Information about #565656 color

#565656 color image

Basic facts about this digital color

In the Register's classification, #565656 belongs to the Greyscale Color Family, featuring Desaturated and Neutral brightness. In numbers: rgb(86, 86, 86) (33.7% red, 33.7% green, 33.7% blue), or CMYK 0 / 0 / 0 / 66 for print. Curious how these numbers work? Read our RGB color codes guide.

#565656 presents itself as a softly muted neutral grey — one that holds a balanced mid-tone. It is a natural fit for understated, calm designs that favor harmony over drama. In The Official Register of Color Names it is almost identical to Half Baltic Sea (#565657). Its next-closest registered neighbors are Landscape Grey (#555759) and Dim Grey (#545454).

Under the hood all three RGB channels are equal (86 each), placing #565656 exactly on the neutral axis of the color space. If you plan to put text on a #565656 background, choose white — the contrast ratio is 7.3:1 (passing WCAG AAA), while black manages only 2.9:1. On paper it relies strongly on black ink (K:66), so proof dark layouts before a large print run. This shade is reserved in the Register and is not available for naming.

#565656 color variations

View this color variations of tints, shades, tones and hues.

Why this page shows fewer blocks

#565656 belongs to the Greyscale Color Family, and greyscale colors have no hue. Hue is an angle on the color wheel, and that angle only exists when a color leans toward one primary more than the others. Here all three channels are equal (R = G = B), so there is nothing to lean and no angle to measure.

Everything built on rotating that angle therefore has nothing to rotate. A complementary color is the hue 180° away — for a grey, that is the same grey. The same goes for analogous, triadic, tetradic and square harmonies. Rather than show seven identical swatches, the register leaves the Hues variation strip and the whole Harmonies section out.

What remains is everything that depends on lightness rather than hue. Tints, shades and tones still work, because they move the color up and down the scale instead of around the wheel. So do the nearest named colors, the conversions and the adjacent color codes.

How the register classifies colors · All greyscale colors in the register

Nearest named colors to #565656

The closest officially registered color names in the Register, ordered by similarity.

Conversions between color systems and etc.

  • HEX#565656
  • RGB86, 86, 86
  • CMYK0, 0, 0, 66
  • CSSrgb(86, 86, 86)
  • HSL0°, 0%, 34%
  • HSL Precise0°, 0%, 33.725%
  • HSV0°, 0%, 34%
  • HSB0°, 0%, 34%
  • Normalized R (0.0–1.0)0.337
  • Normalized G (0.0–1.0)0.337
  • Normalized B (0.0–1.0)0.337
  • GLSLvec3(0.337, 0.337, 0.337)
  • GLSL with alphavec4(0.337, 0.337, 0.337, 1.000)
  • HLSL / Metalfloat3(0.337, 0.337, 0.337)
  • Percentage of Red in RGB33.7%
  • Percentage of Green in RGB33.7%
  • Percentage of Blue in RGB33.7%
  • Color FamilyGreyscale
  • Saturation FamilyDesaturated
  • Lightness FamilyNeutral
  • HEX ID565656
  • DECIMAL ID5658198
  • Name LengthThis color has no name
  • This page visited7 times
  • Counting from2025-01-01