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red · warm

#af685d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Ember

RGB
175, 104, 93
HSL
8°, 34%, 53%
CMYK
0, 41, 47, 31
Luminance
0.1980

#af685d is a balanced soft red, 8° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.96:1). As text it scores 4.23:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Indian Red, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(8 34% 53%)rgb(175 104 93)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #af685d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#af685d
Hue
red
Saturation
34%
soft
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
50%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1980
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
4.96:1
Closest name
Indian Red
ΔE2000 7.3
Chroma
32.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.593
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 12.9
Web-safe
#996666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue8° of 360°
Saturation34%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #af685d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool13% 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
Red46%
Green50%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#af685d
HEX (8-digit)#af685dff
RGBrgb(175, 104, 93)
RGBArgba(175, 104, 93, 1)
HSLhsl(8, 34%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(8, 47%, 69%)
HWBhwb(8 36% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 41%, 47%, 31%)
LABlab(51.6 27.2 18.4)
LCHlch(51.6 32.9 34.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.593 0.094 29.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(24.61, 19.81, 12.88)
Decimal11495517
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.408 0.365)
Web-safe#996666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #af685d;
background-color: #af685d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #af685d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#af685d] bg-[#af685d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #af685d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.408, blue: 0.365)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.686, green: 0.408, blue: 0.365, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AF685D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAF685D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAF685D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(93, 104, 175)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(175, 104, 93)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(175, 104, 93)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 175, 104, 93)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6863f, 0.4078f, 0.3647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{175,104,93}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #af685d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #af685d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#55302A, #EBD9D6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #af685d 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: #F9F6F5;
  --brand-100: #F4EDEC;
  --brand-200: #E8D7D4;
  --brand-300: #DAB9B4;
  --brand-400: #C7968E;
  --brand-500: #af685d;
  --brand-600: #A45C51;
  --brand-700: #894D43;
  --brand-800: #6D3D36;
  --brand-900: #502F2A;
  --brand-950: #321E1A;
  --brand: #af685d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F5;
  --brand-border: #E4CCC8;
  --brand-hover: #9B574D;
  --brand-pressed: #834A41;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241614;
    --brand-ink: #EBD9D6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F5',
        100: '#F4EDEC',
        200: '#E8D7D4',
        300: '#DAB9B4',
        400: '#C7968E',
        500: '#af685d',
        600: '#A45C51',
        700: '#894D43',
        800: '#6D3D36',
        900: '#502F2A',
        950: '#321E1A',
        DEFAULT: '#af685d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F5,
  '100': #F4EDEC,
  '200': #E8D7D4,
  '300': #DAB9B4,
  '400': #C7968E,
  '500': #af685d,
  '600': #A45C51,
  '700': #894D43,
  '800': #6D3D36,
  '900': #502F2A,
  '950': #321E1A,
);
$brand-base: #af685d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4EDEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8D7D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DAB9B4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C7968E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#af685d", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A45C51", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#894D43", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6D3D36", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#502F2A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#321E1A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #af685d · 4.96:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.23:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.96:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #af685d as text scores 4.23:1 on white and 4.96:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #55302A at 2.69:1.

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
#AC6156 · 4.57:1
AA on white−2% L
#AC6156
The quick fox
#80483F · 7.20:1
AAA on white−15% L
#80483F
The quick fox
#af685d · 4.96:1
AA on blackalready passes
#af685d
The quick fox
#C0887F · 7.07:1
AAA on black+10% L
#C0887F

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF685D 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
#af685d on white: 4.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#af685d on black: 4.96:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #af685d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #af685d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.23:1AaAa
Slate 504.05:1AaAa
Slate 1003.86:1AaAa
Slate 2003.43:1AaAa
Slate 3002.85:1AaAa
Slate 4001.65:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.79:1AaAa
Slate 7002.45:1AaAa
Slate 8003.46:1AaAa
Slate 9004.22:1AaAa
Black4.96:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #78725C
deuteranopia · #89815C
tritanopia · #BD5E65

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. #af685d is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F6F5
#F4EDEC
#E8D7D4
#DAB9B4
#C7968E
#af685d
#A45C51
#894D43
#6D3D36
#502F2A
#321E1A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F5Darkest = 950 · #321E1AText 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 0.023 29.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.037 29.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.056 29.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.073 29.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.086 29.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.094 29.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.094 29.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.088 29.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.079 29.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.066 29.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.051 29.6);
}

Colors that work with #af685d

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#FAF5F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4CCC8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9A564C
Captions on the surface
Accent#3F8D83
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#55302A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EFEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
Hover#9B574D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#834A41
Two steps down
Disabled#CCB3B0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C16C5F
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 #af685d

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #55302A
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
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#5DA4AF
Analogous left#AF5D7B
Analogous right#AF915D
Split-complement 1#5DAF91
Split-complement 2#5D7BAF
Triadic 1#5DAF68
Triadic 2#685DAF
Tetradic#7BAF5D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°8°

#af685d sits at 8°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green40.8%
Blue36.5%
R · 0–255
175
0xaf
G · 0–255
104
0x68
B · 0–255
93
0x5d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta40.6%
Yellow46.9%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 119%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#af685d text on a black background

contrast 4.96:1

Card sample

#af685d text on a white background

contrast 4.23:1

Card sample

#af685d on grey

3.86:1

#af685d on its own surface

3.92:1

#af685d on its dark surface

4.13:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #af685d;
Background color
Panel with #af685d background
background-color: #af685d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #af685d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 104, 93, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 104, 93, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #af685d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #af685d, #AF9F5D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af685d, #ABAF5D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #af685d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #af685d;
caret-color: #af685d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #af685d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EFEE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #af685d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#af685d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #af685d 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(175, 104, 93, 0.5)
rgb(175 104 93 / 50%)
#af685d80
hsl(8 34% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #af685d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#af685d1a#F7F0EF
20%#af685d33#EFE1DF
40%#af685d66#DFC3BE
60%#af685d99#CFA49E
80%#af685dcc#BF867D

Gradients from #af685d

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, #C38E86, #af685d 45%, #55302A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #af685d, #9F954E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af685d, #5DA4AF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CDA19A 0%, #af685d 45%, #55302A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C07F9C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B9A571 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #55302A 0%, transparent 65%), #af685d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #af685d

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.

#af685d 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 4.96:1.

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.

#af685d, answered

What color is #af685d?

#af685d is a balanced soft red, closest to Indian Red (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 8° on the hue wheel with 34% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #af685d?

rgb(175, 104, 93) — 175 red, 104 green and 93 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 40.8% / 36.5% by channel.

What is #af685d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(8, 34%, 53%) and hsv(8, 47%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #af685d a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1980 and perceived brightness is 50%, so black text on it reaches 4.96:1.

Should I use black or white text on #af685d?

Black. It scores 4.96:1 against #af685d, versus 4.23:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #af685d accessible on a white background?

#af685d on white scores 4.23:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #AC6156 to reach 4.5:1, or #80483F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #af685d?

#5DA4AF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5DAF91 and #5D7BAF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #af685d?

For interface work: #FAF5F5 as the surface, #E4CCC8 for borders, #9A564C for secondary text, #3F8D83 as an accent and #55302A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AF5D7B and #AF915D stays calm, while #5DA4AF is the loudest partner.

What is #af685d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 41%, 47%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #af685d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 13 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF795D; nudged cooler, #B15A6F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #af685d?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 12.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #af685d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #af685d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#af685d] or text-[#af685d], 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 #af685d with 50% opacity?

rgba(175, 104, 93, 0.5), or #af685d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7B4AE; over black, #58342F.

Is #af685d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996666, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #af685d 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 #af685d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C38E86, #af685d 45%, #55302A). For more colour, a short hue run to #9F954E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #af685d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #af685d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.