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red · warm

#b5331c

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

Token name suggestion: Dusk Cherry

RGB
181, 51, 28
HSL
9°, 73%, 41%
CMYK
0, 72, 85, 29
Luminance
0.1228

#b5331c is a dark vivid red, 9° on the wheel and 12/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (6.08:1). As text it scores 6.08:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Firebrick, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(9 73% 41%)rgb(181 51 28)Base step 700AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b5331c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b5331c
Hue
red
Saturation
73%
vivid
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
42%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1228
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
6.08:1
Closest name
Firebrick
ΔE2000 4.9
Chroma
67.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.517
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 14.8
Web-safe
#CC3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue9° of 360°
Saturation73%
Lightness41%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b5331c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool12% 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
Red80%
Green19%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#b5331c
HEX (8-digit)#b5331cff
RGBrgb(181, 51, 28)
RGBArgba(181, 51, 28, 1)
HSLhsl(9, 73%, 41%)
HSV / HSBhsv(9, 85%, 71%)
HWBhwb(9 11% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 72%, 85%, 29%)
LABlab(41.7 51.1 43.4)
LCHlch(41.7 67.0 40.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.517 0.170 32.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.45, 12.28, 2.39)
Decimal11875100
Display P3color(display-p3 0.710 0.200 0.110)
Web-safe#CC3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b5331c;
background-color: #b5331c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b5331c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b5331c] bg-[#b5331c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b5331c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.710, green: 0.200, blue: 0.110)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.710, green: 0.200, blue: 0.110, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B5331C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB5331C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB5331C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(28, 51, 181)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(181, 51, 28)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(181, 51, 28)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 181, 51, 28)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7098f, 0.2000f, 0.1098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{181,51,28}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b5331c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b5331c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6E1F11, #EED7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b5331c 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: #FCF4F3;
  --brand-100: #F8EAE7;
  --brand-200: #F3CFC8;
  --brand-300: #F0AA9E;
  --brand-400: #E8806D;
  --brand-500: #E1553D;
  --brand-600: #D43C21;
  --brand-700: #b5331c;
  --brand-800: #8D2816;
  --brand-900: #662014;
  --brand-950: #40140C;
  --brand: #b5331c;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC6C0;
  --brand-hover: #962A17;
  --brand-pressed: #772212;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241614;
    --brand-ink: #EED7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF4F3',
        100: '#F8EAE7',
        200: '#F3CFC8',
        300: '#F0AA9E',
        400: '#E8806D',
        500: '#E1553D',
        600: '#D43C21',
        700: '#b5331c',
        800: '#8D2816',
        900: '#662014',
        950: '#40140C',
        DEFAULT: '#b5331c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF4F3,
  '100': #F8EAE7,
  '200': #F3CFC8,
  '300': #F0AA9E,
  '400': #E8806D,
  '500': #E1553D,
  '600': #D43C21,
  '700': #b5331c,
  '800': #8D2816,
  '900': #662014,
  '950': #40140C,
);
$brand-base: #b5331c;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF4F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8EAE7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3CFC8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F0AA9E", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E8806D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E1553D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D43C21", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#b5331c", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8D2816", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#662014", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#40140C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b5331c · 6.08:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 6.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.46:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #b5331c as text scores 6.08:1 on white and 3.46:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FCECE9 at 5.30:1.

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
#b5331c · 6.08:1
AA on whitealready passes
#b5331c
The quick fox
#A32E19 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−4% L
#A32E19
The quick fox
#D83D21 · 4.61:1
AA on black+8% L
#D83D21
The quick fox
#E67460 · 7.03:1
AAA on black+23% L
#E67460

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B5331C 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
#b5331c on white: 6.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b5331c on black: 3.46:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b5331c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b5331c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White6.08:1AaAa
Slate 505.81:1AaAa
Slate 1005.55:1AaAa
Slate 2004.93:1AaAa
Slate 3004.09:1AaAa
Slate 4002.37:1AaAa
Slate 5001.28:1AaAa
Slate 6001.25:1AaAa
Slate 7001.70:1AaAa
Slate 8002.41:1AaAa
Slate 9002.94:1AaAa
Black3.46:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5A5017
deuteranopia · #7A6D14
tritanopia · #C8002F

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. #b5331c 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.

#FCF4F3
#F8EAE7
#F3CFC8
#F0AA9E
#E8806D
#E1553D
#D43C21
#b5331c
#8D2816
#662014
#40140C
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCF4F3Darkest = 950 · #40140CText 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 0.043 32.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.068 32.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.102 32.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.133 32.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.157 32.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.170 32.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.170 32.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.160 32.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.143 32.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.119 32.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.094 32.4);
}

Colors that work with #b5331c

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B574B
Captions on the surface
Accent#17B5A5
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6E1F11
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCECE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
Hover#962A17
One step down in lightness
Pressed#772212
Two steps down
Disabled#B5928C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D23013
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 #b5331c

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
  • 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
  • Weight59/100
  • 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#1C9EB5
Analogous left#B51C52
Analogous right#B5801C
Split-complement 1#1CB580
Split-complement 2#1C52B5
Triadic 1#1CB533
Triadic 2#331CB5
Tetradic#52B51C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°9°

#b5331c sits at 9°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.0%
Green20.0%
Blue11.0%
R · 0–255
181
0xb5
G · 0–255
51
0x33
B · 0–255
28
0x1c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta71.8%
Yellow84.5%
Key (black)29.0%

Total ink coverage is 185%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b5331c text on a black background

contrast 3.46:1

Card sample

#b5331c text on a white background

contrast 6.08:1

Card sample

#b5331c on grey

5.55:1

#b5331c on its own surface

5.62:1

#b5331c on its dark surface

2.88:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b5331c;
Background color
Panel with #b5331c background
background-color: #b5331c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b5331c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(181, 51, 28, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(181, 51, 28, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b5331c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b5331c, #B5991C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5331c, #ABB51C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b5331c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b5331c;
caret-color: #b5331c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b5331c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCECE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b5331c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b5331c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b5331c 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(181, 51, 28, 0.5)
rgb(181 51 28 / 50%)
#b5331c80
hsl(9 73% 41% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b5331c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b5331c1a#F8EBE8
20%#b5331c33#F0D6D2
40%#b5331c66#E1ADA4
60%#b5331c99#D38577
80%#b5331ccc#C45C49

Gradients from #b5331c

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, #DF4A2F, #b5331c 45%, #6E1F11);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b5331c, #9B8E18);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b5331c, #1C9EB5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E3614A 0%, #b5331c 45%, #6E1F11 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DE2776 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D0A120 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6E1F11 0%, transparent 65%), #b5331c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b5331c

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.

#b5331c 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 3.46:1 — lift it to #D83D21 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.

#b5331c, answered

What color is #b5331c?

#b5331c is a dark vivid red, closest to Firebrick (ΔE2000 4.9). It sits at 9° on the hue wheel with 73% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b5331c?

rgb(181, 51, 28) — 181 red, 51 green and 28 blue out of 255, or 71% / 20% / 11% by channel.

What is #b5331c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(9, 73%, 41%) and hsv(9, 85%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b5331c a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1228 and perceived brightness is 42%, so white text on it reaches 6.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b5331c?

White. It scores 6.08:1 against #b5331c, versus 3.46:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #b5331c accessible on a white background?

#b5331c on white scores 6.08:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #b5331c?

#1C9EB5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1CB580 and #1C52B5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b5331c?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC6C0 for borders, #9B574B for secondary text, #17B5A5 as an accent and #6E1F11 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B51C52 and #B5801C stays calm, while #1C9EB5 is the loudest partner.

What is #b5331c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 72%, 85%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b5331c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 12 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B54C1C; nudged cooler, #B71A3C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b5331c?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 14.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b5331c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b5331c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b5331c] or text-[#b5331c], 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 #b5331c with 50% opacity?

rgba(181, 51, 28, 0.5), or #b5331c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DA998E; over black, #5B1A0E.

Is #b5331c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC3333, ΔE2000 7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b5331c 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 #b5331c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DF4A2F, #b5331c 45%, #6E1F11). For more colour, a short hue run to #9B8E18 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b5331c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b5331c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.