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Redeem nowInspiration in the color black.
Learn the history and meaning of the color black, from darkness to magic to class.
Get inspired with black design templates.
The color black inspires diverse meanings. Black can mean mourning, darkness, elegance, power, and strength.
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How to use the color black.
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Black gives you striking elegance.
Use black in any project where elegance is your key message. A black-tie event or a Hepburn-esque figure in a black dress both connect with our centuries-old association of black color with power and sophistication.
Play with power.
Used in excess, black can also dwarf other colors and give a sense of overpowering pressure. Any work with lots of black color can be intimidating. If it’s what you’re after, lots of black color in a project can feel claustrophobic next to other elements trying to reach out through the darkness.
Black color can be used in symbolic contrast, too.
Paired with white, black can symbolize intuition. The Chinese yin yang is the most poetic representation of this. In your projects, think about the effect of black next to the other colors you use. Black might be the impermeable hue that brings other colors to life. Yellow pops out especially well next to black.
Black is easy to read.
Black is the most common color used for ink printed in books. It provides the highest contrast against white pages, making it the most legible. Any projects where text is used might have black for this reason. Even if it’s only black text you make with this color, you can think of the color black as part of your project’s palette.
Information about black color.
The black HEX code picker is #000000. This is the potent pitch black where no light is visible. Because it’s scientifically made with the absence of light, black often represents night and darkness.
Black can be achieved in a RGB space with 0 red, 0 green, and 0 blue. Black can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 0% cyan, 0% magenta, 0% yellow, and 100% black.
The history of black color.
Black meant death and life in ancient civilizations.
The color black was used in ancient Greece to represent the underworld. The Roman Empire also saw black as darkness and used it to symbolize mourning. In Ancient Egypt, black was linked to fertility and renewal because of the rich black soil that would flood up from the Nile.
Black color became a symbol of status.
By the 14th century, black color enjoyed a shift in status. Dyes became available that could hue garments with a rich, deep black. Magistrates and governments adopted this black in their elegant robes. Black color represented the seriousness of their positions. Because these officials were also powerful, black also became linked to power and influence.
Poets, businessmen, and the little black dress chipped away at the darkness.
In the 1800s, romantic poets and businessmen adopted the color black. It came to represent the combination of sophistication and power they wielded. By the early 20th century, French designer Coco Chanel was credited with the first little black dress published in Vogue Magazine, forever changing the fashion world to associate black garments with elegance and style.
The color black across different cultures.
The Ancient Egyptians appreciated the color black early on.
The Ancient Egyptians associated black with images of the underworld, but also with fertility. The rich black soil of the Nile would flood the river’s shores each spring. This soil acted as a bed for abundant crops. The soil claimed the bodies of the departed, too, but then it gave back again. Black represented life because it represented death — it was a cycle of renewal.
Black color can be nothing, and it can be everything.
The color black is the absence of visible light. It can also represent the enthralling mix of everything all at once. Black is evocative. It inspires extremes. It can be a mourner’s shroud and it can be the tie in a black-tie event. Across art, fashion, government, social movements, and even outer space, black is present everywhere. Black always makes a statement if you know what it is you want to say.
Black is universal, but its meanings are not.
Black is the chosen color for printed text around the world. It’s present everywhere, but its meanings change across cultures. In China, black is associated with water, winter, cold, and the direction north. In Japan, black color is associated with mystery, the invisible, and the unknown. In Indonesia, black can mean depth, disaster, or the left hand.