#DFD7CB

sRGB: 223 / 215 / 203
Color name: Always Neutral

Thunderous oceans reshape eternity
Electric visions unfold through ancient forests
Boundless spirits defy the passing ages

The hex code for Always Neutral is #DFD7CB. It belongs to the orange family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 223 red, 215 green and 203 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 36.0° lands in the orange region. Its 23.8% saturation makes it close to gray at this lightness. HSL lightness is 83.5% on a scale from black (0%) to white (100%). Of black and white lettering, black has the clearer light-to-dark separation on this background (14.72:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 223, 215, 203
HSL: 36.00°, 23.81%, 83.53%
HSV / HSB: 36.00°, 8.97%, 87.45%
CMYK (approx.): 0.00%, 3.59%, 8.97%, 12.55%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 65.508, 68.601, 66.292
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 86.306, 0.689, 6.891
WCAG relative luminance: 0.68601
24-bit decimal: 14669771

CMYK uses a profile-free approximation. Printed output depends on the press, ink and paper. Lab uses a D65 white point.

Text contrast

Contrast tells you how clearly lettering separates from #DFD7CB in light and dark. The ratio compares relative luminance, a measure of light weighted for human vision. Identical colors give 1:1 and black against white gives 21:1. A ratio of 2.99:1 falls just below the 3:1 AA minimum for large text. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 because its finer strokes are harder to distinguish.

Black text: 14.72:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text: 1.43:1

Normal text: Fail
Large text: Fail

AA and AAA are WCAG accessibility levels. AAA sets a higher bar: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Large text begins at 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold. Ratings use the unrounded ratio.

Reference: WCAG text contrast guidance

Palettes & scales

Harmonies rotate the hue. Scales mix the starting color with white, black or middle gray in 20% steps in encoded sRGB.

Complementary

#CBD3DF sits half a turn (180°) from #DFD7CB on the HSL wheel. Keeping saturation and lightness steady while crossing to the opposite hue gives you a contrasting accent. Check text contrast separately before using the pair for lettering.

#DFD7CB #CBD3DF

Analogous

#DFCDCB and #DDDFCB sit 30° to either side of #DFD7CB. The three hues are neighbors on the wheel, so you can change the color of a border or highlight while keeping it close to the original.

#DFCDCB #DFD7CB #DDDFCB

Triadic

#DFD7CB, #CBDFD7 and #D7CBDF are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#DFD7CB #CBDFD7 #D7CBDF

Split complementary

Start at #DFD7CB and look across the wheel. #CBDDDF and #CDCBDF sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#DFD7CB #CBDDDF #CDCBDF

Square

Starting with #DFD7CB, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #CBDFCD, #CBD3DF, then #DFCBDD. Across the square, #DFD7CB pairs with #CBD3DF, and #CBDFCD with #DFCBDD.

#DFD7CB #CBDFCD #CBD3DF #DFCBDD

Tetradic

#DFD7CB and #CBD3DF are opposites, as are #D3DFCB and #D7CBDF. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#DFD7CB #D3DFCB #CBD3DF #D7CBDF

Tints

Mixing #DFD7CB with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #E5DFD5, keeps 80% of the original. By #F9F7F5, the mixture is 80% white.

#DFD7CB #E5DFD5 #ECE7E0 #F2EFEA #F9F7F5 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #DFD7CB with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #B2ACA2, keeps 80% of the original. By #2D2B29, the mixture is 80% black.

#DFD7CB #B2ACA2 #86817A #595651 #2D2B29 #000000

Tones

Mixing #DFD7CB with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #CCC6BC, keeps 80% of the original. By #93918F, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#DFD7CB #CCC6BC #B9B4AD #A6A39E #93918F #808080

Copy color codes

Hex, RGB and HSL are three ways to write this screen color. Paste any of them into a CSS color property.

Hex

#DFD7CB

RGB

rgb(223 215 203)

HSL

hsl(36.000 23.810% 83.529%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #DFD7CB;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#DFD7CB uses 223 red, 215 green and 203 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 87.5%

Green 84.3%

Blue 79.6%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #DFD7CB is 0.0% cyan, 3.6% magenta, 9.0% yellow and 12.5% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 0.0%

Magenta 3.6%

Yellow 9.0%

Black 12.5%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #DDDDCC. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #DDC in CSS. For a modern design, keep #DFD7CB when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCCCC, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #DDDDCC Nearest web-safe: #CCCCCC

Gradient to complement

#DFD7CB #DCD6CE #D8D6D2 #D5D5D5 #D2D4D8 #CED4DC #CBD3DF

Color vision previews

Compare how #DFD7CB appears in each simulation. When two chart lines or status indicators become hard to tell apart, a label, shape or line pattern gives readers another way to distinguish them. Individual perception varies.

Protanopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from long-wavelength cones, some reds and greens can look alike, and reds can appear darker.

#DBD7CA

Deuteranopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from medium-wavelength cones, some greens can be difficult to distinguish from reds or browns.

#DDD9CB

Tritanopia

A blue–yellow color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from short-wavelength cones, blue can resemble green, and yellow can resemble pink.

#E3D5D3

Protanomaly (50%)

An altered long-wavelength cone response can make reds appear dimmer and harder to distinguish from greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#DCD7CB

Deuteranomaly (50%)

An altered medium-wavelength cone response can reduce the visible difference between reds and greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#DDD8CB

Tritanomaly (50%)

An altered short-wavelength cone response can make blue harder to distinguish from green. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#E0D6CE

Grayscale (luminance)

This design check removes hue and preserves relative luminance so you can compare light and dark areas.

#D8D8D8

Partial grayscale (50% blend)

This design check mixes the original color halfway toward its grayscale equivalent in linear light. Use it to see how a design holds up as color fades.

#DBD7D2

Reference: National Eye Institute: Types of Color Vision Deficiency

Technical reference

CAM16 and CIECAM02 below assume D65 white, an average surround, background Y of 20 against white at 100, and adapting luminance of 4.07 cd/m².

Linear sRGB

These channels scale with emitted light. Use them for lighting calculations and physically meaningful blends.

R 0.73791 G 0.67954 B 0.59720

Display P3

P3 displays can reproduce a wider range of reds and greens. These coordinates reproduce this same sRGB swatch on a color-managed P3 display.

R 0.86905 G 0.84420 B 0.80103

Linear Display P3

These P3 channels are proportional to light, before display encoding.

R 0.72755 G 0.68148 B 0.60557

CIE xyY

The x and y coordinates locate chromaticity on a diagram. Y gives relative luminance on a scale where white is 100.

x 0.327 y 0.342 Y 68.601

CMY

Ideal cyan, magenta and yellow are the complements of the encoded red, green and blue channels.

C % 12.549 M % 15.686 Y % 20.392

Binary RGB

Each eight-bit group represents one channel. Together they store the 24-bit hex color.

11011111 11010111 11001011