Color Directory

Olive

A muted yellow-green that reads as earthy rather than fresh.

#808000
HEX
#808000
RGB
rgb(128, 128, 0)
HSL
hsl(60, 100%, 25%)

Check Olive

Contrast ratios against white and black text.

Olive in use
Olive in use
White text on this colour4.2:1AA Large
Black text on this colour5.01:1AA

WCAG asks for 4.5:1 on body text and 3:1 on text 24px or larger. Ratios are calculated from #808000 in the sRGB colour space.

About this entry

What it is

A muted yellow-green that reads as earthy rather than fresh.

Military and utility styling, natural palettes and matte finishes.

Copy & use

How to copy and use olive

  1. 01

    Copy the complete value

    Use the copy button above so the value is captured without its label, description or surrounding page text.

  2. 02

    Paste it where you need it

    Military and utility styling, natural palettes and matte finishes.

  3. 03

    Check the final result

    Modern browsers support hex, RGB and HSL. Screens, colour profiles and neighbouring colours can still make the same value appear different, so evaluate it in the intended interface.

Tints & shades

A scale built from olive

Each step is mixed toward white or black from #808000 in sRGB, which is what the browser does too. Useful when one colour has to cover hover states, borders and backgrounds as well as the accent itself.

  • Lighter 60%

    #CCCC99

    rgb(204, 204, 153)

  • Lighter 30%

    #A6A64D

    rgb(166, 166, 77)

  • Base

    Base

    #808000

    rgb(128, 128, 0)

  • Darker 30%

    #5A5A00

    rgb(90, 90, 0)

  • Darker 60%

    #333300

    rgb(51, 51, 0)

Name & pairing

Where olive comes from

Named for the unripe fruit. This is the CSS keyword value, a pure yellow at half brightness, which makes it darker and more utilitarian than most colours sold as olive.

What to put beside it

Natural with terracotta and sand, and durable in interfaces because it reads as a colour without ever being bright. Works as a muted success state where green would be too cheerful.

Common questions

Using olive

What is olive?

A muted yellow-green that reads as earthy rather than fresh. Military and utility styling, natural palettes and matte finishes.

What are the colour values for Olive?

Olive is HEX #808000, RGB rgb(128, 128, 0), HSL hsl(60, 100%, 25%). All three notations describe the same sRGB colour, so pick whichever your tool expects: hex for CSS and design files, RGB when you need the channels separately, HSL when you want to shift lightness or saturation without changing the hue.

Will olive work everywhere?

Modern browsers support hex, RGB and HSL. Screens, colour profiles and neighbouring colours can still make the same value appear different, so evaluate it in the intended interface.

Can I customise olive after copying?

Use the supplied value as a starting point, then check contrast and nearby colours in the final design. Converting between hex, RGB and HSL does not change the intended sRGB colour.

Also known as

olive hex codeolive green rgbolive color code

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