)
a table of color swatches defined by hexadecimal code and
named according to the Universal Color Language (UCL) described in
).
Specifically, this page shows colors named according to the UCL Level 3, where color descriptions consist of 267 color blocks named by a method devised by the Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC) and the the United States Department of Commerce's National Bureau of Standards
(NBS) (now called the National Institute of Standards and Technology).
This method is called the ISCC-NBS Method of Designating Colors.
The ISCC-NBS Method identifies 267 blocks of colors.
Each block is given a color name devised using a set of adjectives and suffixes.
Each color block defines a range of colors--not a single color--that have the same name.
This range of color in each block is an acknowledged disadvantage, but
it is pointed out (COLOR, p. 4) that a set of 267 color names
is analogous to calendar dates for chronological events.
This method is suitable for "a variety of scientific and industrial applications"
(COLOR, p. A-13).
The UCL at levels above 3 defines finer divisions of colors with no names,
rising to approximately five million divisions in UCL Level 6.
COLOR also lists color names from various
sources for each UCL Level 3 color block (pp. 37-82)
and a Dictionary of Color Names which lists
thousands of color names and their corresponding UCL Level 3 block(s) (pp. 85-158).
The color blocks of the UCL Level 3 are defined
using the Munsell System of color which describes the hue, value, and chroma of colors.
I prepared this page using Munsell Renotation Data from the Munsell Color Science Laboratory, Rochester Institute of Technology.
This data was converted to hexadecimal using formulas given by
Easy RGB, and the colors were named
according to COLOR, pp. 16-31. Up to 6 swatches per color name were chosen
to represent the range of colors in each block. Where fewer than 6 colors are shown,
fewer than 6 samples of color were available in that block range in the data.
The block number is given for each of the 267 UCL Level 3 color names.
Color swatches are defined by using the hexadecimal code for the color.
The swatch shows the Munsell
notation for the color in the form Hue Value/Chroma above the hexadecimal code.
I was not able to find samples of color for Munsell chroma values under 2, so
these color blocks have "No samples available."
Remember: each of these 267 color names do not each identify a single color,
but a range of colors.
121
pale yelllow green |
|
122
grayish yellow green |
|
123
strong olive green |
|
124
deep olive green |
|
125
moderate olive green |
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126
dark olive green |
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127
grayish olive green |
|
128
dark grayish olive green |
|
129
vivid yellowish green |
|
130
brilliant yellowish green |
|
131
strong yellowish green |
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132
deep yellowish green |
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133
very deep yellowish green |
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134
very light yellowish green |
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135
light yellowish green |
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136
moderate yellowish green |
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137
dark yellowish green |
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138
very dark yellowish green |
|
139
vivid green |
|
140
brilliant green |
|
141
strong green |
|
142
deep green |
|
143
very light green |
|
144
light green |
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145
moderate green |
|
146
dark green |
|
147
very dark green |
|
148
very pale green |
|
149
pale green |
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150
grayish green |
|
151
dark grayish green |
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152
blackish green | No samples available.
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153
greenish white | No samples available.
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154
light greenish gray | No samples available.
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155
greenish gray | No samples available.
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156
dark greenish gray | No samples available.
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157
greenish black | No samples available.
|
158
vivid bluish green |
|
159
brilliant bluish green |
|
160
strong bluish green |
|
161
deep bluish green |
|
162
very light bluish green |
|
163
light bluish green |
|
164
moderate bluish green |
|
165
dark bluish green |
|
166
very dark bluish green |
|
167
vivid greenish blue |
|
168
brilliant greenish blue |
|
169
strong greenish blue |
|
170
deep greenish blue |
|
171
very light greenish blue |
|
172
light greenish blue |
|
173
moderate greenish blue |
|
174
dark greenish blue |
|
175
very dark greenish blue |
|
176
vivid blue |
|
177
brilliant blue |
|
178
strong blue |
|
179
deep blue |
|
180
very light blue |
|
181
light blue |
|
182
moderate blue |
|
183
dark blue |
|
184
very pale blue |
|
185
pale blue |
|
186
grayish blue |
|
187
dark grayish blue | No samples available.
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188
blackish blue | No samples available.
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189
bluish white | No samples available.
|
190
light bluish gray | No samples available.
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191
bluish gray | No samples available.
|
192
dark bluish gray | No samples available.
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193
bluish black | No samples available.
|
194
vivid purplish blue |
|
195
brilliant purplish blue |
|
196
strong purplish blue |
|
197
deep purplish blue |
|
198
very light purplish blue |
|
199
light purplish blue |
|
200
moderate purplish blue |
|
201
dark purplish blue |
|
202
very pale purplish blue |
|
203
pale purplish blue |
|
204
grayish purplish blue |
|
205
vivid violet |
|
206
brilliant violet |
|
207
strong violet |
|
208
deep violet |
|
209
very light violet |
|
210
light violet |
|
211
moderate violet |
|
212
dark violet |
|
213
very pale violet |
|
214
pale violet |
|
215
grayish violet |
|
216
vivid purple |
|
217
brilliant purple |
|
218
strong purple |
|
219
deep purple |
|
220
very deep purple |
|
221
very light purple |
|
222
light purple |
|
223
moderate purple |
|
224
dark purple |
|
225
very dark purple |
|
226
very pale purple |
|
227
pale purple |
|
228
grayish purple |
|
229
dark grayish purple |
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230
blackish purple | No samples available.
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231
purplish white | No samples available.
|
232
light purplish gray | No samples available.
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233
purplish gray | No samples available.
|
234
dark purplish gray | No samples available.
|
235
purplish black | No samples available.
|
236
vivid reddish purple |
|
237
strong reddish purple |
|
238
deep reddish purple |
|
239
very deep reddish purple |
|
240
light reddish purple |
|
241
moderate reddish purple |
|
242
dark reddish purple |
|
243
very dark reddish purple |
|
244
pale reddish purple |
|
245
grayish reddish purple | No samples available.
|
246
brilliant purplish pink |
|
247
strong purplish pink |
|
248
deep purplish pink |
|
249
light purplish pink |
|
250
moderate purplish pink |
|
251
dark purplish pink |
|
252
pale purplish pink |
|
253
grayish purplish pink |
|
254
vivid purplish red |
|
255
strong purplish red |
|
256
deep purplish red |
|
257
very deep purplish red |
|
258
moderate purplish red |
|
259
dark purplish red |
|
260
very dark purplish red |
|
261
light grayish purplish red | No samples available.
|
262
grayish purplish red |
|
263
white | No samples available.
|
264
light gray | No samples available.
|
265
medium gray | No samples available.
|
266
dark gray | No samples available.
|
267
black | No samples available.
|