F69
Light
Pink-
Magenta
#FF66CC
#F6C
Light
Faded
Magenta
#FF66FF
#F6F
Orange-
Orange-
Yellow
#FF9900
#F90
Light
Hard
Orange
#FF9933
#F93
Light
Orange-
Red
#FF9966
#F96
Pale
Dull
Red
#FF9999
#F99
Pale
Dull
Pink
#FF99CC
#F9C
Pale
Dull
Magenta
#FF99FF
#F9F
Yellow-
Yellow-
Orange
#FFCC00
#FC0
Light
Yellow-
Orange
#FFCC33
#FC3
Light
Orange-
Yellow
#FFCC66
#FC6
Pale
Dull
Orange
#FFCC99
#FC9
Pale
Weak
Red
#FFCCCC
#FCC
Pale
Weak
Magenta
#FFCCFF
#FCF

Yellow
#FFFF00
#FF0
yellow
Light
Hard
Yellow
#FFFF33
#FF3
Light
Faded
Yellow
#FFFF66
#FF6
Pale
Dull
Yellow
#FFFF99
#FF9
Pale
Weak
Yellow
#FFFFCC
#FFC

White
#FFFFFF
#FFF
white
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