Web Safe Colors: Complete Guide to 216 Web Colors
What Are Web Safe Colors?
Web safe colors are a palette of 216 specific colors that were guaranteed to display consistently across all computer platforms and browsers in the 1990s. The palette was created because early computer displays could only show 256 colors (8-bit color), and different operating systems (Mac and Windows) reserved 40 different system colors. The remaining 216 colors that both systems could reproduce identically became the "web safe" palette. Each web safe color has RGB values that are multiples of 51 (in decimal) or 33 (in hex): 0, 51, 102, 153, 204, and 255.
Are Web Safe Colors Still Relevant?
The short answer: not technically, but they're still useful. Modern displays support 24-bit color (16.7 million colors) or more, so dithering and color shifting are essentially non-issues. However, web safe colors remain relevant for several practical reasons: they provide a curated, well-tested palette for quick design decisions, they're guaranteed to look good on any device including e-ink readers and low-end displays, and they're an excellent starting point for beginners learning color theory.
How Web Safe Colors Work
Web safe colors use only six values per RGB channel: 0, 51, 102, 153, 204, and 255. In hexadecimal, these are: 00, 33, 66, 99, CC, and FF. This gives us 6 × 6 × 6 = 216 unique combinations. The shorthand notation uses three characters instead of six: #036 expands to #003366. Every web safe color can be written this way.
Web Safe Color Reference Table
| RGB Values | Hex Short | Decimal |
|---|---|---|
| 0, 0, 0 | #000 | 0 |
| 51, 51, 51 | #333 | 51 |
| 102, 102, 102 | #666 | 102 |
| 153, 153, 153 | #999 | 153 |
| 204, 204, 204 | #CCC | 204 |
| 255, 255, 255 | #FFF | 255 |
Popular Web Safe Colors by Category
Web Safe Reds
| Name | Hex | RGB | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maroon | #800000 | 128, 0, 0 | |
| Red | #FF0000 | 255, 0, 0 | |
| Firebrick | #B22222 | 178, 34, 34 | |
| Crimson | #DC143C | 220, 20, 60 | |
| Tomato | #FF6347 | 255, 99, 71 | |
| Coral | #FF7F50 | 255, 127, 80 |
Web Safe Blues
| Name | Hex | RGB | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy | #000080 | 0, 0, 128 | |
| Blue | #0000FF | 0, 0, 255 | |
| Teal | #008080 | 0, 128, 128 | |
| Aqua | #00FFFF | 0, 255, 255 | |
| Royal Blue | #4169E1 | 65, 105, 225 | |
| Sky Blue | #87CEEB | 135, 206, 235 |
Web Safe Greens
| Name | Hex | RGB | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | #008000 | 0, 128, 0 | |
| Lime | #00FF00 | 0, 255, 0 | |
| Olive | #808000 | 128, 128, 0 | |
| Dark Green | #006400 | 0, 100, 0 | |
| Sea Green | #2E8B57 | 46, 139, 87 | |
| Spring Green | #00FF7F | 0, 255, 127 |
Web Safe Color Naming Conventions
Of the 216 web safe colors, 147 have recognized CSS color names (like "coral," "tomato," "steelblue"). The remaining 69 are unnamed and can only be referenced by their hex or RGB values. This naming system dates back to the X11 color specification from the 1980s and was adopted by early web standards. Today, all 147 named colors are part of the CSS Color Module specification.
When to Use Web Safe Colors Today
- Email HTML: Email clients have inconsistent color rendering — web safe colors provide the most consistent results across Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail
- Low-bandwidth environments: Some IoT devices and embedded displays may have limited color support
- Quick prototyping: The 216-color palette is small enough to browse quickly but large enough to find good options
- E-ink displays: E-readers with limited color (like color E-ink) benefit from carefully chosen colors
- Legacy system support: If your audience includes users on very old hardware, web safe colors ensure readability
Web Safe Colors vs Modern Color Standards
Modern web development has moved far beyond web safe colors. CSS now supports hsl(), hwb(), lab(), lch(), oklch(), and even color-mix() for blending. Display P3 wide gamut brings over 25% more colors than sRGB. For most projects, you should use whatever color best serves your design — the web safe constraint is no longer necessary. However, understanding the web safe palette remains valuable as a foundational concept in web design history and a practical quick-reference palette.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are exactly 216 web safe colors, formed by all combinations of RGB values where each channel is one of: 0, 51, 102, 153, 204, or 255 (6 × 6 × 6 = 216).
No. Modern displays support millions of colors. Web safe colors are no longer a technical requirement. However, they can be a useful curated palette for quick decisions and email HTML design.
Web safe colors are the 216 colors in the safe palette. CSS named colors include 147 web safe colors plus additional named colors that aren't in the web safe palette, totaling 148 named colors in the CSS specification.
Yes. Every web safe color can be written as a 3-character hex code. For example, #036 is the same as #003366. This works because each channel uses only values from the set 00, 33, 66, 99, CC, FF.
White (#FFFFFF) and black (#000000) are by far the most used. Among colors, #336699 (a medium blue) was extremely popular in early web design, and #999999 remains a go-to gray.