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red · warm

#ac142f

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

Token name suggestion: Slate Ember

RGB
172, 20, 47
HSL
349°, 79%, 38%
CMYK
0, 88, 73, 33
Luminance
0.0948

#ac142f is a dark electric red, 349° on the wheel and 23/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (7.25:1). As text it scores 7.25:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Brown, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(349 79% 38%)rgb(172 20 47)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac142f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac142f
Hue
349°
red
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
38%
dark
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
38%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0948
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
23/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
7.25:1
Closest name
Brown
ΔE2000 4.3
Chroma
64.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.479
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#990033
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue349° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness38%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac142f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool23% 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
Red93%
Green5%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#ac142f
HEX (8-digit)#ac142fff
RGBrgb(172, 20, 47)
RGBArgba(172, 20, 47, 1)
HSLhsl(349, 79%, 38%)
HSV / HSBhsv(349, 88%, 67%)
HWBhwb(349 8% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 88%, 73%, 33%)
LABlab(36.9 58.0 27.1)
LCHlch(36.9 64.0 25.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.479 0.181 20.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(17.78, 9.48, 3.58)
Decimal11277359
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.078 0.184)
Web-safe#990033

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac142f;
background-color: #ac142f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac142f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac142f] bg-[#ac142f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac142f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.078, blue: 0.184)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.078, blue: 0.184, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC142F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC142F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC142F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(47, 20, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 20, 47)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 20, 47)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 20, 47)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.0784f, 0.1843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,20,47}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac142f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac142f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#720D1F, #EED3D8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac142f 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: #F9E6EA;
  --brand-200: #F5C7CF;
  --brand-300: #F39AAA;
  --brand-400: #ED6880;
  --brand-500: #E83656;
  --brand-600: #DB193C;
  --brand-700: #ac142f;
  --brand-800: #921128;
  --brand-900: #6A1121;
  --brand-950: #420A14;
  --brand: #ac142f;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C8;
  --brand-hover: #8C1026;
  --brand-pressed: #6C0D1E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241417;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF3F4',
        100: '#F9E6EA',
        200: '#F5C7CF',
        300: '#F39AAA',
        400: '#ED6880',
        500: '#E83656',
        600: '#DB193C',
        700: '#ac142f',
        800: '#921128',
        900: '#6A1121',
        950: '#420A14',
        DEFAULT: '#ac142f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF3F4,
  '100': #F9E6EA,
  '200': #F5C7CF,
  '300': #F39AAA,
  '400': #ED6880,
  '500': #E83656,
  '600': #DB193C,
  '700': #ac142f,
  '800': #921128,
  '900': #6A1121,
  '950': #420A14,
);
$brand-base: #ac142f;
$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": "#F9E6EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5C7CF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F39AAA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ED6880", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E83656", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DB193C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ac142f", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#921128", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6A1121", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#420A14", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac142f · 7.25:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 7.25:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ac142f as text scores 7.25:1 on white and 2.90:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FCE8EC at 6.18:1.

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
#ac142f · 7.25:1
AA on whitealready passes
#ac142f
The quick fox
#ac142f · 7.25:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#ac142f
The quick fox
#E51D41 · 4.58:1
AA on black+13% L
#E51D41
The quick fox
#EE6B82 · 7.06:1
AAA on black+30% L
#EE6B82

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC142F 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
#ac142f on white: 7.25:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac142f on black: 2.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac142f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac142f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White7.25:1AaAa
Slate 506.93:1AaAa
Slate 1006.62:1AaAa
Slate 2005.88:1AaAa
Slate 3004.89:1AaAa
Slate 4002.83:1AaAa
Slate 5001.52:1AaAa
Slate 6001.04:1AaAa
Slate 7001.43:1AaAa
Slate 8002.02:1AaAa
Slate 9002.46:1AaAa
Black2.90:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #48432F
deuteranopia · #6C622A
tritanopia · #BE0021

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. #ac142f 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.

#FCF3F4
#F9E6EA
#F5C7CF
#F39AAA
#ED6880
#E83656
#DB193C
#ac142f
#921128
#6A1121
#420A14
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCF3F4Darkest = 950 · #420A14Text 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 0.045 20.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.073 20.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.109 20.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.142 20.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.167 20.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.181 20.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.181 20.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.171 20.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.152 20.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.127 20.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.100 20.0);
}

Colors that work with #ac142f

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#EDC0C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B59
Captions on the surface
Accent#11BB72
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#720D1F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCE8EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241417
Dark-mode background
Hover#8C1026
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6C0D1E
Two steps down
Disabled#AF8189
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C90B2D
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 #ac142f

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
  • Weight62/100
  • 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#14AC91
Analogous left#AC147B
Analogous right#AC4514
Split-complement 1#14AC45
Split-complement 2#147BAC
Triadic 1#2FAC14
Triadic 2#142FAC
Tetradic#7BAC14
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°349°

#ac142f sits at 349°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green7.8%
Blue18.4%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
20
0x14
B · 0–255
47
0x2f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta88.4%
Yellow72.7%
Key (black)32.5%

Total ink coverage is 194%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ac142f text on a black background

contrast 2.90:1

Card sample

#ac142f text on a white background

contrast 7.25:1

Card sample

#ac142f on grey

6.62:1

#ac142f on its own surface

6.67:1

#ac142f on its dark surface

2.44:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac142f;
Background color
Panel with #ac142f background
background-color: #ac142f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac142f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 20, 47, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 20, 47, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac142f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac142f, #AC5E14);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac142f, #AC8414);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac142f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac142f;
caret-color: #ac142f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac142f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCE8EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac142f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac142f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac142f 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(172, 20, 47, 0.5)
rgb(172 20 47 / 50%)
#ac142f80
hsl(349 79% 38% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac142f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac142f1a#F7E8EA
20%#ac142f33#EED0D5
40%#ac142f66#DEA1AC
60%#ac142f99#CD7282
80%#ac142fcc#BD4359

Gradients from #ac142f

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, #E31A3E, #ac142f 45%, #720D1F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac142f, #905A11);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac142f, #14AC91);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E73454 0%, #ac142f 45%, #720D1F 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%, #DA19AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C75E17 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #720D1F 0%, transparent 65%), #ac142f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac142f

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.

#ac142f 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 2.90:1 — lift it to #E51D41 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.

#ac142f, answered

What color is #ac142f?

#ac142f is a dark electric red, closest to Brown (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 349° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 38% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ac142f?

rgb(172, 20, 47) — 172 red, 20 green and 47 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 7.8% / 18.4% by channel.

What is #ac142f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(349, 79%, 38%) and hsv(349, 88%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac142f a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0948 and perceived brightness is 38%, so white text on it reaches 7.25:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac142f?

White. It scores 7.25:1 against #ac142f, versus 2.90:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #ac142f accessible on a white background?

#ac142f on white scores 7.25:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #ac142f?

#14AC91 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #14AC45 and #147BAC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac142f?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #EDC0C8 for borders, #9B4B59 for secondary text, #11BB72 as an accent and #720D1F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AC147B and #AC4514 stays calm, while #14AC91 is the loudest partner.

What is #ac142f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 88%, 73%, 33%). 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 #ac142f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 23 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AC3114; nudged cooler, #AE1267.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac142f?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac142f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac142f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac142f] or text-[#ac142f], 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 #ac142f with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 20, 47, 0.5), or #ac142f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D68A97; over black, #560A18.

Is #ac142f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #990033, ΔE2000 6.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac142f 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 #ac142f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E31A3E, #ac142f 45%, #720D1F). For more colour, a short hue run to #905A11 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac142f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac142f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.