What is the hex code for Gin?

Gin (銀) is #BCBCBE. Silver grey It appears in 3 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".

What does Gin look like on white and black backgrounds?

Gin (#BCBCBE) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 1.90:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 11.08:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

Where does the color Gin come from?

Gin is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued neutral pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.

Can I use Gin in my own design or brand?

Yes. The color name and hex value (#BCBCBE) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.

#BCBCBE

neutral · 3 palettes

Gin

銀

Silver grey

About Gin

Gin (銀) is a light, near-neutral neutral tone. Its hex value is #BCBCBE — that is RGB 188, 188, 190, or HSL 240°, 2%, 74%. Silver grey.

It holds 11.1:1 contrast against dark, so Gin works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 1.9:1; on black 11.1:1.)

Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Gin appears in 3 combinations — most often paired with Murasaki, Sumi and Gofun.

Palettes with Gin

Gin appears in 3 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.

Heian era

Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀

Imperial purple set against lunar silver — Heian courtly luxury at its quietest.

Muromachi era

Bellflower & Ink— 桔梗と墨

The deep violet of the bellflower set against ink — formal, discreet.

Edo era

Indigo Blue & Silver— 縹と銀

Mid-grade indigo with the quiet sheen of silver — an understated Edo merchant robe.

Embed this color

Drop a Gin swatch card into any blog post, design review, or color-study reference page. Links back to this color's detail.

<iframe src="https://colorcombinations.org/embed/colors/gin/" width="360" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border-radius:8px;overflow:hidden;" title="Gin (銀) — colorcombinations.org"></iframe>

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From the archive

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All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues

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Gin

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