The Washington Post

The Washington Post palette, captured from the open-source Washington Post Design System (WPDS) tokens. The brand is a near-black ink ("gray20") on white, with a deliberate blue primary CTA (the WPDS "blue100") and a deep newsroom red reserved for breaking-news and emphasis. WPDS exposes a full 9-step gray scale and tonal ramps across blue, red, orange, green, gold, teal, purple, and pink.

23 swatches 14 light roles 14 dark roles washington-postnewsjournalismbrandblueseriflight-first

Swatches

gray-0
#000000
WPDS gray0 — absolute black; mark fills.
gray-20
#111111
WPDS gray20 — primary text; the WaPo ink.
gray-40
#2A2A2A
WPDS gray40 — heading deck and body emphasis.
gray-60
#494949
WPDS gray60 — secondary text.
gray-80
#666666
WPDS gray80 — accessible quiet text on white.
gray-100
#737373
WPDS gray100 — meta text; tertiary surfaces.
gray-200
#AAAAAA
WPDS gray200 — divider weight.
gray-300
#D4D4D4
WPDS gray300 — border on light.
gray-400
#E9E9E9
WPDS gray400 — quiet surface tint.
gray-500
#F0F0F0
WPDS gray500 — alternating row tint.
gray-600
#F7F7F7
WPDS gray600 — subtle inset surface.
gray-700
#FFFFFF
WPDS gray700 — white canvas.
blue-40
#0A3258
WPDS blue40 — deepest navy ink-blue.
blue-60
#0F4B84
WPDS blue60 — heading-blue and trusted-source link.
blue-80
#1366B3
WPDS blue80 — quiet primary on dark surfaces.
blue-100
#166DFC
WPDS blue100 — primary CTA blue.
blue-200
#5784C5
WPDS blue200 — calmer link on lighter contexts.
red-60
#8E1F1B
WPDS red60 — deep newsroom red.
red-80
#BE2C25
WPDS red80 — emphasis and breaking-news pulse.
red-100
#EA0017
WPDS red100 — masthead-bright breaking red.
orange-80
#D86100
WPDS orange80 — warning emphasis.
green-80
#499327
WPDS green80 — confirmation / positive change.
gold-60
#9E6105
WPDS gold60 — opinion/analysis category accent.

Mode role mappings

Light mode (14 roles)

accent → red-80
accent-hover → red-60
background → gray-700
border → gray-300
error → red-100
primary → blue-100
primary-hover → blue-80
success → green-80
surface → gray-600
surface-elevated → gray-700
text-primary → gray-20
text-secondary → gray-60
text-tertiary → gray-80
warning → orange-80

Dark mode (14 roles)

accent → red-80
accent-hover → red-100
background → gray-20
border → gray-60
error → red-100
primary → blue-200
primary-hover → blue-100
success → green-80
surface → gray-40
surface-elevated → gray-60
text-primary → gray-700
text-secondary → gray-400
text-tertiary → gray-300
warning → orange-80

Provenance

Source
https://github.com/washingtonpost/tachyons-css/blob/main/src/wpds-colors-tokens.css
License
Proprietary brand identity; design-token source code under repository license
Attribution
The Washington Post — palette values captured from the published WPDS color tokens at github.com/washingtonpost/ tachyons-css/src/wpds-colors-tokens.css. The Washington Post, its masthead, and Postoni / Franklin typefaces are property of WP Company LLC.
Imported
2026-05-19
Notes
Hex values converted from the rgba() tokens published in the WPDS source on 2026-05-19. The proprietary Postoni Wide (display serif) and Franklin (sans) families are referenced in the design system but are not publicly distributed — open-source substitutes (Playfair Display, PT Serif, Inter) are referenced from the brand atom.