Skip to content

#af4552

a balanced, soft red · warm · closest name: Crimson

RGB
175, 69, 82
HSL
353°, 43%, 48%
CMYK
0, 61, 53, 31
Luminance
0.1398

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #af4552 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#af4552
Hue
353°
red
Saturation
43%
soft
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1398
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
21/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.53:1
Closest name
Crimson
ΔE2000 9.5
Where it sits
Hue353° of 360°
Saturation43%
Lightness48%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool21% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#af4552
RGBrgb(175, 69, 82)
HSLhsl(353, 43%, 48%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 61%, 53%, 31%)
LABlab(44.2 44.3 14.9)
LCHlch(44.2 46.8 18.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.536 0.139 15.7)
Decimal11486546
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.271 0.322)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #af4552;
background-color: #af4552;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#af4552] bg-[#af4552]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #af4552;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.271, blue: 0.322)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#af4552")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAF4552)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(82, 69, 175)

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 #af4552 · 5.53:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 5.53:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.80:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #af4552 as text scores 5.53:1 on white and 3.80:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#af4552 on white: 5.53:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#af4552 on black: 3.80:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #5D5B52
deuteranopia · #787150
tritanopia · #BF344A

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #af4552 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.

#FAF5F5
#F5EBEC
#EBD1D4
#DFAFB5
#CF868F
#BF5E6A
#af4552
#923A45
#752E37
#56252B
#36171B
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F5Darkest = 950 · #36171B
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAF5F5;
  --brand-100: #F5EBEC;
  --brand-200: #EBD1D4;
  --brand-300: #DFAFB5;
  --brand-400: #CF868F;
  --brand-500: #BF5E6A;
  --brand-600: #af4552;
  --brand-700: #923A45;
  --brand-800: #752E37;
  --brand-900: #56252B;
  --brand-950: #36171B;
  --brand: #af4552;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #af4552

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#E8C4C9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B54
Captions on the surface
Accent#369673
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5B242B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8EDEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241416
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #af4552

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#45AFA2
Analogous left#AF4587
Analogous right#AF6D45
Split-complement 1#45AF6D
Split-complement 2#4587AF
Triadic 1#52AF45
Triadic 2#4552AF
Tetradic#87AF45

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green27.1%
Blue32.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta60.6%
Yellow53.1%
Key (black)31.4%

Color previews

#af4552 text on a black background

contrast 3.80:1

Card sample

#af4552 text on a white background

contrast 5.53:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #af4552;
Background color
Panel with #af4552 background
background-color: #af4552;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #af4552;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 69, 82, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 69, 82, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #af4552;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #af4552, #AF7E45);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #af4552

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#af4552 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.

#af4552, answered

What color is #af4552?

#af4552 is a balanced soft red, closest to Crimson (ΔE2000 9.5). It sits at 353° on the hue wheel with 43% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #af4552?

rgb(175, 69, 82) — 175 red, 69 green and 82 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 27.1% / 32.2% by channel.

Is #af4552 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1398 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.53:1.

Should I use black or white text on #af4552?

White. It scores 5.53:1 against #af4552, versus 3.80:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #af4552?

#45AFA2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #45AF6D and #4587AF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #af4552?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #E8C4C9 for borders, #9B4B54 for secondary text, #369673 as an accent and #5B242B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AF4587 and #AF6D45 stays calm, while #45AFA2 is the loudest partner.

What is #af4552 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 61%, 53%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #af4552 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 21 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF5F45; nudged cooler, #B14379.

Work with #af4552 in the Color Lab