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red · warm

#9d1821

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

Token name suggestion: Shadow Ember

RGB
157, 24, 33
HSL
356°, 74%, 36%
CMYK
0, 85, 79, 38
Luminance
0.0793

#9d1821 is a dark vivid red, 356° on the wheel and 19/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (8.12:1). As text it scores 8.12:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Brown, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(356 74% 36%)rgb(157 24 33)Base step 800AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9d1821 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9d1821
Hue
356°
red
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
36%
dark
Brightness
62%
HSV value
Perceived
35%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0793
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
19/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
8.12:1
Closest name
Brown
ΔE2000 3.2
Chroma
61.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.450
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 20.2
Web-safe
#990033
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue356° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness36%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9d1821.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool19% 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
Red90%
Green8%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#9d1821
HEX (8-digit)#9d1821ff
RGBrgb(157, 24, 33)
RGBArgba(157, 24, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(356, 74%, 36%)
HSV / HSBhsv(356, 85%, 62%)
HWBhwb(356 9% 38%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 85%, 79%, 38%)
LABlab(33.8 52.4 31.4)
LCHlch(33.8 61.1 31.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.450 0.167 24.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(14.51, 7.93, 2.21)
Decimal10295329
Display P3color(display-p3 0.616 0.094 0.129)
Web-safe#990033

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9d1821;
background-color: #9d1821;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9d1821;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9d1821] bg-[#9d1821]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9d1821;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.616, green: 0.094, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.616, green: 0.094, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9D1821</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9D1821)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9D1821)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 24, 157)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(157, 24, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(157, 24, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 157, 24, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6157f, 0.0941f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{157,24,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9d1821 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9d1821 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6F1117, #EED3D5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9d1821 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: #FCF3F4;
  --brand-100: #F8E7E8;
  --brand-200: #F3C8CB;
  --brand-300: #F09EA3;
  --brand-400: #E96D75;
  --brand-500: #E13C48;
  --brand-600: #D4202D;
  --brand-700: #B11B25;
  --brand-800: #9d1821;
  --brand-900: #671419;
  --brand-950: #400C10;
  --brand: #9d1821;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C3;
  --brand-hover: #7E131B;
  --brand-pressed: #5F0F14;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241415;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF3F4',
        100: '#F8E7E8',
        200: '#F3C8CB',
        300: '#F09EA3',
        400: '#E96D75',
        500: '#E13C48',
        600: '#D4202D',
        700: '#B11B25',
        800: '#9d1821',
        900: '#671419',
        950: '#400C10',
        DEFAULT: '#9d1821',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF3F4,
  '100': #F8E7E8,
  '200': #F3C8CB,
  '300': #F09EA3,
  '400': #E96D75,
  '500': #E13C48,
  '600': #D4202D,
  '700': #B11B25,
  '800': #9d1821,
  '900': #671419,
  '950': #400C10,
);
$brand-base: #9d1821;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF3F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8E7E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3C8CB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F09EA3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E96D75", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E13C48", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D4202D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B11B25", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9d1821", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#671419", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#400C10", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9d1821 · 8.12:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 8.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #9d1821 as text scores 8.12:1 on white and 2.59:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FCE9EA at 6.95:1.

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
#9d1821 · 8.12:1
AA on whitealready passes
#9d1821
The quick fox
#9d1821 · 8.12:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#9d1821
The quick fox
#DF2D39 · 4.57:1
AA on black+17% L
#DF2D39
The quick fox
#E96F78 · 7.01:1
AAA on black+32% L
#E96F78

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9D1821 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
#9d1821 on white: 8.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9d1821 on black: 2.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9d1821 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9d1821.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White8.12:1AaAa
Slate 507.76:1AaAa
Slate 1007.41:1AaAa
Slate 2006.59:1AaAa
Slate 3005.47:1AaAa
Slate 4003.17:1AaAa
Slate 5001.71:1AaAa
Slate 6001.07:1AaAa
Slate 7001.28:1AaAa
Slate 8001.80:1AaAa
Slate 9002.20:1AaAa
Black2.59:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #443D20
deuteranopia · #645A1B
tritanopia · #AD001D

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. #9d1821 is pinned to step 800; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCF3F4
#F8E7E8
#F3C8CB
#F09EA3
#E96D75
#E13C48
#D4202D
#B11B25
#9d1821
#671419
#400C10
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #FCF3F4Darkest = 950 · #400C10Text 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 0.042 24.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 24.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.100 24.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.130 24.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.153 24.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.167 24.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.167 24.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.157 24.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.140 24.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.117 24.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.092 24.5);
}

Colors that work with #9d1821

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#FAF4F5
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0C3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B50
Captions on the surface
Accent#14A174
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6F1117
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCE9EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241415
Dark-mode background
Hover#7E131B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5F0F14
Two steps down
Disabled#AA7B7E
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B9111C
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 #9d1821

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
  • Weight65/100
  • 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#189D94
Analogous left#9D1864
Analogous right#9D5118
Split-complement 1#189D51
Split-complement 2#18649D
Triadic 1#219D18
Triadic 2#18219D
Tetradic#649D18
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°356°

#9d1821 sits at 356°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red61.6%
Green9.4%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
157
0x9d
G · 0–255
24
0x18
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta84.7%
Yellow79.0%
Key (black)38.4%

Total ink coverage is 202%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9d1821 text on a black background

contrast 2.59:1

Card sample

#9d1821 text on a white background

contrast 8.12:1

Card sample

#9d1821 on grey

7.41:1

#9d1821 on its own surface

7.47:1

#9d1821 on its dark surface

2.18:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9d1821;
Background color
Panel with #9d1821 background
background-color: #9d1821;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9d1821;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(157, 24, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(157, 24, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9d1821;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9d1821, #9D6818);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9d1821, #9D8918);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9d1821;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9d1821;
caret-color: #9d1821;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9d1821;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCE9EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9d1821;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9d1821 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9d1821 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(157, 24, 33, 0.5)
rgb(157 24 33 / 50%)
#9d182180
hsl(356 74% 36% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9d1821 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9d18211a#F5E8E9
20%#9d182133#EBD1D3
40%#9d182166#D8A3A6
60%#9d182199#C4747A
80%#9d1821cc#B1464D

Gradients from #9d1821

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, #D2202C, #9d1821 45%, #6F1117);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9d1821, #835F14);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9d1821, #189D94);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E0313D 0%, #9d1821 45%, #6F1117 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C91F8E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B86C1C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6F1117 0%, transparent 65%), #9d1821;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9d1821

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.

#9d1821 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 2.59:1 — lift it to #DF2D39 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.

#9d1821, answered

What color is #9d1821?

#9d1821 is a dark vivid red, closest to Brown (ΔE2000 3.2). It sits at 356° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 36% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #9d1821?

rgb(157, 24, 33) — 157 red, 24 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 61.6% / 9.4% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #9d1821 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(356, 74%, 36%) and hsv(356, 85%, 62%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9d1821 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0793 and perceived brightness is 35%, so white text on it reaches 8.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9d1821?

White. It scores 8.12:1 against #9d1821, versus 2.59:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #9d1821 accessible on a white background?

#9d1821 on white scores 8.12:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #9d1821?

#189D94 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #189D51 and #18649D, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9d1821?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #EDC0C3 for borders, #9B4B50 for secondary text, #14A174 as an accent and #6F1117 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9D1864 and #9D5118 stays calm, while #189D94 is the loudest partner.

What is #9d1821 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 85%, 79%, 38%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9d1821 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 19 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9D3918; nudged cooler, #9F1652.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9d1821?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 20.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9d1821 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9d1821 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9d1821] or text-[#9d1821], 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 #9d1821 with 50% opacity?

rgba(157, 24, 33, 0.5), or #9d182180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CE8C90; over black, #4F0C11.

Is #9d1821 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #990033, ΔE2000 8.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9d1821 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 #9d1821?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D2202C, #9d1821 45%, #6F1117). For more colour, a short hue run to #835F14 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9d1821 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9d1821 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.