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Silver color palettes: hex codes for metallic silver and chrome

Five silver palettes with hex codes, from polished silver (#F5F6F7, #D9DCDF, #8A9096) to chrome, pewter, silver and navy, and a wedding set. Each steps from glint to shadow, so you can draw metal that reads as shiny.

By Paul Gunder. Every value is computed from published standards; see how ColorPlum works.

Updated

Polished silver

  1. #F5F6F7Glint
  2. #D9DCDFSilver
  3. #B4B9BEMid
  4. #8A9096Shadow
  5. #5B6066Deep shadow
  • #F5F6F7Glint
  • #D9DCDFSilver
  • #B4B9BEMid
  • #8A9096Shadow
  • #5B6066Deep shadow

Preview

Polished silver

Body text in deep shadow on glint, with shadow as the accent.

Button

Readable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Deep shadow on Glint 5.86:1; Deep shadow on Silver 4.60:1

Chrome

  1. #FFFFFFHighlight
  2. #C9D1D9Chrome
  3. #7D8792Steel
  4. #3A4049Gunmetal
  5. #9FB3C8Sky reflection
  • #FFFFFFHighlight
  • #C9D1D9Chrome
  • #7D8792Steel
  • #3A4049Gunmetal
  • #9FB3C8Sky reflection

Preview

Chrome

Body text in gunmetal on highlight, with sky reflection as the accent.

Button

Readable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Gunmetal on Highlight 10.45:1; Gunmetal on Chrome 6.77:1; Gunmetal on Sky reflection 4.85:1

Pewter

  1. #D6D3CCLight pewter
  2. #A9A59CPewter
  3. #7C7870Shadow
  4. #55524CDark
  5. #E9E6DFSatin
  • #D6D3CCLight pewter
  • #A9A59CPewter
  • #7C7870Shadow
  • #55524CDark
  • #E9E6DFSatin

Preview

Pewter

Body text in dark on satin, with pewter as the accent.

Button

Readable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Dark on Satin 6.24:1; Dark on Light pewter 5.20:1

Silver and navy

  1. #C0C0C0Silver
  2. #1F2A44Navy
  3. #E6E8EBMist
  4. #4A5A78Slate blue
  5. #8F99A8Steel
  • #C0C0C0Silver
  • #1F2A44Navy
  • #E6E8EBMist
  • #4A5A78Slate blue
  • #8F99A8Steel

Preview

Silver and navy

Body text in navy on mist, with slate blue as the accent.

Button

Readable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Navy on Mist 11.61:1; Navy on Silver 7.83:1; Slate blue on Mist 5.65:1; Navy on Steel 4.94:1

Silver wedding

  1. #DADDE1Silver
  2. #F7F1ECIvory
  3. #C9B8C8Mauve
  4. #9AA5B1Dove
  5. #6C6F7DCharcoal
  • #DADDE1Silver
  • #F7F1ECIvory
  • #C9B8C8Mauve
  • #9AA5B1Dove
  • #6C6F7DCharcoal

Preview

Silver wedding

Body text in black on ivory, with mauve as the accent.

Button

No two colors here reach 4.5:1, so use it for decoration and set text in black or white.

Every palette here in 3D color space

Lightness runs up the pole and hue goes around it, so palettes that share a mood sit in the same region. Drag to turn it.

The 25 colors on this page in OKLab
  • Glint
  • Silver
  • Mid
  • Shadow
  • Deep shadow
  • Highlight
  • Chrome
  • Steel
  • Gunmetal
  • Sky reflection
  • Light pewter
  • Pewter
  • Shadow
  • Dark
  • Satin
  • Silver
  • Navy
  • Mist
  • Slate blue
  • Steel
  • Silver
  • Ivory
  • Mauve
  • Dove
  • Charcoal
On this page

There is no single silver color on a screen. The CSS named color silver is the flat gray #C0C0C0, and it looks like paper, not metal. What makes something look like silver is contrast: a near-white glint right beside a dark band. These palettes build that into the ramp, so the colors work as a metal and not just a gray.

The five palettes

  • Polished silver has glint (#F5F6F7), silver (#D9DCDF), mid (#B4B9BE), shadow (#8A9096) and deep shadow (#5B6066), all slightly cool.
  • Chrome adds pure white as the highlight, a darker steel (#7D8792), gunmetal (#3A4049) and a sky-reflection blue (#9FB3C8), because chrome mirrors what is around it.
  • Pewter is warmer and flatter: light pewter, pewter, shadow, dark and satin. It suits antique tableware.
  • Silver and navy includes plain silver (#C0C0C0) together with navy (#1F2A44), mist, slate blue and steel.
  • Silver wedding softens silver with ivory, mauve, dove gray and charcoal.

How highlight, mid and shadow make metal

For metal, the steps are ordered like a reflection. The first color is the specular highlight, the bright flash where a light source bounces straight into the eye. The middle colors fill the body of the object. The last color is the dark reflected edge. When you draw a spoon, a ring or a robot arm, do not blend those steps smoothly; place them in hard-edged bands, with the lightest right next to the darkest. A soft gradient reads as plastic or fog, and a sharp jump reads as metal. On a curved cylinder, put the highlight a third of the way in from one side and the darkest band near the opposite edge, then add a thin bounce of the mid tone at the very edge so the shape does not look cut out.

Chrome goes further: add the sky-reflection blue in the upper half and a warmer or darker color in the lower half, as if a horizon ran through the object.

Text on silver

Gunmetal on highlight is 10.45:1 in the chrome set, and gunmetal on chrome 6.77:1. In polished silver, deep shadow on glint is 5.86:1 and on silver 4.60:1. Silver and navy gives navy on mist at 11.61:1 and navy on silver 7.83:1. Silver wedding lists no pair that passes, so print its words in a darker neutral.

Worked example

You are making a game icon of a metal key. Use chrome: fill the key with chrome (#C9D1D9), paint a hard band of gunmetal (#3A4049) down the lower edge, drop a sharp white stripe along the top, and put a patch of sky reflection (#9FB3C8) on the bow. Done this way, the flat gray becomes a believable object, and you can export the swatches with Copy hex codes.

See gray for neutral scales, blue and silver for combined schemes, and purple and silver. The bronze page covers a warmer metal.

Sources

  1. W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2: contrast minimum (checked 2026-11-10) w3.org
  2. W3C, CSS Color Module Level 4: hex colors and color conversions (checked 2026-11-10) w3.org