The official Charlotte Hornets colors are purple, teal and gray. The primary color is Hornets purple (#1D1160), paired with teal (#00788C) and cool gray (#A1A1A4), with white used as a base. These colors run through the logo, uniforms and merchandise, restored in the 2014 rebrand.
Charlotte Hornets color codes
| Color | Swatch | HEX | RGB | CMYK | Pantone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornets Purple | #1D1160 | 29, 17, 96 | 96, 98, 38, 44 | PMS 275 C | |
| Teal | #00788C | 0, 120, 140 | 100, 38, 39, 7 | PMS 3145 C | |
| Cool Gray | #A1A1A4 | 161, 161, 164 | 0, 1, 0, 43 | PMS Cool Gray 8 C | |
| White | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 | 0, 0, 0, 0 | N/A |
Quick note on the Pantone column. PMS 275 C, PMS 3145 C and PMS Cool Gray 8 C are the values circulated across team color references and match the HEX conversions closely. The Hornets don’t publish a public brand book, so treat these as the working standard rather than a signed-off spec sheet. If you’re printing merchandise for sale, get the licensing packet.
Every color in the Hornets palette, broken down
Hornets purple (#1D1160)
Much darker than people expect. Ask a casual fan to describe it and they’ll say something in the range of royal or violet. It’s not. #1D1160 sits close to indigo territory, deep enough that on a phone screen at low brightness it can read almost black.
This is the Statement Edition base. LaMelo Ball’s Statement jersey is this purple, and the darkness is deliberate: it lets the teal accents cut through instead of fighting them.
Teal (#00788C)
The color the franchise is actually known for. Alexander Julian picked it in 1988 and it changed how NBA teams thought about color, which is a big claim, but look at what followed. The Sharks, the Marlins, the Jaguars. Teal was everywhere for about a decade.
#00788C is a muted, slightly gray-leaning teal. Not a bright turquoise, not a clean cyan. It carries the Icon Edition jersey and it’s the color most fans point to when they call this the best palette in the league.
Cool gray (#A1A1A4)
The accent nobody talks about. #A1A1A4 has a faint blue-violet cast (HSL hue lands at 240), which is why it never looks dirty against the purple. Standard neutral gray would go muddy there.
Used for trim, secondary marks and structural elements. Small role, but pull it out and the palette loses its balance.
White (#FFFFFF)
Association Edition base, plus names, numbers and pinstripe work. Nothing exotic about the white, though it does a lot of quiet labor keeping two saturated colors legible next to each other.
Hornets jersey colors by edition
Icon Edition: teal base, purple and white detailing. This is the everyday home look.
Association Edition: white base with teal and purple trim. Double pinstripes returned here in the 2020 uniform update, a callback to the 1997-2002 sets.
Statement Edition: purple base. The 2022-23 refresh brought back the “Hornets” wordmark on the front, white numbers, teal cell accents down the sides.
City Edition: the one that changes every year. The 2025-26 “Hoopers Paradise” Remix went well off-palette with orange, blue and yellow drawn from the Bird of Paradise flower, named for Queen Charlotte. Prior years leaned on mint green and gold instead. Don’t build a brand asset off a City Edition. It’s gone in twelve months.
How the palette got here
1988. Expansion team, uniforms designed by North Carolina native Alexander Julian, a menswear designer, not a sports branding shop. Teal and purple, plus pinstripes, a first in the NBA. Home whites had pinstripes in teal, green, blue and purple. Away jerseys were teal.
1994. Purple alternate arrives, with Hugo the Hornet on the beltline.
2002. Franchise relocates to New Orleans and takes the colors with it for a while.
2004-2014. Charlotte Bobcats. Completely different scheme built on orange, blue and black. It never landed with the city.
2014. Name and colors come back. Purple gets locked in at #1D1160, teal at #00788C, gray as the accent. Michael Jordan owned the team at the time.
2020. Uniform overhaul reintroduces double pinstripes.
2025-26. New City Edition Remix and a “Hoopers Paradise” court, the first NBA floor to feature both Carolinas.
Using the colors in your own work
Screen work: HEX or RGB, straight from the table. Print: CMYK for process, Pantone for spot. If you’re printing on teal fabric, run a proof first. This particular teal drifts toward gray on uncoated stock.
Contrast check, since people skip it. Hornets purple against white passes AAA easily. Teal against white is borderline for small text at 4.5:1, so bump the weight or darken slightly for body copy.
“ :root { --hornets-purple: #1D1160; --hornets-teal: #00788C; --hornets-gray: #A1A1A4; --hornets-white: #FFFFFF; } `
Rough ratio that works: teal at roughly 60 percent, purple at 30, gray and white filling the rest. Flip teal and purple and you get the Statement look.
Related resources
- NBA team color codes for the full league reference.
- More on teal-based color combinations if you want to build around #00788C.
- Purple palette ideas for pairing a deep shade like Hornets purple.
- Sports palettes across leagues: baseball team color codes.
FAQ on The Charlotte Hornets Colors
What are the Charlotte Hornets colors?
The Charlotte Hornets team colors are purple, teal, gray and white. Hornets purple (#1D1160) leads the palette, teal (#00788C) carries the Icon jerseys, and cool gray (#A1A1A4) handles trim. White appears on the Association Edition uniform.
What are the Charlotte Hornets color codes in HEX and RGB?
The Hornets hex codes are #1D1160 for purple, #00788C for teal and #A1A1A4 for gray.
In RGB, that’s (29, 17, 96), (0, 120, 140) and (161, 161, 164). White stays #FFFFFF, or (255, 255, 255).
What is the Charlotte Hornets Pantone color?
The Pantone references are PMS 275 C for purple, PMS 3145 C for teal and PMS Cool Gray 8 C for the accent.
Use these for spot printing. They’re the accepted standard, converted from the official hex values.
When did the Hornets adopt their current colors?
Charlotte reclaimed teal and purple in 2014, when the Bobcats franchise took back the Hornets name. The original scheme dates to the 1988 expansion season. The 2020 uniform refresh reintroduced pinstripes without changing the codes.
What is the primary color of the Charlotte Hornets?
Purple is listed first in official branding, but teal dominates on court.
The Icon Edition jersey, the one worn most often at Spectrum Center, is teal. Purple runs the Statement Edition. Depends whether you mean brand hierarchy or visibility.
Who designed the original Hornets teal and purple uniforms?
Alexander Julian, a menswear designer from Chapel Hill, created the 1988 uniforms. He introduced pinstripes to the NBA and put “Charlotte” on both home and away jerseys, which no other team did at the time.
What color are the Hornets City Edition jerseys?
City Edition changes yearly. The 2025-26 “Hoopers Paradise” Remix uses orange, blue and yellow pulled from the Bird of Paradise flower. Recent seasons used mint and gold. None of these are permanent brand colors.
Are the Hornets colors the same as the New Orleans Pelicans?
No. The Pelicans use navy, red and gold. The teal and purple went back to Charlotte in 2014 as part of the name swap.
Confusion is fair, since the franchise histories are tangled.
What colors did the Charlotte Bobcats use?
The Bobcats ran orange, blue and black from 2004, later shifting to a navy-heavy look with orange trim. That palette was dropped completely in 2014. Nothing from it carries into the current Hornets identity.
Is Hornets purple actually indigo?
Close. #1D1160 is dark enough that it reads near indigo or deep violet, not the brighter royal shade people assume. On low-brightness screens it can look almost black, which is why teal contrast matters so much.
Conclusion
The Charlotte Hornets colors work because they never fully behave. A near-black purple, a teal that leans gray, and an accent that quietly holds it together.
Grab the hex codes for screens and the PMS values for print, then leave the City Edition experiments alone.
Buzz City got its palette back in 2014. Nobody has improved on the 1988 version since.
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
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Bogdan Sandu is a seasoned designer who has been designing websites since 2008. Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients. His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8. He also wrote in the past years on sites like Design Your Way, WebDesignerDepot, WPDean, Designmodo, Speckyboy, Slider Revolution, and more.
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