Showa era
Ivory Buff & Mineral Gray
Plate 11 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Ivory Buff, Mineral Gray.
#a2b0ad
neutral · 2 palettes
Mineral Gray
About Mineral Gray
Mineral Gray is a mid-tone, near-neutral neutral tone. Its hex value is #a2b0ad — that is
RGB 162, 176, 173, or HSL 167°, 8%, 66%.
It holds 9.3:1 contrast against dark, so Mineral Gray works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 2.2:1; on black 9.3:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Mineral Gray appears in 2 combinations — most often paired with Ivory Buff and Pompeian Red.
Colours that go with Mineral Gray
As a mid-tone near-neutral, Mineral Gray sits comfortably beside almost any accent — the schemes below show the subtle, reliable pairings from a standard colour wheel.
Complementary
#a2b0ad #B0A2A5
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#a2b0ad #A2B0A6 #A2ACB0
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#a2b0ad #ADA2B0 #B0ADA2
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#a2b0ad #B0A2AC #B0A6A2
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Mineral Gray
Mineral Gray is a mid-tone, near-neutral tone (HSL 167°, 8%, 66%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (9.3:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#B0A2A5) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#A2B0A6 and #A2ACB0) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Mineral Gray
Mineral Gray appears in 2 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- 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
See what's inside
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.