Color collection

Munsell Color System

98 representative color chips from Albert H. Munsell's perceptual color system — organized by hue family, value (lightness), and chroma (saturation). The academic standard for color in art, science, and industry since 1905.

About the Munsell Color System

Albert H. Munsell developed his color order system in the early 1900s, publishing A Color Notation in 1905. Unlike earlier systems, Munsell organized color around three perceptually uniform dimensions: Hue (the color family), Value (lightness on a 0–10 scale), and Chroma (colorfulness or saturation, starting at 0 with no upper limit).

The notation 5R 5/14 means: hue 5R (mid-Red), value 5 (medium lightness), chroma 14 (strongly saturated). This three-part notation is used in soil science, dental shade guides, architectural specifications, and fine art education worldwide.

The hex values shown here are sRGB approximations derived from the Munsell renotation dataset (OSA, 1943 — public domain). Exact colorimetric measurement requires a spectrophotometer. Colors at high chroma may fall outside the sRGB gamut and are clipped to the nearest reproducible value.

Reading Munsell notation

FORMAT
<Hue> <Value>/<Chroma>
Hue
5R, 10YR, 5G…
10 principal families,
each split at 5 and 10
Value
0 (black) – 10 (white)
Perceptual lightness,
not luminance
Chroma
0 (neutral) – 20+
Vividness; red can reach
chroma 14+ in sRGB

Neutral (N)

9 chips

Achromatic grays, value 1–9

#1A1919
N 1/
#333131
N 2/
#4C4A4A
N 3/
#666363
N 4/
#7F7D7D
N 5/
#999797
N 6/
#B2B1B1
N 7/
#CCCBCB
N 8/
#E5E5E5
N 9/

Red (R)

13 chips

5R and 10R

#7D2B2B
5R 3/6
#A82830
5R 4/8
#C42030
5R 4/12
#D03248
5R 5/10
#E81B35
5R 5/14
#E06070
5R 6/10
#F09085
5R 7/8
#F5B5A8
5R 8/4
#6A3020
10R 3/4
#A84428
10R 4/8
#C85C30
10R 5/10
#E07840
10R 6/10
#EE9860
10R 7/8

Yellow-Red (YR)

12 chips

5YR and 10YR — oranges and tans

#6A4018
5YR 3/4
#9A5C20
5YR 4/6
#CB7520
5YR 5/10
#D98E38
5YR 6/10
#E8A850
5YR 7/8
#F0C890
5YR 8/4
#4E3C20
10YR 3/2
#7A5C28
10YR 4/4
#A88030
10YR 5/8
#C09830
10YR 6/8
#D0B040
10YR 7/8
#E0C850
10YR 8/6

Yellow (Y)

7 chips

5Y and 10Y

#B0A018
5Y 6/6
#C8BC10
5Y 7/10
#D8CC18
5Y 8/10
#D8D000
5Y 8/12
#E8E060
5Y 9/4
#A0BC20
10Y 7/8
#B8D030
10Y 8/6

Green-Yellow (GY)

6 chips

5GY and 10GY

#609820
5GY 5/8
#78B020
5GY 6/10
#90C830
5GY 7/10
#389838
10GY 5/8
#50B048
10GY 6/8
#68C060
10GY 7/6

Green (G)

9 chips

5G and 10G

#1E6E3C
5G 3/6
#288A48
5G 4/8
#1A8040
5G 4/10
#38A458
5G 5/8
#50B868
5G 6/8
#68C878
5G 7/6
#208068
10G 4/6
#309878
10G 5/8
#48B088
10G 6/8

Blue-Green (BG)

7 chips

5BG and 10BG — teals

#208880
5BG 4/6
#309890
5BG 5/8
#40B0A0
5BG 6/8
#58C8B8
5BG 7/6
#189090
10BG 4/6
#2098A0
10BG 5/8
#30B0B8
10BG 6/8

Blue (B)

9 chips

5B and 10B

#186080
5B 3/6
#1878A0
5B 4/8
#2088B8
5B 5/10
#38A0C8
5B 6/8
#58B8D8
5B 7/6
#2850A0
10B 4/8
#3060B8
10B 5/10
#4878C8
10B 6/8
#6090D0
10B 7/6

Purple-Blue (PB)

9 chips

5PB and 10PB

#203890
5PB 3/10
#2840A0
5PB 4/12
#4058B0
5PB 5/10
#5870C0
5PB 6/10
#7090D0
5PB 7/8
#383880
10PB 3/8
#504890
10PB 4/10
#6860A0
10PB 5/10
#7878B0
10PB 6/8

Purple (P)

9 chips

5P and 10P

#583068
5P 3/6
#703878
5P 4/8
#8858A0
5P 5/10
#9870B0
5P 6/8
#A888C0
5P 7/6
#602858
10P 3/6
#803060
10P 4/8
#9C4878
10P 5/8
#AC6888
10P 6/6

Red-Purple (RP)

8 chips

5RP and 10RP

#722048
5RP 3/8
#9A2858
5RP 4/10
#C03070
5RP 5/12
#CC5888
5RP 6/10
#702030
10RP 3/6
#9A2840
10RP 4/8
#C03858
10RP 5/10
#CC5868
10RP 6/8
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