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red · warm

#972b21

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

Token name suggestion: Shadow Cherry

RGB
151, 43, 33
HSL
5°, 64%, 36%
CMYK
0, 72, 78, 41
Luminance
0.0842

#972b21 is a dark vivid red, 5° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (7.83:1). As text it scores 7.83:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Brown, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(5 64% 36%)rgb(151 43 33)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #972b21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#972b21
Hue
red
Saturation
64%
vivid
Lightness
36%
dark
Brightness
59%
HSV value
Perceived
35%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0842
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
7.83:1
Closest name
Brown
ΔE2000 3.6
Chroma
54.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.455
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 20
Web-safe
#993333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue5° of 360°
Saturation64%
Lightness36%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #972b21.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red78%
Green21%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#972b21
HEX (8-digit)#972b21ff
RGBrgb(151, 43, 33)
RGBArgba(151, 43, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(5, 64%, 36%)
HSV / HSBhsv(5, 78%, 59%)
HWBhwb(5 13% 41%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 72%, 78%, 41%)
LABlab(34.8 44.3 32.1)
LCHlch(34.8 54.7 35.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.455 0.145 29.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(13.90, 8.42, 2.33)
Decimal9906977
Display P3color(display-p3 0.592 0.169 0.129)
Web-safe#993333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #972b21;
background-color: #972b21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #972b21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#972b21] bg-[#972b21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #972b21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.592, green: 0.169, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.592, green: 0.169, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#972B21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF972B21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF972B21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 43, 151)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(151, 43, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(151, 43, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 151, 43, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5922f, 0.1686f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{151,43,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #972b21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #972b21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#691E17, #EED5D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #972b21 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: #FBF4F4;
  --brand-100: #F7E9E8;
  --brand-200: #F1CECB;
  --brand-300: #EBA9A3;
  --brand-400: #E17E75;
  --brand-500: #D75347;
  --brand-600: #C9392C;
  --brand-700: #972b21;
  --brand-800: #86261D;
  --brand-900: #611F19;
  --brand-950: #3D1410;
  --brand: #972b21;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC4C0;
  --brand-hover: #7A231B;
  --brand-pressed: #5C1A14;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241514;
    --brand-ink: #EED5D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF4F4',
        100: '#F7E9E8',
        200: '#F1CECB',
        300: '#EBA9A3',
        400: '#E17E75',
        500: '#D75347',
        600: '#C9392C',
        700: '#972b21',
        800: '#86261D',
        900: '#611F19',
        950: '#3D1410',
        DEFAULT: '#972b21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF4F4,
  '100': #F7E9E8,
  '200': #F1CECB,
  '300': #EBA9A3,
  '400': #E17E75,
  '500': #D75347,
  '600': #C9392C,
  '700': #972b21,
  '800': #86261D,
  '900': #611F19,
  '950': #3D1410,
);
$brand-base: #972b21;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7E9E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F1CECB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EBA9A3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E17E75", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D75347", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C9392C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#972b21", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#86261D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#611F19", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3D1410", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #972b21 · 7.83:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 7.83:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.68:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #972b21 as text scores 7.83:1 on white and 2.68:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FAEBEA at 6.76:1.

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
#972b21 · 7.83:1
AA on whitealready passes
#972b21
The quick fox
#972b21 · 7.83:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#972b21
The quick fox
#D24032 · 4.52:1
AA on black+15% L
#D24032
The quick fox
#DF776D · 7.00:1
AAA on black+29% L
#DF776D

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #972B21 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
#972b21 on white: 7.83:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#972b21 on black: 2.68:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #972b21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #972b21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White7.83:1AaAa
Slate 507.48:1AaAa
Slate 1007.14:1AaAa
Slate 2006.35:1AaAa
Slate 3005.27:1AaAa
Slate 4003.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.64:1AaAa
Slate 6001.03:1AaAa
Slate 7001.32:1AaAa
Slate 8001.87:1AaAa
Slate 9002.28:1AaAa
Black2.68:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #4B431F
deuteranopia · #655B1D
tritanopia · #A7022A

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. #972b21 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.

#FBF4F4
#F7E9E8
#F1CECB
#EBA9A3
#E17E75
#D75347
#C9392C
#972b21
#86261D
#611F19
#3D1410
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBF4F4Darkest = 950 · #3D1410Text 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 0.036 29.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 29.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.087 29.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.113 29.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.134 29.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.145 29.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.145 29.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.137 29.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.122 29.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.102 29.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.080 29.2);
}

Colors that work with #972b21

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B514B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D9B86
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#691E17
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAEBEA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241514
Dark-mode background
Hover#7A231B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5C1A14
Two steps down
Disabled#AC817D
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B2271A
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 #972b21

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#218D97
Analogous left#972152
Analogous right#976621
Split-complement 1#219766
Split-complement 2#215297
Triadic 1#21972B
Triadic 2#2B2197
Tetradic#529721
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°5°

#972b21 sits at 5°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red59.2%
Green16.9%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
151
0x97
G · 0–255
43
0x2b
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta71.5%
Yellow78.1%
Key (black)40.8%

Total ink coverage is 190%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#972b21 text on a black background

contrast 2.68:1

Card sample

#972b21 text on a white background

contrast 7.83:1

Card sample

#972b21 on grey

7.14:1

#972b21 on its own surface

7.24:1

#972b21 on its dark surface

2.25:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #972b21;
Background color
Panel with #972b21 background
background-color: #972b21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #972b21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(151, 43, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(151, 43, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #972b21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #972b21, #977A21);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #972b21, #979721);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #972b21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #972b21;
caret-color: #972b21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #972b21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAEBEA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #972b21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#972b21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #972b21 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(151, 43, 33, 0.5)
rgb(151 43 33 / 50%)
#972b2180
hsl(5 64% 36% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #972b21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#972b211a#F5EAE9
20%#972b2133#EAD5D3
40%#972b2166#D5AAA6
60%#972b2199#C1807A
80%#972b21cc#AC554D

Gradients from #972b21

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, #C9392C, #972b21 45%, #691E17);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #972b21, #7E6E1C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #972b21, #218D97);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D54C3F 0%, #972b21 45%, #691E17 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C12A75 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B08327 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #691E17 0%, transparent 65%), #972b21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #972b21

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.

#972b21 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 2.68:1 — lift it to #D24032 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.

#972b21, answered

What color is #972b21?

#972b21 is a dark vivid red, closest to Brown (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 5° on the hue wheel with 64% saturation and 36% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #972b21?

rgb(151, 43, 33) — 151 red, 43 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 59.2% / 16.9% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #972b21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(5, 64%, 36%) and hsv(5, 78%, 59%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #972b21 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0842 and perceived brightness is 35%, so white text on it reaches 7.83:1.

Should I use black or white text on #972b21?

White. It scores 7.83:1 against #972b21, versus 2.68:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #972b21 accessible on a white background?

#972b21 on white scores 7.83:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #972b21?

#218D97 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #219766 and #215297, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #972b21?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC4C0 for borders, #9B514B for secondary text, #1D9B86 as an accent and #691E17 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #972152 and #976621 stays calm, while #218D97 is the loudest partner.

What is #972b21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 72%, 78%, 41%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #972b21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #974621; nudged cooler, #991F41.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #972b21?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 20 away. That is a visible difference, so define #972b21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #972b21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#972b21] or text-[#972b21], 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 #972b21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(151, 43, 33, 0.5), or #972b2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CB9590; over black, #4C1611.

Is #972b21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #993333, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #972b21 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 #972b21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C9392C, #972b21 45%, #691E17). For more colour, a short hue run to #7E6E1C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #972b21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #972b21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.