RAL Design System
RAL 290 40 10 Shearwater Black
#5B5B6C
RAL 290 40 10 Shearwater Black is #5B5B6C in HEX, rgb(91, 91, 108), cmyk(16%, 16%, 0%, 58%).
RAL 290 40 10, Shearwater Black, is a cool color from the RAL Design System — the European standard used to specify exact colors for paints and coatings. Its hex value is #5B5B6C, or rgb(91, 91, 108). It's commonly specified for architecture, interiors and product design where a wide, fine-graded palette is needed. Below are its exact color codes (HEX, RGB, CMYK, HSL), the nearest real interior paints across 16 brands so you can match it on a wall, and similar RAL shades.
RAL 290 40 10 Color Codes
Paint Matches — RAL 290 40 10 across 16 brands
Light Reflectance & Undertone
Light Reflectance Value (LRV)
11/100
Dark
Soaks up light and feels moody and intimate. Great for studies, dining rooms and accent walls; pair with ample lighting.
Undertone
A near-neutral with a subtle cool violet undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Monochromatic
Shades & Tints
Shades and tints of Shearwater Black run from a pale tint down to a deep shade — same hue and saturation, lightness stepped. Each rung below shows its exact HEX code; tap any to copy it.
Variations
Lighter
Darker
Saturation
Interior Use
Best Rooms
living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens
Best Uses
main walls, trim, accents
Pairs With
soft whites, natural wood, brass, matte black trim
Accessibility (WCAG)
Deuteranopia
Protanopia
Tritanopia
Color Psychology
Quiet · Versatile
Shearwater Black gets out of the way so the architecture and the people in the room do the work. The right neutral is never a default — it reads warm or cool, dusty or sharp depending on its undertone, and that undertone is what makes or breaks the room.
How it looks under different light
Pairs With
Paint Info
Brand · Product Line
Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior
Recommended Finishes
Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)
Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.
Best Surfaces
Primary walls · Cabinetry · Doors · Mouldings
Coverage & Dry Time
Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.
Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.
Primer
Standard primer is adequate.
Application Tip
Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.
Paint Calculator
You'll need
4.0 litres
1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.
Code Snippets
color: #5B5B6C;background-color: #5B5B6C;--color-shearwater-black: #5B5B6C;colors: { 'shearwater-black': '#5B5B6C' }bg-[#5B5B6C] text-[#5B5B6C]$shearwater-black: #5B5B6C;Similar RAL Colors
About RAL 290 40 10
What is a RAL color?
RAL is the European color-matching standard used to specify exact colors for paints and coatings. Each code — like RAL 290 40 10 from the RAL Design System — maps to one defined color, so a manufacturer or painter anywhere produces the identical result. It's used first and foremost on window frames, doors, façades, gates, railings and powder-coated metalwork.
Matching RAL 290 40 10 on interior walls
RAL is defined for industrial coatings, not interior wall paint — so to paint a room in this color you match it to a real interior brand. The Paint Matches above show the nearest Shearwater Black equivalent across 16 brands (Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux and more), each with its code, so you can take RAL 290 40 10 straight to a can.
More
Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.
Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What color is RAL 290 40 10?
RAL 290 40 10 is Shearwater Black. On screen it is approximately #5B5B6C (rgb 91, 91, 108).
What is RAL 290 40 10 in RGB?
RAL 290 40 10 is approximately rgb(91, 91, 108). Its HSL and CMYK values are in the color codes above.
What paint matches RAL 290 40 10?
See “Paint Matches” above — it shows the nearest real paint in 16 brands (Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux and more) so you can paint a wall to match this RAL color.
What is the HEX code for RAL 290 40 10?
RAL 290 40 10 (Shearwater Black) is approximately #5B5B6C in HEX — the standard sRGB equivalent for screen.
What is RAL 290 40 10 in CMYK?
RAL 290 40 10 converts to roughly cmyk(16%, 16%, 0%, 58%). For exact ink, confirm against a physical RAL fan deck.
Are RAL hex values exact?
They're the standard sRGB equivalent for screen. RAL is defined for physical coatings, so always confirm critical color against a physical RAL fan deck.