HTML Colors

There are two ways to use colors in HTML (or any web language, for that matter).

HEX Codes are color codes represented in hexadecimal format.

and...

Literal Color Names such as "blue," "purple," "red," etc.

Both methods are described in greater detail below. Both work equally well, at least from an HTML perspective.

Hex Codes

A color hex code represents a universal red, green, blue value that web browsers (and many other programs) interpret into an actual area on the color chart. A hex code looks something like this:

#000000

The first two numbers represent the Red value (00 - FF, or 0 - 256 in decimal form).
The second two numbers represent the Green, the third the Blue.

Because 0 is the lowest value in hex, #000000 is pure black. The letter F is the highest value, so #FFFFFF is pure white. By that same rule, #FF0000 is pure red, #00FF00 pure green, and #0000FF pure blue.

For more information on using Hex color codes, click here.

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Literal Color Names

Just as the description implies, literal color codes are the English equivalent to many common (and some not so common) colors for use in websites.

Below is a rather concise chart (courtesy Microsoft) of color "literals."