X11 color names

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In computing, on the X Window System, X11 color names are represented in a simple text file, which maps certain strings to RGB color values. It is shipped with every "X" installation, hence the name, and is usually located in <X11root>/lib/X11/rgb.txt[1].

It is not known who originally compiled the list. The list shows neither a continuity in selected color values nor in color names, and many color triplets have multiple names. Despite this, graphic designers and others got used to them, making it practically impossible to introduce a more stringent and logical alias list.

The first versions of Mosaic and Netscape Navigator used the X11 colors as the basis for the Web colors list, as both were originally X applications.

Contents

[edit] Charts

These charts are not a standard set of colors to be found on any X Window system. Rather it is the standardised "X11 colors" accepted by browsers following the HTML and CSS standards. This set is cut down and rationalised, and has a few differences from a typical rgb.txt file (especially, Green is different[2]). RGB values shown are normalised to the range 0 to 255.

Almost the exact same color names are used in .NET Framework, in the KnownColor and Color enumerations. The only color difference is DarkSeaGreen which is defined as 8F,BC,8B (instead of 8F,BC,8F).

[edit] Color names that clash between X11 and HTML/CSS

Perhaps most unusual of the color clashes is the case of "gray." In HTML, "gray" is specifically reserved for 128,128,128. However, in X11, "gray" was assigned to 190,190,190 (close to HTML's "silver"), and had "lightgray" (211,211,211) and "darkgray" (169,169,169) counterparts. This resulted in HTML's "gray," at 128, actually being significantly darker than "darkgray," at 169.

Color name Original X11 color name HTML and CSS color name
Sample Components (red, green, blue) Sample Components (red, green, blue)
hex. dec. hex. dec.
Gray   BE BE BE 190 190 190   80 80 80 128 128 128
Green   00 FF 00 0 255 0   00 80 00 0 128 0
Maroon   B0 30 60 176 48 96   80 00 00 128 0 0
Purple   A0 20 F0 160 32 240   80 00 80 128 0 128

[edit] Color names identical between X11 and HTML/CSS

Accuracy dispute
 This article appears to contradict the article Khaki_(color). Please see discussion on the linked talk page. Please do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved. (March 2008)
Color name Sample Components (red, green, blue)
hexadecimal decimal
Alice Blue   F0 F8 FF 240 248 255
Antique White   FA EB D7 250 235 215
Aqua   00 FF FF 0 255 255
Aquamarine   7F FF D4 127 255 212
Azure   F0 FF FF 240 255 255
Beige   F5 F5 DC 245 245 220
Bisque   FF E4 C4 255 228 196
Black   00 00 00 0 0 0
Blanched Almond   FF EB CD 255 235 205
Blue   00 00 FF 0 0 255
Blue Violet   8A 2B E2 138 43 226
Brown   A5 2A 2A 165 42 42
BurlyWood   DE B8 87 222 184 135
Cadet Blue   5F 9E A0 95 158 160
Chartreuse   7F FF 00 127 255 0
Chocolate   D2 69 1E 210 105 30
Coral   FF 7F 50 255 127 80
Cornflower   64 95 ED 100 149 237
Cornsilk   FF F8 DC 255 248 220
Crimson   DC 14 3C 220 20 60
Cyan   00 FF FF 0 255 255
Dark Blue   00 00 8B 0 0 139
Dark Cyan   00 8B 8B 0 139 139
Dark Goldenrod   B8 86 0B 184 134 11
Dark Gray   A9 A9 A9 169 169 169
Dark Green   00 64 00 0 100 0
Dark Khaki   BD B7 6B 189 183 107
Dark Magenta   8B 00 8B 139 0 139
Dark Olive Green   55 6B 2F 85 107 47
Dark Orange   FF 8C 00 255 140 0
Dark Orchid   99 32 CC 153 50 204
Dark Red   8B 00 00 139 0 0
Dark Salmon   E9 96 7A 233 150 122
Dark Sea Green   8F BC 8F 143 188 143
Dark Slate Blue   48 3D 8B 72 61 139
Dark Slate Gray   2F 4F 4F 47 79 79
Dark Turquoise   00 CE D1 0 206 209
Dark Violet   94 00 D3 148 0 211
Deep Pink   FF 14 93 255 20 147
Deep Sky Blue   00 BF FF 0 191 255
Dim Gray   69 69 69 105 105 105
Dodger Blue   1E 90 FF 30 144 255
Firebrick   B2 22 22 178 34 34
Floral White   FF FA F0 255 250 240
Forest Green   22 8B 22 34 139 34
Fuchsia   FF 00 FF 255 0 255
Gainsboro   DC DC DC 220 220 220
Ghost White   F8 F8 FF 248 248 255
Gold   FF D7 00 255 215 0
Goldenrod   DA A5 20 218 165 32
Gray clash between X11 and HTML/CSS - See previous table
Green clash between X11 and HTML/CSS - See previous table
Green Yellow   AD FF 2F 173 255 47
Honeydew   F0 FF F0 240 255 240
Hot Pink   FF 69 B4 255 105 180
Indian Red   CD 5C 5C 205 92 92
Indigo   4B 00 82 75 0 130
Ivory   FF FF F0 255 255 240
Khaki   F0 E6 8C 240 230 140
Lavender   E6 E6 FA 230 230 250
Lavender Blush   FF F0 F5 255 240 245
Lawn Green   7C FC 00 124 252 0
Lemon Chiffon   FF FA CD 255 250 205
Light Blue   AD D8 E6 173 216 230
Light Coral   F0 80 80 240 128 128
Light Cyan   E0 FF FF 224 255 255
Light Goldenrod   FA FA D2 250 250 210
Light Green   90 EE 90 144 238 144
Light Grey   D3 D3 D3 211 211 211
Light Pink   FF B6 C1 255 182 193
Light Salmon   FF A0 7A 255 160 122
Light Sea Green   20 B2 AA 32 178 170
Light Sky Blue   87 CE FA 135 206 250
Light Slate Gray   77 88 99 119 136 153
Light Steel Blue   B0 C4 DE 176 196 222
Light Yellow   FF FF E0 255 255 224
Lime   00 FF 00 0 255 0
Lime Green   32 CD 32 50 205 50
Linen   FA F0 E6 250 240 230
Magenta   FF 00 FF 255 0 255
Maroon clash between X11 and HTML/CSS - See previous table
Medium Aquamarine   66 CD AA 102 205 170
Medium Blue   00 00 CD 0 0 205
Medium Orchid   BA 55 D3 186 85 211
Medium Purple   93 70 DB 147 112 219
Medium Sea Green   3C B3 71 60 179 113
Medium Slate Blue   7B 68 EE 123 104 238
Medium Spring Green   00 FA 9A 0 250 154
Medium Turquoise   48 D1 CC 72 209 204
Medium Violet Red   C7 15 85 199 21 133
Midnight Blue   19 19 70 25 25 112
Mint Cream   F5 FF FA 245 255 250
Misty Rose   FF E4 E1 255 228 225
Moccasin   FF E4 B5 255 228 181
Navajo White   FF DE AD 255 222 173
Navy   00 00 80 0 0 128
Old Lace   FD F5 E6 253 245 230
Olive   80 80 00 128 128 0
Olive Drab   6B 8E 23 107 142 35
Orange   FF A5 00 255 165 0
Orange Red   FF 45 00 255 69 0
Orchid   DA 70 D6 218 112 214
Pale Goldenrod   EE E8 AA 238 232 170
Pale Green   98 FB 98 152 251 152
Pale Turquoise   AF EE EE 175 238 238
Pale Violet Red   DB 70 93 219 112 147
Papaya Whip   FF EF D5 255 239 213
Peach Puff   FF DA B9 255 218 185
Peru   CD 85 3F 205 133 63
Pink   FF C0 CB 255 192 203
Plum   DD A0 DD 221 160 221
Powder Blue   B0 E0 E6 176 224 230
Purple clash between X11 and HTML/CSS - See previous table
Red   FF 00 00 255 0 0
Rosy Brown   BC 8F 8F 188 143 143
Royal Blue   41 69 E1 65 105 225
Saddle Brown   8B 45 13 139 69 19
Salmon   FA 80 72 250 128 114
Sandy Brown   F4 A4 60 244 164 96
Sea Green   2E 8B 57 46 139 87
Seashell   FF F5 EE 255 245 238
Sienna   A0 52 2D 160 82 45
Silver   C0 C0 C0 192 192 192
Sky Blue   87 CE EB 135 206 235
Slate Blue   6A 5A CD 106 90 205
Slate Gray   70 80 90 112 128 144
Snow   FF FA FA 255 250 250
Spring Green   00 FF 7F 0 255 127
Steel Blue   46 82 B4 70 130 180
Tan   D2 B4 8C 210 180 140
Teal   00 80 80 0 128 128
Thistle   D8 BF D8 216 191 216
Tomato   FF 63 47 255 99 71
Turquoise   40 E0 D0 64 224 208
Violet   EE 82 EE 238 130 238
Wheat   F5 DE B3 245 222 179
White   FF FF FF 255 255 255
White Smoke   F5 F5 F5 245 245 245
Yellow   FF FF 00 255 255 0
Yellow Green   9A CD 32 154 205 50

[edit] Shades of gray

The list shown above covers only the colors supported by popular browsers as defined for JavaScript 1.1 [3] and before. Some browsers like Netscape navigator insisted on an a in any gray except for lightgrey.

The complete rgb.txt defines 101 shades from gray0 (black) up to gray100 (white) in addition to gray and its variants listed above.

The shades are apparently defined by the formula grayN := round(N*255/100) resulting in e.g. gray96 #F5F5F5 (245), which happens to be the same as WhiteSmoke. Similarly dimgray is the same as gray41 #696969 (105).

On the other hand gray #BEBEBE (190) lies between gray74 #BDBDBD (189) and gray75 #BFBFBF (191), darkgray #A9A9A9 (169) isn't the same as gray66 #A8A8A8 (168), and lightgrey #D3D3D3 (211) isn't the same as gray83 #D4D4D4 (212).

[edit] Color variations

For 78 colors as listed above, rgb.txt offers four variants "color1", "color2", "color3", and "color4", with "color1" corresponding to "color", so e.g. "snow1" is the same as "snow". These variations are neither supported by popular browsers nor adopted by W3C standards.

The formulae used to determine the RGB values for these variations appear to be somewhere near
color2 := color*93.2/100 (93%),
color3 := color*80.4/100 (80%),
color4 := color*54.8/100 (54%).
Examples
  • 205.2=255*80.4/100 and 192.96=240*80.4/100 explain ivory3 #CDCDC1 (205 205 196) based on ivory #FFFFF0 (255 255 240),
  • 139.74=255*54.8/100 and 131.52=240*54.8/100 are close to azure4 #838B8B (131 139 139) based on azure #F0FFFF (240 255 255),
  • 237.66=255*93.2/100 yields yellow2 #EEEE00 (238 238 0) based on yellow #FFFF00 (255 255 0).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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