---
layout: docs
title: Colors
description: Convey meaning through `color` with a handful of color utility classes. Includes support for styling links with hover states, too.
group: utilities
toc: true
---
## Colors
Colorize text with color utilities. If you want to colorize links, you can use the [`.link-*` helper classes]({{< docsref "/helpers/colored-links" >}}) which have `:hover` and `:focus` states.
{{< example >}}
{{< colors.inline >}}
{{- range (index $.Site.Data "theme-colors") }}
.text-{{ .name }}
{{- end -}}
{{< /colors.inline >}}
.text-body
.text-muted
.text-white
.text-black-50
.text-white-50
{{< /example >}}
{{< callout info >}}
{{< partial "callout-warning-color-assistive-technologies.md" >}}
{{< /callout >}}
## Specificity
Sometimes contextual classes cannot be applied due to the specificity of another selector. In some cases, a sufficient workaround is to wrap your element's content in a `` or more semantic element with the desired class.
## Sass
In addition to the following Sass functionality, consider reading about our included [CSS custom properties]({{< docsref "/customize/css-variables" >}}) (aka CSS variables) for colors and more.
### Variables
Most `color` utilities are generated by our theme colors, reassigned from our generic color palette variables.
{{< scss-docs name="color-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
{{< scss-docs name="theme-color-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
Grayscale colors are also available, but only a subset are used to generate any utilities.
{{< scss-docs name="gray-color-variables" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
### Map
Theme colors are then put into a Sass map so we can loop over them to generate our utilities, component modifiers, and more.
{{< scss-docs name="theme-colors-map" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
Grayscale colors are also available as a Sass map. **This map is not used to generate any utilities.**
{{< scss-docs name="gray-colors-map" file="scss/_variables.scss" >}}
### Utilities API
Color utilities are declared in our utilities API in `scss/_utilities.scss`. [Learn how to use the utilities API.]({{< docsref "/utilities/api#using-the-api" >}})
{{< scss-docs name="utils-color" file="scss/_utilities.scss" >}}