JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

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G. JavaScript and HTML Color Names and Values

HTML and JavaScript allow colors to be specified for such things as text color, link color, document background, and even the background of table cells. Colors can be specified in a fully general #RRGGBB format, in which RR, GG, and BB are each two hexadecimal digits which represent the intensity of red, green, and blue primaries in the color. Two hexadecimal digits provide 8 color values, or 256 possible levels for each of the red, green, and blue primaries. Using the color specification scheme, you would use "#000000" for black and "#FFFFFF" for white. "#00FF00" would produce a very intense green, and "#A0A0A0" would produce a gray color.

Because it can be difficult to determine the hexadecimal values for the colors you desire, HTML and JavaScript also allow certain colors to be specified by name. The HTML 3.2 standard defines sixteen standard color names that should be supported by all conforming browsers. These colors are listed in Table G.1. This list of sixteen colors was chosen to match the 16 colors supported on old VGA display hardware. Note that the HTML 3.2 standard does not specify the actual color values for each of these named colors, so they may be displayed somewhat differently by different browsers.

Table G.1: Standard Color Names in HTML 3.2
aqua gray navy silver
black green olive teal
blue lime purple white
fuchsia maroon red yellow

Navigator 2.0 and 3.0 and Internet Explorer 3.0 each support all of the standard colors listed in Table G.1. In addition to these standard colors, Navigator also recognizes quite a few other color names, which are listed in Table G.2. Because these color names are not standardized in any way,[1] it is not really a good idea to rely on them in production web pages that may be viewed on web browsers that do not support these color names. For that reason, Table G.2 also lists the hexadecimal color string equivalents for each of these colors. If you use the color name while developing a JavaScript program, you can replace it with the corresponding color value for the release version of that program.

[1] Programmers familiar with the X Window System may recognize the color names in this table, at least the bizarre ones such as "papayawhip"; the color names and values are derived from the "color database" shipped with the X11 distribution.

Table G.2: Colors
Color Name Color Value   Color Name Color Value
aliceblue #F0F8FF   lightsalmon #FFA07A
antiquewhite #FAEBD7   lightseagreen #20B2AA
aqua #00FFFF   lightskyblue #87CEFA
aquamarine #7FFFD4   lightslategray #778899
azure #F0FFFF   lightsteelblue #B0C4DE
beige #F5F5DC   lightyellow #FFFFE0
bisque #FFE4C4   lime #00FF00
black #000000   limegreen #32CD32
blanchedalmond #FFEBCD   linen #FAF0E6
blue #0000FF   magenta #FF00FF
blueviolet #8A2BE2   maroon #800000
brown #A52A2A   mediumaquamarine #66CDAA
burlywood #DEB887   mediumblue #0000CD
cadetblue #5F9EA0   mediumorchid #BA55D3
chartreuse #7FFF00   mediumpurple #9370DB
chocolate #D2691E   mediumseagreen #3CB371
coral #FF7F50   mediumslateblue #7B68EE
cornflowerblue #6495ED   mediumspringgreen #00FA9A
cornsilk #FFF8DC   mediumturquoise #48D1CC
crimson #DC143C   mediumvioletred #C71585
cyan #00FFFF   midnightblue #191970
darkblue #00008B   mintcream #F5FFFA
darkcyan #008B8B   mistyrose #FFE4E1
darkgoldenrod #B8860B   moccasin #FFE4B5
darkgray #A9A9A9   navajowhite #FFDEAD
darkgreen #006400   navy #000080
darkkhaki #BDB76B   oldlace #FDF5E6
darkmagenta #8B008B   olive #808000
darkolivegreen #556B2F   olivedrab #6B8E23
darkorange #FF8C00   orange #FFA500
darkorchid #9932CC   orangered #FF4500
darkred #8B0000   orchid #DA70D6
darksalmon #E9967A   palegoldenrod #EEE8AA
darkseagreen #8FBC8F   palegreen #98FB98
darkslateblue #483D8B   paleturquoise #AFEEEE
darkslategray #2F4F4F   palevioletred #DB7093
darkturquoise #00CED1   papayawhip #FFEFD5
darkviolet #9400D3   peachpuff #FFDAB9
deeppink #FF1493   peru #CD853F
deepskyblue #00BFFF   pink #FFC0CB
dimgray #696969   plum #DDA0DD
dodgerblue #1E90FF   powderblue #B0E0E6
firebrick #B22222   purple #800080
floralwhite #FFFAF0   red #FF0000
forestgreen #228B22   rosybrown #BC8F8F
fuchsia #FF00FF   royalblue #4169E1
gainsboro #DCDCDC   saddlebrown #8B4513
ghostwhite #F8F8FF   salmon #FA8072
gold #FFD700   sandybrown #F4A460
goldenrod #DAA520   seagreen #2E8B57
gray #808080   seashell #FFF5EE
green #008000   sienna #A0522D
greenyellow #ADFF2F   silver #C0C0C0
honeydew #F0FFF0   skyblue #87CEEB
hotpink #FF69B4   slateblue #6A5ACD
indianred #CD5C5C   slategray #708090
indigo #4B0082   snow #FFFAFA
ivory #FFFFF0   springgreen #00FF7F
khaki #F0E68C   steelblue #4682B4
lavender #E6E6FA   tan #D2B48C
lavenderblush #FFF0F5   teal #008080
lawngreen #7CFC00   thistle #D8BFD8
lemonchiffon #FFFACD   tomato #FF6347
lightblue #ADD8E6   turquoise #40E0D0
lightcoral #F08080   violet #EE82EE
lightcyan #E0FFFF   wheat #F5DEB3
lightgoldenrodyellow #FAFAD2   white #FFFFFF
lightgreen #90EE90   whitesmoke #F5F5F5
lightgrey #D3D3D3   yellow #FFFF00
lightpink #FFB6C1   yellowgreen #9ACD32


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