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red · warm

#851e04

a dark, electric red · warm · closest name: Dark Red

Token name suggestion: Dusk Rust

RGB
133, 30, 4
HSL
12°, 94%, 27%
CMYK
0, 77, 97, 48
Luminance
0.0592

#851e04 is a dark electric red, 12° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (9.61:1). As text it scores 9.61:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Red, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(12 94% 27%)rgb(133 30 4)Base step 900AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #851e04 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#851e04
Hue
12°
red
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
27%
dark
Brightness
52%
HSV value
Perceived
30%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0592
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
9.61:1
Closest name
Dark Red
ΔE2000 3.6
Chroma
58.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.406
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 25.1
Web-safe
#993300
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue12° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness27%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #851e04.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red84%
Green16%
Blue0%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#851e04
HEX (8-digit)#851e04ff
RGBrgb(133, 30, 4)
RGBArgba(133, 30, 4, 1)
HSLhsl(12, 94%, 27%)
HSV / HSBhsv(12, 97%, 52%)
HWBhwb(12 2% 48%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 77%, 97%, 48%)
LABlab(29.2 42.4 40.0)
LCHlch(29.2 58.3 43.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.406 0.142 34.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(10.16, 5.93, 0.72)
Decimal8723972
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.118 0.016)
Web-safe#993300

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #851e04;
background-color: #851e04;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #851e04;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#851e04] bg-[#851e04]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #851e04;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.118, blue: 0.016)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.118, blue: 0.016, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#851E04</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF851E04)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF851E04)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(4, 30, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 30, 4)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 30, 4)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 30, 4)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.1176f, 0.0157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,30,4}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #851e04 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #851e04 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7C1C04, #EED8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #851e04 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDF4F2;
  --brand-100: #FBE9E4;
  --brand-200: #FACDC2;
  --brand-300: #FCA792;
  --brand-400: #FA7C5C;
  --brand-500: #F85025;
  --brand-600: #EE3607;
  --brand-700: #C62D06;
  --brand-800: #9E2405;
  --brand-900: #851e04;
  --brand-950: #471205;
  --brand: #851e04;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC9C0;
  --brand-hover: #631603;
  --brand-pressed: #400E02;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241714;
    --brand-ink: #EED8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF4F2',
        100: '#FBE9E4',
        200: '#FACDC2',
        300: '#FCA792',
        400: '#FA7C5C',
        500: '#F85025',
        600: '#EE3607',
        700: '#C62D06',
        800: '#9E2405',
        900: '#851e04',
        950: '#471205',
        DEFAULT: '#851e04',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF4F2,
  '100': #FBE9E4,
  '200': #FACDC2,
  '300': #FCA792,
  '400': #FA7C5C,
  '500': #F85025,
  '600': #EE3607,
  '700': #C62D06,
  '800': #9E2405,
  '900': #851e04,
  '950': #471205,
);
$brand-base: #851e04;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF4F2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FBE9E4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FACDC2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FCA792", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FA7C5C", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#F85025", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#EE3607", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C62D06", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9E2405", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#851e04", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#471205", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #851e04 · 9.61:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 9.61:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.18:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #851e04 as text scores 9.61:1 on white and 2.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FEEBE6 at 8.35:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#851e04 · 9.61:1
AA on whitealready passes
#851e04
The quick fox
#851e04 · 9.61:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#851e04
The quick fox
#DE3207 · 4.57:1
AA on black+18% L
#DE3207
The quick fox
#F96742 · 7.05:1
AAA on black+35% L
#F96742

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #851E04 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#851e04 on white: 9.61:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#851e04 on black: 2.18:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #851e04 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #851e04.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White9.61:1AaAa
Slate 509.19:1AaAa
Slate 1008.77:1AaAa
Slate 2007.80:1AaAa
Slate 3006.47:1AaAa
Slate 4003.75:1AaAa
Slate 5002.02:1AaAa
Slate 6001.27:1AaAa
Slate 7001.08:1AaAa
Slate 8001.52:1AaAa
Slate 9001.86:1AaAa
Black2.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3F3600
deuteranopia · #584D00
tritanopia · #93001A

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #851e04 is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDF4F2
#FBE9E4
#FACDC2
#FCA792
#FA7C5C
#F85025
#EE3607
#C62D06
#9E2405
#851e04
#471205
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #FDF4F2Darkest = 950 · #471205Text step on white = 700
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.035 34.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.057 34.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.085 34.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.111 34.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.131 34.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.142 34.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.142 34.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.133 34.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.119 34.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.099 34.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.078 34.0);
}

Colors that work with #851e04

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF6F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC9C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B5B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#018881
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7C1C04
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEEBE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241714
Dark-mode background
Hover#631603
One step down in lightness
Pressed#400E02
Two steps down
Disabled#986C61
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9E2000
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #851e04

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

urgentappetisingboldphysical

Red arrives before the rest of the page does. It raises attention and appetite, which is why it runs food, sport and clearance pricing.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

It is also the universal error colour. Use it as a brand accent and users may read a warning that is not there.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight73/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#046B85
Analogous left#85042B
Analogous right#855F04
Split-complement 1#04855F
Split-complement 2#042B85
Triadic 1#04851E
Triadic 2#1E0485
Tetradic#2B8504
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°12°

#851e04 sits at 12°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green11.8%
Blue1.6%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
30
0x1e
B · 0–255
4
0x04

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta77.4%
Yellow97.0%
Key (black)47.8%

Total ink coverage is 222%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#851e04 text on a black background

contrast 2.18:1

Card sample

#851e04 text on a white background

contrast 9.61:1

Card sample

#851e04 on grey

8.77:1

#851e04 on its own surface

8.95:1

#851e04 on its dark surface

1.81:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #851e04;
Background color
Panel with #851e04 background
background-color: #851e04;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #851e04;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 30, 4, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 30, 4, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #851e04;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #851e04, #857404);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #851e04, #768504);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #851e04;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #851e04;
caret-color: #851e04;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #851e04;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEEBE6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #851e04;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#851e04 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #851e04 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(133, 30, 4, 0.5)
rgb(133 30 4 / 50%)
#851e0480
hsl(12 94% 27% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #851e04 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#851e041a#F3E9E6
20%#851e0433#E7D2CD
40%#851e0466#CEA59B
60%#851e0499#B67868
80%#851e04cc#9D4B36

Gradients from #851e04

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #C12B06, #851e04 45%, #7C1C04);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #851e04, #676303);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #851e04, #046B85);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DE3207 0%, #851e04 45%, #7C1C04 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF6F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B70549 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A38105 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7C1C04 0%, transparent 65%), #851e04;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #851e04

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#851e04 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
Food and drinkEntertainmentRetailSport
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 2.18:1 — lift it to #DE3207 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#851e04, answered

What color is #851e04?

#851e04 is a dark electric red, closest to Dark Red (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 12° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 27% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #851e04?

rgb(133, 30, 4) — 133 red, 30 green and 4 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 11.8% / 1.6% by channel.

What is #851e04 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(12, 94%, 27%) and hsv(12, 97%, 52%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #851e04 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0592 and perceived brightness is 30%, so white text on it reaches 9.61:1.

Should I use black or white text on #851e04?

White. It scores 9.61:1 against #851e04, versus 2.18:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #851e04 accessible on a white background?

#851e04 on white scores 9.61:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #851e04?

#046B85 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #04855F and #042B85, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #851e04?

For interface work: #FAF6F4 as the surface, #EDC9C0 for borders, #9B5B4B for secondary text, #018881 as an accent and #7C1C04 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #85042B and #855F04 stays calm, while #046B85 is the loudest partner.

What is #851e04 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 77%, 97%, 48%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #851e04 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #853104; nudged cooler, #870318.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #851e04?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 25.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #851e04 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #851e04 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#851e04] or text-[#851e04], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #851e04 with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 30, 4, 0.5), or #851e0480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C28F82; over black, #430F02.

Is #851e04 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #993300, ΔE2000 7.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #851e04 mean?

As a red, it reads urgent, appetising, bold. Red arrives before the rest of the page does. It raises attention and appetite, which is why it runs food, sport and clearance pricing. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #851e04?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C12B06, #851e04 45%, #7C1C04). For more colour, a short hue run to #676303 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #851e04 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #851e04 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.