Skip to content
red · warm

#af7174

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

Token name suggestion: True Cardinal

RGB
175, 113, 116
HSL
357°, 28%, 57%
CMYK
0, 35, 34, 31
Luminance
0.2219

#af7174 is a balanced soft red, 357° on the wheel and 25/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.44:1). As text it scores 3.86:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Indian Red, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(357 28% 57%)rgb(175 113 116)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #af7174 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#af7174
Hue
357°
red
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2219
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.44:1
Closest name
Indian Red
ΔE2000 9.3
Chroma
26.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.615
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 14.6
Web-safe
#996666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue357° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #af7174.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool25% 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
Red41%
Green53%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#af7174
HEX (8-digit)#af7174ff
RGBrgb(175, 113, 116)
RGBArgba(175, 113, 116, 1)
HSLhsl(357, 28%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(357, 35%, 69%)
HWBhwb(357 44% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 35%, 34%, 31%)
LABlab(54.2 24.9 8.6)
LCHlch(54.2 26.4 18.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.615 0.079 16.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.74, 22.19, 19.39)
Decimal11497844
Display P3color(display-p3 0.686 0.443 0.455)
Web-safe#996666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #af7174;
background-color: #af7174;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #af7174;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#af7174] bg-[#af7174]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #af7174;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.686, green: 0.443, blue: 0.455)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.686, green: 0.443, blue: 0.455, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AF7174</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAF7174)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAF7174)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(116, 113, 175)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(175, 113, 116)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(175, 113, 116)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 175, 113, 116)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6863f, 0.4431f, 0.4549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{175,113,116}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #af7174 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #af7174 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#522E30, #E9D8D9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #af7174 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: #F3ECED;
  --brand-200: #E6D6D6;
  --brand-300: #D7B7B9;
  --brand-400: #C29396;
  --brand-500: #af7174;
  --brand-600: #9D585C;
  --brand-700: #824A4C;
  --brand-800: #683B3D;
  --brand-900: #4D2D2F;
  --brand-950: #301C1D;
  --brand: #af7174;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F5F5;
  --brand-border: #E2CBCC;
  --brand-hover: #A15B5E;
  --brand-pressed: #8B4E51;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241415;
    --brand-ink: #E9D8D9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F3ECED',
        200: '#E6D6D6',
        300: '#D7B7B9',
        400: '#C29396',
        500: '#af7174',
        600: '#9D585C',
        700: '#824A4C',
        800: '#683B3D',
        900: '#4D2D2F',
        950: '#301C1D',
        DEFAULT: '#af7174',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F3ECED,
  '200': #E6D6D6,
  '300': #D7B7B9,
  '400': #C29396,
  '500': #af7174,
  '600': #9D585C,
  '700': #824A4C,
  '800': #683B3D,
  '900': #4D2D2F,
  '950': #301C1D,
);
$brand-base: #af7174;
$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": "#F3ECED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E6D6D6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D7B7B9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C29396", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#af7174", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9D585C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#824A4C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#683B3D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4D2D2F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#301C1D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #af7174 · 5.44:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.86:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.44:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #af7174 as text scores 3.86:1 on white and 5.44:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #522E30 at 3.03:1.

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
#A66164 · 4.65:1
AA on white−5% L
#A66164
The quick fox
#81494B · 7.03:1
AAA on white−17% L
#81494B
The quick fox
#af7174 · 5.44:1
AA on blackalready passes
#af7174
The quick fox
#BC888A · 7.03:1
AAA on black+7% L
#BC888A

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF7174 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
#af7174 on white: 3.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#af7174 on black: 5.44:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #af7174 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #af7174.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.86:1AaAa
Slate 503.69:1AaAa
Slate 1003.53:1AaAa
Slate 2003.13:1AaAa
Slate 3002.60:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5001.23:1AaAa
Slate 6001.96:1AaAa
Slate 7002.68:1AaAa
Slate 8003.79:1AaAa
Slate 9004.62:1AaAa
Black5.44:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7D7A74
deuteranopia · #8B8673
tritanopia · #BB6B72

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. #af7174 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.

#F9F6F6
#F3ECED
#E6D6D6
#D7B7B9
#C29396
#af7174
#9D585C
#824A4C
#683B3D
#4D2D2F
#301C1D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #301C1DText 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 0.020 16.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.032 16.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.047 16.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.062 16.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.073 16.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.079 16.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.079 16.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.074 16.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.066 16.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.055 16.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.043 16.5);
}

Colors that work with #af7174

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#F9F5F5
Tinted page background
Border#E2CBCC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#935356
Captions on the surface
Accent#468673
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#522E30
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EFEF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241415
Dark-mode background
Hover#A15B5E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8B4E51
Two steps down
Disabled#D4BCBD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C07478
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 #af7174

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 #522E30
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
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#71AFAC
Analogous left#AF7193
Analogous right#AF8D71
Split-complement 1#71AF8D
Split-complement 2#7193AF
Triadic 1#74AF71
Triadic 2#7174AF
Tetradic#93AF71
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°357°

#af7174 sits at 357°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red68.6%
Green44.3%
Blue45.5%
R · 0–255
175
0xaf
G · 0–255
113
0x71
B · 0–255
116
0x74

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta35.4%
Yellow33.7%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#af7174 text on a black background

contrast 5.44:1

Card sample

#af7174 text on a white background

contrast 3.86:1

Card sample

#af7174 on grey

3.53:1

#af7174 on its own surface

3.57:1

#af7174 on its dark surface

4.58:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #af7174;
Background color
Panel with #af7174 background
background-color: #af7174;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #af7174;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(175, 113, 116, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(175, 113, 116, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #af7174;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #af7174, #AF9771);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af7174, #AFA771);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #af7174;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #af7174;
caret-color: #af7174;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #af7174;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EFEF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #af7174;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#af7174 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #af7174 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, 113, 116, 0.5)
rgb(175 113 116 / 50%)
#af717480
hsl(357 28% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #af7174 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#af71741a#F7F1F1
20%#af717433#EFE3E3
40%#af717466#DFC6C7
60%#af717499#CFAAAC
80%#af7174cc#BF8D90

Gradients from #af7174

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, #C5989A, #af7174 45%, #522E30);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #af7174, #A48F5E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #af7174, #71AFAC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D0ACAE 0%, #af7174 45%, #522E30 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F5F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C192B0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BAA185 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #522E30 0%, transparent 65%), #af7174;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #af7174

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.

#af7174 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 5.44:1.

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.

#af7174, answered

What color is #af7174?

#af7174 is a balanced soft red, closest to Indian Red (ΔE2000 9.3). It sits at 357° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #af7174?

rgb(175, 113, 116) — 175 red, 113 green and 116 blue out of 255, or 68.6% / 44.3% / 45.5% by channel.

What is #af7174 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(357, 28%, 57%) and hsv(357, 35%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #af7174 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2219 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 5.44:1.

Should I use black or white text on #af7174?

Black. It scores 5.44:1 against #af7174, versus 3.86:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #af7174 accessible on a white background?

#af7174 on white scores 3.86:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #A66164 to reach 4.5:1, or #81494B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #af7174?

#71AFAC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #71AF8D and #7193AF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #af7174?

For interface work: #F9F5F5 as the surface, #E2CBCC for borders, #935356 for secondary text, #468673 as an accent and #522E30 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AF7193 and #AF8D71 stays calm, while #71AFAC is the loudest partner.

What is #af7174 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 35%, 34%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #af7174 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 25 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AF8571; nudged cooler, #B16F8A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #af7174?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 14.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #af7174 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #af7174 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#af7174] or text-[#af7174], 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 #af7174 with 50% opacity?

rgba(175, 113, 116, 0.5), or #af717480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D7B8BA; over black, #58393A.

Is #af7174 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996666, ΔE2000 6.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #af7174 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 #af7174?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C5989A, #af7174 45%, #522E30). For more colour, a short hue run to #A48F5E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #af7174 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #af7174 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.