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red · warm

#8c2c2d

a dark, vivid red · warm · closest name: Brown

Token name suggestion: Shadow Ember

RGB
140, 44, 45
HSL
359°, 52%, 36%
CMYK
0, 69, 68, 45
Luminance
0.0757

#8c2c2d is a dark vivid red, 359° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (8.36:1). As text it scores 8.36:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Brown, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(359 52% 36%)rgb(140 44 45)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8c2c2d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8c2c2d
Hue
359°
red
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
36%
dark
Brightness
55%
HSV value
Perceived
33%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0757
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
8.36:1
Closest name
Brown
ΔE2000 5.4
Chroma
46.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.439
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 21.9
Web-safe
#993333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue359° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness36%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8c2c2d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool17% 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
Red74%
Green24%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#8c2c2d
HEX (8-digit)#8c2c2dff
RGBrgb(140, 44, 45)
RGBArgba(140, 44, 45, 1)
HSLhsl(359, 52%, 36%)
HSV / HSBhsv(359, 69%, 55%)
HWBhwb(359 17% 45%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 69%, 68%, 45%)
LABlab(33.1 40.7 22.2)
LCHlch(33.1 46.3 28.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.439 0.130 23.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(12.19, 7.57, 3.30)
Decimal9186349
Display P3color(display-p3 0.549 0.173 0.176)
Web-safe#993333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8c2c2d;
background-color: #8c2c2d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8c2c2d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8c2c2d] bg-[#8c2c2d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8c2c2d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.549, green: 0.173, blue: 0.176)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.549, green: 0.173, blue: 0.176, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8C2C2D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8C2C2D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8C2C2D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(45, 44, 140)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(140, 44, 45)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(140, 44, 45)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 140, 44, 45)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5490f, 0.1725f, 0.1765f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{140,44,45}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8c2c2d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8c2c2d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#611E1F, #EED3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8c2c2d 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: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-100: #F6E9EA;
  --brand-200: #EDCFCF;
  --brand-300: #E4AAAA;
  --brand-400: #D77F80;
  --brand-500: #C95455;
  --brand-600: #BA3B3C;
  --brand-700: #8c2c2d;
  --brand-800: #7C2728;
  --brand-900: #5B2020;
  --brand-950: #391414;
  --brand: #8c2c2d;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-border: #EBC1C1;
  --brand-hover: #712324;
  --brand-pressed: #561B1C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF4F4',
        100: '#F6E9EA',
        200: '#EDCFCF',
        300: '#E4AAAA',
        400: '#D77F80',
        500: '#C95455',
        600: '#BA3B3C',
        700: '#8c2c2d',
        800: '#7C2728',
        900: '#5B2020',
        950: '#391414',
        DEFAULT: '#8c2c2d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF4F4,
  '100': #F6E9EA,
  '200': #EDCFCF,
  '300': #E4AAAA,
  '400': #D77F80,
  '500': #C95455,
  '600': #BA3B3C,
  '700': #8c2c2d,
  '800': #7C2728,
  '900': #5B2020,
  '950': #391414,
);
$brand-base: #8c2c2d;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6E9EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDCFCF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E4AAAA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D77F80", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C95455", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#BA3B3C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8c2c2d", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7C2728", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5B2020", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#391414", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #8c2c2d · 8.36:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 8.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.51:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8c2c2d as text scores 8.36:1 on white and 2.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F9ECEC at 7.26:1.

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
#8c2c2d · 8.36:1
AA on whitealready passes
#8c2c2d
The quick fox
#8c2c2d · 8.36:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#8c2c2d
The quick fox
#C74D4E · 4.60:1
AA on black+18% L
#C74D4E
The quick fox
#D77F80 · 7.24:1
AAA on black+31% L
#D77F80

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8C2C2D 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
#8c2c2d on white: 8.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8c2c2d on black: 2.51:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8c2c2d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8c2c2d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White8.36:1AaAa
Slate 507.99:1AaAa
Slate 1007.63:1AaAa
Slate 2006.78:1AaAa
Slate 3005.63:1AaAa
Slate 4003.26:1AaAa
Slate 5001.76:1AaAa
Slate 6001.10:1AaAa
Slate 7001.24:1AaAa
Slate 8001.75:1AaAa
Slate 9002.14:1AaAa
Black2.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #46412C
deuteranopia · #5E552A
tritanopia · #9A142D

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. #8c2c2d is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF4F4
#F6E9EA
#EDCFCF
#E4AAAA
#D77F80
#C95455
#BA3B3C
#8c2c2d
#7C2728
#5B2020
#391414
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FAF4F4Darkest = 950 · #391414Text step on white = 600
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 0.033 23.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.052 23.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.078 23.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.102 23.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.120 23.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.130 23.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.130 23.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.122 23.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.109 23.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.091 23.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.072 23.7);
}

Colors that work with #8c2c2d

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#FAF4F4
Tinted page background
Border#EBC1C1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#289075
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#611E1F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9ECEC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#712324
One step down in lightness
Pressed#561B1C
Two steps down
Disabled#AC7D7D
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A62728
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 #8c2c2d

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight64/100
  • 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#2C8C8B
Analogous left#8C2C5D
Analogous right#8C5B2C
Split-complement 1#2C8C5B
Split-complement 2#2C5D8C
Triadic 1#2D8C2C
Triadic 2#2C2D8C
Tetradic#5D8C2C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°359°

#8c2c2d sits at 359°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red54.9%
Green17.3%
Blue17.6%
R · 0–255
140
0x8c
G · 0–255
44
0x2c
B · 0–255
45
0x2d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta68.6%
Yellow67.9%
Key (black)45.1%

Total ink coverage is 182%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8c2c2d text on a black background

contrast 2.51:1

Card sample

#8c2c2d text on a white background

contrast 8.36:1

Card sample

#8c2c2d on grey

7.63:1

#8c2c2d on its own surface

7.68:1

#8c2c2d on its dark surface

2.12:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8c2c2d;
Background color
Panel with #8c2c2d background
background-color: #8c2c2d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8c2c2d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(140, 44, 45, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(140, 44, 45, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8c2c2d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8c2c2d, #8C6B2C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8c2c2d, #8C832C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8c2c2d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8c2c2d;
caret-color: #8c2c2d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8c2c2d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9ECEC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8c2c2d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8c2c2d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8c2c2d 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(140, 44, 45, 0.5)
rgb(140 44 45 / 50%)
#8c2c2d80
hsl(359 52% 36% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8c2c2d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8c2c2d1a#F4EAEA
20%#8c2c2d33#E8D5D5
40%#8c2c2d66#D1ABAB
60%#8c2c2d99#BA8081
80%#8c2c2dcc#A35657

Gradients from #8c2c2d

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, #BB3B3C, #8c2c2d 45%, #611E1F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8c2c2d, #756025);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8c2c2d, #2C8C8B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C74D4E 0%, #8c2c2d 45%, #611E1F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B33881 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A37433 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #611E1F 0%, transparent 65%), #8c2c2d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8c2c2d

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.

#8c2c2d 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 2.51:1 — lift it to #C74D4E 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.

#8c2c2d, answered

What color is #8c2c2d?

#8c2c2d is a dark vivid red, closest to Brown (ΔE2000 5.4). It sits at 359° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 36% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #8c2c2d?

rgb(140, 44, 45) — 140 red, 44 green and 45 blue out of 255, or 54.9% / 17.3% / 17.6% by channel.

What is #8c2c2d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(359, 52%, 36%) and hsv(359, 69%, 55%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8c2c2d a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0757 and perceived brightness is 33%, so white text on it reaches 8.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8c2c2d?

White. It scores 8.36:1 against #8c2c2d, versus 2.51:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #8c2c2d accessible on a white background?

#8c2c2d on white scores 8.36:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #8c2c2d?

#2C8C8B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2C8C5B and #2C5D8C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8c2c2d?

For interface work: #FAF4F4 as the surface, #EBC1C1 for borders, #9B4B4B for secondary text, #289075 as an accent and #611E1F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8C2C5D and #8C5B2C stays calm, while #2C8C8B is the loudest partner.

What is #8c2c2d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 69%, 68%, 45%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8c2c2d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 17 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8C492C; nudged cooler, #8E2A50.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8c2c2d?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 21.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8c2c2d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8c2c2d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8c2c2d] or text-[#8c2c2d], 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 #8c2c2d with 50% opacity?

rgba(140, 44, 45, 0.5), or #8c2c2d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C69696; over black, #461617.

Is #8c2c2d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #993333, ΔE2000 3.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8c2c2d 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 #8c2c2d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BB3B3C, #8c2c2d 45%, #611E1F). For more colour, a short hue run to #756025 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8c2c2d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8c2c2d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.