Color Naming System The Color Naming System (CNS) is a systematic notation for named colors for computer applications using English terms created by Berk et al. in 1982. == System == CNS uses ten color names, three of which (''black, white, gray'') are special, and has them combined or prefixed with several modifiers. The system expressed in Backus–Naur Form looks something like this:.〔(Tab Atkins Jr.: The CNS Color Naming System ) on adding CNS to CSS Color level 4〕