View source for Grey

{{short description|Intermediate color between black and white}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2025}}
{{for|other uses of "Grey" and "Gray"|Grey (disambiguation)}}
{{for|different varieties of grey and their names|Shades of grey}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox colour
| title      = Grey
| spelling   = colour
| hex        = 808080
| source     = [[HTML color names|HTML/CSS]]<ref name="css3-color">{{cite web |title=W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#html4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130202004/https://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#html4 |archive-date=November 30, 2010}}</ref>
| image      = {{Photomontage
  |photo1a       = Grey Longhaired Female Cat.jpg
  |photo1b       = Whistlers Mother high res.jpg
  |photo1c       = 
  |photo2a       = 
  |photo2b       = Eruption column from Crater Peak vent.jpg
  |photo2c       = 
  |photo3a       = Chogye Buddhist monks.jpg
  |photo3b       = 0466 - Nebbia a Venezia - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 10-Dec-2007.jpg
  |photo3c       = 
  |size          = 240
  |colour_border = #AAAAAb
  |colour        = #F9F9F9
  |foot_montage  = 
  }}
| caption    = Clockwise, from top left: a longhaired [[cat]]; ''[[Whistler's Mother]]'' by [[James McNeill Whistler]]; [[volcanic eruption]]; [[fog]]; [[Buddhist monk]]s
| cmyk       = (0, 0, 0, 50)
}}
<!--do NOT change this to say that grey is "not a colour", read the entire article. achromatic colours are still colours-->

'''Grey''' or '''gray''' is an [[intermediate colour]] between [[black]] and [[white]]. It is a neutral or achromatic colour, meaning that it has no [[Colorfulness#Chroma|chroma]].<ref>''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'', Third College Edition.</ref> It is the colour of a cloud-covered sky, of [[wood ash|ash]], and of [[lead]].<ref>''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'', 5th edition, 2002.</ref>

The first recorded use of ''grey'' as a colour name in the English language was in 700&nbsp;[[Common Era|CE]].<ref name="Paul Page 196">Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 196</ref> ''Grey'' is the dominant spelling in [[English language in Europe|European]] and Commonwealth English, while ''gray'' is more common in American English; however, both spellings are valid in both varieties of English.<ref>Osmond, Candace. [https://grammarist.com/spelling/gray-grey/ "Gray or Grey – Are Both Correct?"], ''Grammarist''. Retrieved on July 8, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/gray-vs-grey-usage-difference "'Gray' vs. 'Grey': What is the Difference?"], ''[[Merriam-Webster]]''. Retrieved on July 8, 2023.</ref>

In Europe and North America, surveys show that grey is the colour most commonly associated with [[Neutrality (philosophy)|neutrality]], [[conformity]], [[boredom]], [[uncertainty]], [[old age]], [[apathy|indifference]], and [[humility]]. Only one per cent of respondents chose it as their [[color preferences|favorite colour]].<ref>Heller, Eva, ''Psychologie de la Couleur'', p. 224-242</ref>
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==Etymology==
''Grey'' comes from the [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|grai}} or {{lang|enm|grei}}, from the [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|grǣġ}}, and is related to the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] {{lang|nl|grauw}} and [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|grau}}.<ref>''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'', 1964.</ref> There are no certain [[cognate]]s outside [[Germanic languages]]; terms such as [[Spanish language|Spanish]] {{Wikt-lang|es|gris}}, [[Italian language|Italian]] {{Wikt-lang|it|grigio}} and [[Medieval Latin]] ''griseus'' are considered Germanic [[loanword]]s.<ref name="OED">{{Cite web |last=Douglas |first=Harper |title=gray (adj.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/gray#etymonline_v_11941 |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]}}</ref> The first recorded use of ''grey'' as a colour name in the English language was in 700 AD.<ref name="Paul Page 196"/>

The distinction between ''grey'' and ''gray'' spellings in usual Commonwealth and American English respectively developed {{c.}} the 20th century.<ref name="OED"/>

==In history and art==

===Antiquity through the Middle Ages===
In [[Ancient history|antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]], grey was the colour of undyed wool, and thus was the colour most commonly worn by peasants and the poor. It was also the colour worn by [[Cistercian]] monks and friars of the [[Franciscan]] and [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] orders as a symbol of their vows of humility and poverty. Franciscan friars in England and [[Scotland]] were commonly known as the [[grey friars]], and that name is now attached to many places in Great Britain.

===Renaissance and the Baroque===
During the Renaissance and the Baroque, grey began to play an important role in fashion and art. Black became the most popular colour of the nobility, particularly in Italy, France, and Spain, and grey and white were harmonious with it.

Grey was also frequently used for the drawing of oil paintings, a technique called ''[[grisaille]]''. The painting would first be composed in grey and white, and then the colours, made with thin transparent glazes, would be added on top. The grisaille beneath would provide the shading, visible through the layers of colour. Sometimes, the grisaille was simply left uncovered, giving the appearance of carved stone.

Grey was a particularly good background colour for gold and for skin tones. It became the most common background for the portraits of [[Rembrandt van Rijn]] and for many of the paintings of [[El Greco]], who used it to highlight the faces and costumes of the central figures. The palette of Rembrandt was composed almost entirely of sombre colours. He composed his warm greys out of black pigments made from charcoal or burnt animal bones, mixed with lead white or a white made of lime, which he warmed with a little red [[lake pigment|lake]] colour from [[cochineal]] or [[rose madder|madder]]. In one painting, the portrait of Margaretha de Geer (1661), one part of a grey wall in the background is painted with a layer of dark brown over a layer of orange, red, and yellow earths, mixed with ivory black and some [[lead white]]. Over this he put an additional layer of glaze made of mixture of blue [[smalt]], [[red ochre]], and yellow lake. Using these ingredients and many others, he made greys which had, according to art historian Philip Ball, "an incredible subtlety of pigmentation".<ref>Philip Ball (2001), ''Bright Earth, Art and the Invention of Colour'', pp. 214–215 (French translation).</ref> The warm, dark and rich greys and browns served to emphasise the golden light on the faces in the paintings.

===Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries===
Grey became a highly fashionable colour in the 18th century, both for women's dresses and for men's waistcoats and coats. It looked particularly luminous colouring the silk and satin fabrics worn by the nobility and wealthy.

[[File:Princess Isabel and Leopoldina 1855 frame removed.png|thumb|Brazilian princesses [[Princess Leopoldina of Brazil|Leopoldina]] and [[Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil|Isabel]] (seated) wearing grey gowns, c. 1855]]
Women's fashion in the 19th century was dominated by Paris, while men's fashion was set by London. The grey business suit appeared in the mid-19th century in London; light grey in summer, dark grey in winter; replacing the more colourful palette of men's clothing early in the century.

The clothing of women working in the factories and workshops of Paris in the 19th century was usually grey. This gave them the name of ''grisettes''. "''Gris''" or grey also meant drunk, and the name "''grisette''" was also given to the lower class of Parisian prostitutes.

Grey also became a common colour for military uniforms; in an age of rifles with longer range, soldiers in grey were less visible as targets than those in blue or red. Grey was the colour of the uniforms of the [[Confederate Army]] during the [[American Civil War]], and of the [[Prussian Army]] for active service wear from 1910 onwards.

Several artists of the mid-19th century used tones of grey to create memorable paintings; [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot]] used tones of green-grey and blue grey to give harmony to his landscapes, and [[James McNeill Whistler]] created a special grey for the background of the portrait of his mother, and for his own self-portrait.

Whistler's arrangement of tones of grey had an effect on the world of music, on the French composer [[Claude Debussy]]. In 1894, Debussy wrote to violinist [[Eugène Ysaÿe]] describing his ''[[Nocturnes (Debussy)|Nocturnes]]'' as "an experiment in the combinations that can be obtained from one colour – what a study in grey would be in painting".<ref>Weintraub, Stanley. 2001. ''Whistler: a biography'' (New York: Da Capo Press). {{ISBN|978-0-306-80971-2}}. p. 351</ref>

===Twentieth and twenty-first centuries===
In the late 1930s, grey became a symbol of industrialisation and war. It was the dominant colour of [[Pablo Picasso]]'s celebrated painting about the horrors of the [[Spanish Civil War]], ''[[Guernica (painting)|Guernica]]''.<ref>Stefano Zuffi, (2012), ''Color in Art'', pg. 310</ref>

After the war, the grey business suit became a metaphor for uniformity of thought, popularised in such books as ''[[The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (novel)|The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit]]'' (1955), which became a successful film in 1956.<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur- effets et symboliques'', pg. 236–237</ref>

==In the sciences, nature, and technology==

===Storm clouds===
[[File:Storm Clouds towards Clare island - geograph.org.uk - 1032378.jpg|thumb|left|Storm clouds towards [[Clare Island]], Ireland]]
The whiteness or darkness of clouds is a function of their depth. Small, fluffy white clouds in summer look white because the sunlight is being scattered by the tiny water droplets they contain, and that white light comes to the viewer's eye. However, as clouds become larger and thicker, the white light cannot penetrate through the cloud, and is reflected off the top. Clouds look darkest grey during thunderstorms, when they can be as much as 20,000 to 30,000 feet high.

Stratiform clouds are a layer of clouds that covers the entire sky, and which have a depth of between a few hundred to a few thousand feet thick. The thicker the clouds, the darker they appear from below, because little of the sunlight is able to pass through. From above, in an aeroplane, the same clouds look perfectly white, but from the ground the sky looks gloomy and grey.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why are some clouds white, while others are dark? |author=John Hehr |publisher=Research Frontiers – The home of Research at the University of Arkansas |date=October 15, 2002 |url=https://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/why-are-some-clouds-white-while-others-are-dark/ |access-date=November 5, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820025451/https://researchfrontiers.uark.edu/why-are-some-clouds-white-while-others-are-dark/ |archive-date=August 20, 2019}}</ref>

===The greying of hair===
{{multiple image|
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|caption1    = French politician [[Christine Lagarde]]
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|caption2    = Canadian actor [[Donald Sutherland]]
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The colour of a person's hair is created by the pigment [[melanin]], found in the core of each hair. Melanin is also responsible for the colour of the skin and of the eyes. There are only two types of pigment: dark ([[eumelanin]]) or light ([[phaeomelanin]]). Combined in various combinations, these pigments create all natural hair colours.

Melanin itself is the product of a specialised cell, the [[melanocyte]], which is found in each [[hair follicle]], from which the hair grows. As hair grows, the melanocyte injects melanin into the hair cells, which contain the protein [[keratin]] and which makes up our hair, skin, and nails. As long as the melanocytes continue injecting melanin into the hair cells, the hair retains its original colour. At a certain age, however, which varies from person to person, the amount of melanin injected is reduced and eventually stops. The hair, without pigment, turns grey and eventually white. The reason for this decline of production of melanocytes is uncertain. In the February 2005 issue of ''Science'', a team of Harvard scientists suggested that the cause was the failure of the melanocyte stem cells to maintain the production of the essential pigments, due to age or genetic factors, after a certain period of time. For some people, the breakdown comes in their twenties; for others, many years later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/science-and-business/about-this-research-center/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102152657/http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/grayhair.html|title=About this Reading Room &#124; Science and Business Reading Room &#124; Research Centers &#124; Library of Congress|archivedate=January 2, 2013|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> According to the site of the magazine ''Scientific American'', "Generally speaking, among Caucasians 50 percent are 50 percent grey by age 50."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-hair-turn-gray/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114132915/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-does-hair-turn-gray|title=Why does hair turn gray?|archivedate=November 14, 2013|website=Scientific American}}</ref> Adult male gorillas also develop silver hair, but only on their backs – see [[gorilla#Characteristics|Physical characteristics of gorillas]].

===Optics===
Over the centuries, artists have traditionally created grey by mixing black and white in various proportions. They added a little red to make a [[Color_theory#Warm_vs._cool_colors|warmer]] grey, or a little blue for a cooler grey. Artists could also make a grey by mixing two [[complementary colours]], such as [[Orange (colour)|orange]] and [[Azure (color)|azure]].

Today the grey on televisions, computer displays, and telephones is usually created using the [[RGB colour model]]. Red, green, and blue light combined at full intensity on the black screen makes white; by lowering the intensity, it is possible to create all the different [[Shades of gray|shades of grey]].

In printing, grey is usually obtained with the [[CMYK colour model]]. By using black ink at a lower density than the one needed to print black, all the shades of grey can be created. Grey can also be formed by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow in a specific proportion, each at a low or moderate density. Usually, both methods are combined.

Most greys have a cool or a warm cast to them, as the [[human eye]] can detect even a minute amount of colour saturation. Adding a small amount of yellow, orange, or red will create a "warm grey". Adding a small amount of green, cyan, blue, or [[Violet (color)|violet]] will form a "cool grey".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://atmos.uw.edu/gcg/SV.man/sv.743colpal.html |title=Color Palette |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105231218/https://atmos.uw.edu/gcg/SV.man/sv.743colpal.html |archive-date=November 5, 2019}}</ref> When no colour is added, the colour is "neutral grey", "achromatic grey", or simply "grey". Images consisting wholly of black, white and greys are called [[monochrome]], [[black-and-white]], or [[greyscale]].

{| style="border:1px solid #aaaaaa; background-color:#ffffff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" | right |
|- align=center
|colspan=2|[[File:grays.svg|310px]]
|- align=center
||'''Warm grey'''
||'''Cool grey'''
|- align=center
||Mixed with yellow
||Mixed with blue
|}
; [[RGB]] model
: Grey values result when ''R'' = ''G'' = ''B'', for the colour (''R, G, B'') (0 < R, G, B < 1).
:
; [[CMYK]] model
: Grey values are produced by ''C = M = Y'' = 0; 0 < K < 1, for the colour (''C, M, Y, K''). Lightness is adjusted by varying ''K.'' In theory, any mixture where ''C = M = Y'' is neutral, but in practice such mixtures are often a muddy brown.
:
; [[HSL and HSV]] models:Achromatic greys have no saturation, so grey is produced by S = 0; 0 < (L or V) < 1; (hue (H) is undefined), for the colour (H, S, L) or (H, S, V).
{| border="1" style="margin:auto;"
|-
|
{|
|-
!<u>HTML Colour Name</u>
!Sample
!
!<u>Hex triplet</u>
|-
|
| <small>(rendered by name)</small>
| <small>(rendered by hex triplet)</small>
|-
| gainsboro
| style="background:gainsboro;"|
| style="background:#dcdcdc;"|
| #DCDCDC
|-
| lightgray
| style="background:lightgray;"|
| style="background:#d3d3d3;"|
| #D3D3D3
|-
| silver
| style="background:silver;"|
| style="background:silver;"|
| #C0C0C0
|-
| darkgray
| style="background:darkgray;"|
| style="background:darkgray;"|
| #A9A9A9
|-
| grey
| style="background:gray;"|
| style="background:gray;"|
| #808080
|-
| dimgray
| style="background:dimgray;"|
| style="background:dimgray;"|
| #696969
|-
| lightslategray
| style="background:lightslategray;"|
| style="background:#778899;"|
| #77'''8899'''
|-
| slategray
| style="background:slategray;"|
| style="background:#708090;"|
| #70'''8090'''
|-
| darkslategray
| style="background:darkslategray;"|
| style="background:#2f4f4f;"|
| #2F'''4F4F'''
|}
|}

===Web colours===
There are several tones of grey available for use with [[HTML]] and [[Cascading Style Sheets]] (CSS) as named colours, while 254 true greys are available by specification of a [[hex triplet]] for the RGB value. All are spelled ''gray'', using the spelling ''grey'' can cause errors. This spelling was inherited from the [[X11 colour list]]. [[Internet Explorer]]'s [[Trident (layout engine)|Trident browser engine]] does not recognise ''grey'' and renders it green. Another anomaly is that ''gray'' is in fact much darker than the X11 colour marked ''darkgray''; this is because of a conflict with the original HTML grey and the X11 grey, which is closer to HTML's ''silver''. The three ''slategray'' colours are not themselves on the greyscale, but are slightly [[saturation (colour theory)|saturated]] toward [[cyan]] (green + blue). Since there are an even (256, including black and white) number of [[saturation (colour theory)|unsaturated]] tones of grey, there are two grey tones straddling the [[midpoint]] in the 8-bit greyscale. The colour name ''gray'' has been assigned the lighter of the two shades (128, also known as #808080), due to rounding up.

===Pigments===
Until the 19th century, artists traditionally created grey by simply combining black and white. [[Rembrandt Van Rijn]], for instance, usually used [[lead white]] and either [[carbon black]] or [[ivory black]], along with touches of either blues or reds to cool or warm the grey.

In the early 19th century, a new grey, [[Payne's grey]], appeared on the market. Payne's grey is a dark [[blue-grey]], a mixture of [[ultramarine]] and black or of ultramarine and [[sienna]]. It is named after [[William Payne (painter)|William Payne]], a British artist who painted [[watercolour]]s in the late 18th century. The first recorded use of ''Payne's grey'' as a colour name in English was in 1835.<ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201; Colour Sample of Payne’s Grey: Page 117 Plate 47 Color Sample A9</ref>

===Animal colour===
Grey is a very common colour for animals, birds, and fish, ranging in size from whales to mice. It provides a natural camouflage and allows them to blend with their surroundings.

===Grey matter of the brain===
The substance that composes the brain is sometimes referred to as [[grey matter]], or "the little grey cells", so the colour grey is associated with things intellectual. However, the living human brain is actually pink in colour; it only turns grey when dead.

===Nanotechnology and grey goo===
[[Grey goo]] is a hypothetical [[end of civilization|end-of-the-world]] scenario, also known as [[ecophagy]]: out-of-control [[self replication|self-replicating]] [[nanobot]]s consume all living matter on Earth while building more of themselves.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.crnano.org/PR-IOP.htm |date=June 9, 2004 |title=Leading nanotech experts put 'grey goo' in perspective |publisher=Center for Responsible Nanotechnology |access-date=June 17, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906221148/http://www.crnano.org/PR-IOP.htm |archive-date=September 6, 2014}}</ref>

===Grey noise===
In sound engineering, [[grey noise]] is [[random noise]] subjected to an [[equal-loudness contour]], such as an inverted [[A-weighting]] curve, over a given range of frequencies, giving the listener the perception that it is equally loud at all frequencies.

==In culture==

===Religion===
In the Christian religion, grey is the colour of ashes, and so a [[Bible|biblical]] symbol of [[mourning]] and [[repentance]], described as [[mortification of the flesh|sackcloth and ashes]]. It can be used during [[Lent]] or on special days of [[fasting]] and prayer. As the colour of humility and modesty, grey is worn by friars of the [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin]] and [[Franciscan order]] as well as monks of the [[Cistercian order]].<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur- effets et symboliques'', pg. 235</ref> Grey cassocks are worn by clergy of the [[Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church]].

Buddhist monks and priests in Japan and Korea will often wear a sleeved grey, brown, or black outer robe.

[[Taoist]] priests in China also often wear grey.

===Politics===
Grey is rarely used as a colour by political parties, largely because of its common association with conformity, boredom and indecision. An example of a political party using grey as a colour are the German [[The Greys – Grey Panthers|Grey Panthers]].

The term "grey power" or "the grey vote" is sometimes used to describe the influence of older voters as a [[voting bloc]]. In the United States, older people are more likely to vote, and usually vote to protect certain social benefits, such as [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitalgazette.com/lifestyle/columnists/bonus_years/the-bonus-years-the-grey-vote-may-take-the-cake/article_511751fe-be95-5844-b631-c5d7aa00f9ca.html|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130118184656/http://www.capitalgazette.com/lifestyle/columnists/bonus_years/the-bonus-years-the-grey-vote-may-take-the-cake/article_511751fe-be95-5844-b631-c5d7aa00f9ca.html|title=The Bonus Years: The 'grey vote' may take the cake on Tuesday|archivedate=January 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://macmillaneducation.my.salesforce-sites.com/help/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030005726/http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/grey-vote.html|title=Welcome to Macmillan Education Customer Support|archivedate=October 30, 2012|website=macmillaneducation.my.salesforce-sites.com}}</ref>

''Greys'' is a term sometimes used pejoratively by environmentalists in the [[green movement]] to describe those who oppose environmental measures and supposedly prefer the grey of concrete and cement.

===Military===
During the [[American Civil War]], the soldiers of the [[Confederate Army]] wore grey uniforms. At the beginning of the war, the armies of the North and of the South had very similar uniforms; some Confederate units wore blue, and some Union units wore grey. There was confusion, and sometimes soldiers fired by mistake at soldiers of their own army. On June 6, 1861, the Confederate government issued regulations standardising the army uniform and establishing [[cadet grey]] as the uniform colour. This was (and still is) the colour of the uniform of cadets at the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point, and cadets at the [[Virginia Military Institute]], which produced many officers for the Confederacy.

The new uniforms were designed by [[Nicola Marschall]], a German-American artist, who also designed the original [[Confederate flag]]. He closely followed the design of contemporary French and Austrian military uniforms.<ref name="ADAH">{{cite web |title=Nicola Marschall: Artist of the Deep South |url=https://archives.alabama.gov/marschall/NM_dsth.html |publisher=Alabama Department of Archives and History |access-date=September 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823034204/http://www.archives.state.al.us/marschall/NM_dsth.html |archive-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> Grey was not chosen for its camouflage value; this benefit was not appreciated for several more decades. The South lacked a major dye industry, though, and grey dyes were inexpensive and easy to manufacture. While some units had uniforms coloured with good-quality dyes, which were a solid bluish-grey, others had uniforms coloured with vegetable dyes made from [[sumac]] or [[logwood]], which quickly faded in sunshine to the yellowish colour of [[butternut squash]].

The [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] wore grey uniforms from 1907 until 1945, during both the [[First World War]] and [[Second World War]]. The colour chosen was a grey-green called [[feldgrau|field grey]] ({{Langx|de|links=no|feldgrau}}). It was chosen because it was less visible at a distance than the previous German uniforms, which were [[Prussian blue]]. It was one of the first uniform colours to be chosen for its [[camouflage]] value, important in the new age of smokeless powder and more accurate rifles and machine guns. It gave the Germans a distinct advantage at the beginning of the First World War, when the French soldiers were dressed in blue jackets and red trousers. The [[Finnish Army]] also began using grey uniforms on the German model.

Some of the more recent uniforms of the [[German Army]] and [[East German Army]] were field grey, as were some uniforms of the [[Swedish army]]. The formal dress (M/83) of the [[Finnish Army]] is grey. The [[Army of Chile]] wears field grey today.

===The grey suit===
During the 19th century, women's fashions were largely dictated by Paris, while London set fashions for men. The intent of a business suit was above all to show seriousness, and to show one's position in business and society. Over the course of the century, bright colours disappeared from men's fashion, and were largely replaced by a black or dark charcoal grey [[frock coat]] in winter, and lighter greys in summer. In the early 20th century, the frock coat was gradually replaced by the [[lounge suit]], a less formal version of evening dress, which was also usually black or charcoal grey. In the 1930s the English suit style was called the [[drape suit]], with wide shoulders and a nipped waist, usually dark or light grey. After World War II, the style changed to a slimmer fit called the continental cut, but the colour remained grey.<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur – effets et symboliques'', pg. 236</ref>

===Sports===
* In [[baseball]], grey is the colour typically used for road [[baseball uniform|uniforms]]. This came about because in the 19th and early 20th century, away teams did not normally have access to laundry facilities on the road, thus stains were not noticeable on the darker grey uniforms as opposed to the white uniforms worn by the home team.
* The [[Vegas Golden Knights]] of the [[National Hockey League]] features steel grey as its primary colour and its current alternate uniforms are steel grey.
* [[New Caledonia national football team|New Caledonia]] national football teams have worn grey home shirts and the colour is featured on its football badge.
* [[Georgetown University basketball|Georgetown University's basketball teams]] traditionally wear grey uniforms at home.

===Gay culture===
* In [[gay slang]], a ''grey queen'' is a gay person who works for the [[financial services]] industry.  This term originates from the fact that in the 1950s, people who worked in this [[profession]] often wore grey flannel suits.<ref>Rodgers, Bruce ''Gay Talk (The Queen's Vernacular): A Dictionary of Gay Slang'' New York:1972 Parragon Books, an imprint of G.P. Putnam’s Sons Page 99</ref>

==Associations and symbolism==
[[File:Utinkatu Tornionmäki 001.jpg|thumb|The city of [[Kouvola]], mostly known for its greyscale environment, in [[Kymenlaakso]], [[Finland]]]]
In America and Europe, grey is one of the least popular colours; In a European survey, only one per cent of men said it was their favourite colour, and thirteen per cent called it their least favourite colour; the response from women was almost the same. According to one author, "grey is too weak to be considered masculine, but too menacing to be considered a feminine colour. It is neither warm nor cold, neither [[materials science|material]] or [[spirituality|spiritual]]. With grey, nothing seems to be decided."<ref name="auto">Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques''. (Pg. 226)</ref> It also denotes undefinedness and [[ambiguity]], as in a [[wikt:grey area|grey area]].

Grey is the colour most commonly associated in many cultures with the elderly and old age, because of the association with grey hair; it symbolises the wisdom and dignity that come with experience and age. The New York Times is sometimes called ''The Grey Lady'' because of its long history and esteemed position in American journalism.<ref>Eva Heller, ''Psychologie de la couleur- effets et symboliques'', pg. 234.</ref>

Grey is the colour most often associated in Europe and America with modesty.<ref name="auto"/>

==See also==
* {{Wiktionary-inline|grey}}
* [[Shades of grey]]
* [[Black]]
* [[Black and white]]
* [[Eigengrau]]
* [[Lists of colours]]
* [[Vin gris]] (''grey wine'' in French)
* [[White]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book
|last      = Heller
|first     = Eva
|title     = Psychologie de la couleur – Effets et symboliques
|year      = 2009
|publisher = Pyramyd (French translation)
|isbn      = 978-2-35017-156-2
}}
*{{cite book
|last      = Zuffi
|first     = Stefano
|title     = Color in Art
|year      = 2012
|publisher = Abrams
|isbn      = 978-1-4197-0111-5
}}
*{{cite book
|last      = Gage
|first     = John
|title     = La Couleur dans l'art
|year      = 2009
|publisher = Thames & Hudson
|isbn      = 978-2-87811-325-9
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Gottsegen
|first=Mark
|title=The Painter's Handbook: A Complete Reference
|year=2006
|publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications
|location=New York
|isbn=0-8230-3496-8
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Varichon
|first=Anne
|title=Couleurs - pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples
|year=2000
|publisher=Editions du Seuil
|location=Paris
|isbn=978-2-02-084697-4
}}

{{Web colors}}
{{Shades of grey}}
{{Shades of black}}
{{Color topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Color]]
[[Category:Optical spectrum]]
[[Category:Shades of gray| 01]]
[[Category:Web colors]]