CSS Legal Color Values
CSS Colors
Colors in CSS can be specified by the following methods:
- Hexadecimal colors
- RGB colors
- RGBA colors
- HSL colors
- HSLA colors
- Predefined/Cross-browser color names
Hexadecimal Colors
A hexadecimal color is specified with: #RRGGBB, where the RR (red), GG (green) and BB (blue) hexadecimal integers specify the components of the color. All values must be between 00 and FF.
For example, the #0000ff value is rendered as blue, because the blue component is set to its highest value (ff) and the others are set to 00.
Example
Define different HEX colors:
#p1 {background-color: #ff0000;} /* red */
#p2 {background-color: #00ff00;} /* green */
#p3 {background-color: #0000ff;} /* blue */
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RGB Colors
An RGB color value is specified with the rgb() function, which has the following syntax:
rgb(red, green, blue)
Each parameter (red, green, and blue) defines the intensity of the color and can be an integer between 0 and 255 or a percentage value (from 0% to 100%).
For example, the rgb(0,0,255) value is rendered as blue, because the blue parameter is set to its highest value (255) and the others are set to 0.
Also, the following values define equal color: rgb(0,0,255) and rgb(0%,0%,100%).
Example
Define different RGB colors:
#p1 {background-color: rgb(255, 0, 0);} /* red */
#p2 {background-color: rgb(0, 255, 0);} /* green */
#p3 {background-color: rgb(0, 0, 255);} /* blue */
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RGBA Colors
RGBA color values are an extension of RGB color values with an alpha channel - which specifies the opacity of the object.
An RGBA color is specified with the rgba() function, which has the following syntax:
rgba(red, green, blue, alpha)
The alpha parameter is a number between 0.0 (fully transparent) and 1.0 (fully opaque).
Example
Define different RGB colors with opacity:
#p1 {background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.3);} /* red with opacity */
#p2 {background-color: rgba(0, 255, 0, 0.3);} /* green with opacity */
#p3 {background-color: rgba(0, 0, 255, 0.3);} /* blue with opacity */
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HSL Colors
HSL stands for hue, saturation, and lightness - and represents a cylindrical-coordinate representation of colors.
An HSL color value is specified with the hsl() function, which has the following syntax:
hsl(hue, saturation, lightness)
Hue is a degree on the color wheel (from 0 to 360) - 0 (or 360) is red, 120 is green, 240 is blue. Saturation is a percentage value; 0% means a shade of gray and 100% is the full color. Lightness is also a percentage; 0% is black, 100% is white.
Example
Define different HSL colors:
#p1 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 50%);} /* green */
#p2 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 75%);} /* light green */
#p3 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 25%);} /* dark green */
#p4 {background-color: hsl(120, 60%, 70%);} /* pastel green */
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HSLA Colors
HSLA color values are an extension of HSL color values with an alpha channel - which specifies the opacity of the object.
An HSLA color value is specified with the hsla() function, which has the following syntax:
hsla(hue, saturation, lightness, alpha)
The alpha parameter is a number between 0.0 (fully transparent) and 1.0 (fully opaque).
Example
Define different HSL colors with opacity:
#p1 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 50%, 0.3);} /* green with opacity */
#p2 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 75%, 0.3);} /* light green with opacity */
#p3 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 25%, 0.3);} /* dark green with opacity */
#p4 {background-color: hsla(120, 60%, 70%, 0.3);} /* pastel green with opacity */
Try it Yourself »
Predefined/Cross-browser Color Names
140 color names are predefined in the HTML and CSS color specification.
Look at the table of predefined color names.
