Why, why, why?
I created this chart because I got tired of meaningless color names like Harlequin, Dizzy Lizzy, and Popstar.
The chart is based on the RGB color space and includes a reasonable number of named hues (48) with a limited number of variations (up to 22 per hue).
In bang-v3, a new section of whites and grays was added upon request. These are numbered starting from 1 and are displayed with the color number at the end of the name in parentheses—for example, White (Bang-v3 1).
Names for whiteish, grayish, and blackish variations are described as a percentage of black, providing a precise reference from White (0% black) to Black (100% black). This avoids creating arbitrary names for subtle differences.
Very pale or low-saturation variations of colored hues are named for every 15 degrees of hue, while other variations are named for every 7.5 degrees. This results in 48 hue variations in total (divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, and 24).
The second edition of this chart (Bang-v2) was published in 2007. The third edition (Bang-v3) was published in 2025, adding whites and grays and adjusting naming for clarity and precision.
These data are free to use, and many developers and designers have incorporated them into their applications over the years. Feel free to do the same!