CMYK Values Black Lives Matter Color Scheme
The Black Lives Matter color scheme isn't governed by any single official body, which means you will find a dozen slightly different palettes online. The most widely recognized version draws from a tricolor flag representing people of different skin tones, and it is the one most print shops and designers actually use. Below I list the values, how to convert them, and a few practical notes from when I have had to prep this for actual production runs. Here are the standard RGB/hex values and their corresponding CMYK equivalents. These conversions assume a standard coated stock using the FOGRA39/GRACoL workflow. Uncoated paper will shift the colors noticeably, especially the brown. Black (deep rich black)
Hex: #1F1C1B RGB: 31, 28, 27 CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 95
This is not pure process black (C0 M0 Y0 K100). A rich black like this prevents the grayish halo that shows up on dark prints. If you are running spot black or a heavier laydown, dial K back to 90 and add 20-30 percent cyan to keep it from looking muddy. On a large format poster this makes a real difference because cheap black ink tends to read flat and bluish at scale. Brown (dark warm brown) Hex: #B36600
RGB: 179, 102, 0 CMYK: 20, 70, 100, 0 This is the tricky one. That orange-brown sits right at the edge of the CMYK gamut and will shift depending on your press and ink. I once had a client who sent a batch of T-shirts to screen print and the brown came out way too red because their shop was using a warm yellow underbase that bled through. We solved it by switching to a cooler, higher-magenta yellow base and reducing the cyan in the brown to 15 percent. It is worth noting that Pantone 16-0926 TCX or close commercial matches like Pantone 1595 C work better as reference points than calculating from hex alone.
Bronze / Golden Brown (medium warm brown) Hex: #FF8C00 RGB: 255, 140, 0
CMYK: 0, 60, 100, 0 This is the lighter accent color in the three-tone scheme. It is bright and easy to reproduce on uncoated stock but will lose punch on newsprint or any porous surface. If you are printing on anything cheaper than a coated sheet, ask your printer first whether they can hold this spot or whether you need a Pantone mix. CMYK alone will rarely give you the same saturation at the lower end of the cost spectrum. White (for contrast / negative space)
Hex: #FFFFFF RGB: 255, 255, 255 CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0
You probably do not need a CMYK conversion for white unless you are planning a white ink layer on dark substrate. In that case, treat it as a spot white and specify it in your file setup so the prepress team does not try to omit it or overprint it against the black.
How to use these values in practice
When you drop these into Illustrator or InDesign, set the swatches to the CMYK values listed above rather than pasting the hex codes. Browsers and screen previews will show you the RGB version, which looks slightly warmer and more saturated than what comes off press. I always create a small proof strip before sending a full run so I can check whether the brown is reading too red or too yellow on the actual paper. For digital use, stick with the hex values. CMYK is a subtractive printing model and has no meaning on a screen. Converting hex straight to CMYK in software will give you a decent approximation but not an exact match because the color spaces differ.
Common pitfalls
The biggest issue I see is people treating all three colors as process black replacements. They do not need to be. Only the dark black benefits from a rich black formula. The two browns should stay pure CMY with no black added. Adding K to brown makes it dull and pushes it toward olive, which ruins the intended warmth. If you want the brown to stand out against the black, leave the black clean at K95 and let the brown sit at full saturation with zero black. Another problem is over-saturating the files. Designers often crank up the CMY values to make the colors pop on screen, and then the press strips them down during conversion. Keep the values exactly as listed and trust the proof. It will be close enough on coated stock and acceptable on uncoated if your printer has a decent color management workflow.
Where to find the palette
I do not host a downloadable file for this because the color scheme belongs to a public movement and multiple organizations publish their own versions. You can find a community-maintained palette on GitHub and other open design repositories by searching for "BLM flag colors" or "Black Lives Matter hex palette." Most of those repos list the same hex codes I provided above with a handful of minor variations in the brown tones. For commercial print work, I recommend converting to a Pantone reference and asking your print house to match against a physical chip before committing to a run.
