Heian era
Ao & White— 青と白
The classical Japanese 'ao' — an ambiguous blue-green — against pure white.
#FFFFFF
neutral · 1 palette
Shiro
白
White
About Shiro
Shiro (白) is a light, near-neutral neutral tone. Its hex value is #FFFFFF — that is
RGB 255, 255, 255, or HSL 0°, 0%, 100%.
White.
It holds 21.0:1 contrast against dark, so Shiro works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 1.0:1; on black 21.0:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Shiro appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Ao and Sumi.
Colours that go with Shiro
As a light near-neutral, Shiro sits comfortably beside almost any accent — the schemes below show the subtle, reliable pairings from a standard colour wheel.
Complementary
#FFFFFF #FFFFFF
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#FFFFFF #FFFFFF #FFFFFF
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#FFFFFF #FFFFFF #FFFFFF
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#FFFFFF #FFFFFF #FFFFFF
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Shiro
Shiro is a light, near-neutral tone (HSL 0°, 0%, 100%), which makes it a soft background or a light accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (21.0:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use dark lettering. Pair it with its complement (#FFFFFF) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#FFFFFF and #FFFFFF) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Shiro
Shiro appears in 1 combination from the archive. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
From the archive
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