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red · warm

#9b686b

a balanced, soft red · warm · closest name: Indian Red

Token name suggestion: Atlas Ember

RGB
155, 104, 107
HSL
357°, 20%, 51%
CMYK
0, 33, 31, 39
Luminance
0.1793

#9b686b is a balanced soft red, 357° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.59:1). As text it scores 4.58:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Indian Red, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(357 20% 51%)rgb(155 104 107)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9b686b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9b686b
Hue
357°
red
Saturation
20%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
61%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1793
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
4.59:1
Closest name
Indian Red
ΔE2000 11.9
Chroma
21.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.572
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 16.5
Web-safe
#996666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue357° of 360°
Saturation20%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9b686b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool32% 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
Red39%
Green55%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#9b686b
HEX (8-digit)#9b686bff
RGBrgb(155, 104, 107)
RGBArgba(155, 104, 107, 1)
HSLhsl(357, 20%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(356, 33%, 61%)
HWBhwb(357 41% 39%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 33%, 31%, 39%)
LABlab(49.4 20.9 6.7)
LCHlch(49.4 21.9 17.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.572 0.066 15.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(21.12, 17.93, 16.26)
Decimal10184811
Display P3color(display-p3 0.608 0.408 0.420)
Web-safe#996666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9b686b;
background-color: #9b686b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9b686b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9b686b] bg-[#9b686b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9b686b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.608, green: 0.408, blue: 0.420)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.608, green: 0.408, blue: 0.420, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9B686B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9B686B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9B686B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(107, 104, 155)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(155, 104, 107)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(155, 104, 107)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 155, 104, 107)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6078f, 0.4078f, 0.4196f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{155,104,107}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9b686b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9b686b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4D3334, #E7DADB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9b686b 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: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-100: #F2EDEE;
  --brand-200: #E4D8D9;
  --brand-300: #D2BCBD;
  --brand-400: #BC9A9C;
  --brand-500: #A6787B;
  --brand-600: #9b686b;
  --brand-700: #7B5154;
  --brand-800: #624143;
  --brand-900: #493233;
  --brand-950: #2D1F20;
  --brand: #9b686b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #DECECF;
  --brand-hover: #86595C;
  --brand-pressed: #714B4D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #221617;
    --brand-ink: #E7DADB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F2EDEE',
        200: '#E4D8D9',
        300: '#D2BCBD',
        400: '#BC9A9C',
        500: '#A6787B',
        600: '#9b686b',
        700: '#7B5154',
        800: '#624143',
        900: '#493233',
        950: '#2D1F20',
        DEFAULT: '#9b686b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F2EDEE,
  '200': #E4D8D9,
  '300': #D2BCBD,
  '400': #BC9A9C,
  '500': #A6787B,
  '600': #9b686b,
  '700': #7B5154,
  '800': #624143,
  '900': #493233,
  '950': #2D1F20,
);
$brand-base: #9b686b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E4D8D9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D2BCBD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BC9A9C", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A6787B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9b686b", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7B5154", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#624143", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#493233", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2D1F20", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #9b686b · 4.59:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.58:1
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.59:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #9b686b as text scores 4.58:1 on white and 4.59:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4D3334 at 2.49:1.

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
#9b686b · 4.58:1
AA on whitealready passes
#9b686b
The quick fox
#744D4F · 7.20:1
AAA on white−13% L
#744D4F
The quick fox
#9b686b · 4.59:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9b686b
The quick fox
#B38D8F · 7.12:1
AAA on black+12% L
#B38D8F

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9B686B 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
#9b686b on white: 4.58:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9b686b on black: 4.59:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9b686b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9b686b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.58:1AaAa
Slate 504.38:1AaAa
Slate 1004.18:1AaAa
Slate 2003.71:1AaAa
Slate 3003.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.79:1AaAa
Slate 5001.04:1AaAa
Slate 6001.65:1AaAa
Slate 7002.26:1AaAa
Slate 8003.19:1AaAa
Slate 9003.90:1AaAa
Black4.59:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #71706B
deuteranopia · #7D796A
tritanopia · #A56369

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. #9b686b is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F6F6
#F2EDEE
#E4D8D9
#D2BCBD
#BC9A9C
#A6787B
#9b686b
#7B5154
#624143
#493233
#2D1F20
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #2D1F20Text 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 0.016 15.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 15.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.040 15.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.051 15.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.061 15.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.066 15.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.066 15.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.062 15.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.055 15.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.046 15.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.036 15.5);
}

Colors that work with #9b686b

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

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F9F6F6
Tinted page background
Border#DECECF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8A5B5E
Captions on the surface
Accent#4D7F6F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4D3334
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F0F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#221617
Dark-mode background
Hover#86595C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#714B4D
Two steps down
Disabled#C8ACAD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#AF696D
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 #9b686b

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • 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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#689B98
Analogous left#9B6885
Analogous right#9B7F68
Split-complement 1#689B7F
Split-complement 2#68859B
Triadic 1#6B9B68
Triadic 2#686B9B
Tetradic#859B68
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°357°

#9b686b sits at 357°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red60.8%
Green40.8%
Blue42.0%
R · 0–255
155
0x9b
G · 0–255
104
0x68
B · 0–255
107
0x6b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta32.9%
Yellow31.0%
Key (black)39.2%

Total ink coverage is 103%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9b686b text on a black background

contrast 4.59:1

Card sample

#9b686b text on a white background

contrast 4.58:1

Card sample

#9b686b on grey

4.18:1

#9b686b on its own surface

4.26:1

#9b686b on its dark surface

3.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9b686b;
Background color
Panel with #9b686b background
background-color: #9b686b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9b686b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(155, 104, 107, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(155, 104, 107, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9b686b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9b686b, #9B8768);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9b686b, #9B9468);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9b686b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9b686b;
caret-color: #9b686b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9b686b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F0F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9b686b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9b686b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9b686b 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(155, 104, 107, 0.5)
rgb(155 104 107 / 50%)
#9b686b80
hsl(357 20% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9b686b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9b686b1a#F5F0F0
20%#9b686b33#EBE1E1
40%#9b686b66#D7C3C4
60%#9b686b99#C3A4A6
80%#9b686bcc#AF8689

Gradients from #9b686b

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, #B38D8F, #9b686b 45%, #4D3334);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9b686b, #897B5B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9b686b, #689B98);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C09FA1 0%, #9b686b 45%, #4D3334 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F6F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #AF87A1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A7927A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4D3334 0%, transparent 65%), #9b686b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9b686b

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.

#9b686b 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 4.59:1.

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.

#9b686b, answered

What color is #9b686b?

#9b686b is a balanced soft red, closest to Indian Red (ΔE2000 11.9). It sits at 357° on the hue wheel with 20% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #9b686b?

rgb(155, 104, 107) — 155 red, 104 green and 107 blue out of 255, or 60.8% / 40.8% / 42% by channel.

What is #9b686b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(357, 20%, 51%) and hsv(356, 33%, 61%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9b686b a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1793 and perceived brightness is 48%, so black text on it reaches 4.59:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9b686b?

Black. It scores 4.59:1 against #9b686b, versus 4.58:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #9b686b accessible on a white background?

#9b686b on white scores 4.58:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #9b686b?

#689B98 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #689B7F and #68859B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9b686b?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #DECECF for borders, #8A5B5E for secondary text, #4D7F6F as an accent and #4D3334 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9B6885 and #9B7F68 stays calm, while #689B98 is the loudest partner.

What is #9b686b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 33%, 31%, 39%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9b686b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 32 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9B7868; nudged cooler, #9E667D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9b686b?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 16.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9b686b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9b686b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9b686b] or text-[#9b686b], 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 #9b686b with 50% opacity?

rgba(155, 104, 107, 0.5), or #9b686b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CDB4B5; over black, #4E3436.

Is #9b686b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996666, ΔE2000 1.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9b686b 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #9b686b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B38D8F, #9b686b 45%, #4D3334). For more colour, a short hue run to #897B5B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9b686b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9b686b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.