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red · warm

#bb393d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Cardinal

RGB
187, 57, 61
HSL
358°, 53%, 48%
CMYK
0, 70, 67, 27
Luminance
0.1383

#bb393d is a balanced vivid red, 358° on the wheel and 18/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.58:1). As text it scores 5.58:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Crimson, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(358 53% 48%)rgb(187 57 61)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bb393d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bb393d
Hue
358°
red
Saturation
53%
vivid
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1383
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
5.58:1
Closest name
Crimson
ΔE2000 5.8
Chroma
59.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.537
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 11.9
Web-safe
#CC3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue358° of 360°
Saturation53%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bb393d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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
Red76%
Green21%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#bb393d
HEX (8-digit)#bb393dff
RGBrgb(187, 57, 61)
RGBArgba(187, 57, 61, 1)
HSLhsl(358, 53%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(358, 70%, 73%)
HWBhwb(358 22% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 70%, 67%, 27%)
LABlab(44.0 52.1 27.8)
LCHlch(44.0 59.1 28.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.537 0.166 23.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.80, 13.83, 5.88)
Decimal12269885
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.224 0.239)
Web-safe#CC3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bb393d;
background-color: #bb393d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bb393d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bb393d] bg-[#bb393d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bb393d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.224, blue: 0.239)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.224, blue: 0.239, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BB393D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBB393D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBB393D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(61, 57, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 57, 61)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 57, 61)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 57, 61)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.2235f, 0.2392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,57,61}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bb393d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bb393d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#621E20, #EED3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bb393d 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: #FBF4F4;
  --brand-100: #F6E9EA;
  --brand-200: #EDCECF;
  --brand-300: #E5A9AB;
  --brand-400: #D87E81;
  --brand-500: #CB5357;
  --brand-600: #bb393d;
  --brand-700: #9C3033;
  --brand-800: #7D2629;
  --brand-900: #5B1F21;
  --brand-950: #391315;
  --brand: #bb393d;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-border: #ECC0C2;
  --brand-hover: #9F3134;
  --brand-pressed: #84282B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF4F4',
        100: '#F6E9EA',
        200: '#EDCECF',
        300: '#E5A9AB',
        400: '#D87E81',
        500: '#CB5357',
        600: '#bb393d',
        700: '#9C3033',
        800: '#7D2629',
        900: '#5B1F21',
        950: '#391315',
        DEFAULT: '#bb393d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF4F4,
  '100': #F6E9EA,
  '200': #EDCECF,
  '300': #E5A9AB,
  '400': #D87E81,
  '500': #CB5357,
  '600': #bb393d,
  '700': #9C3033,
  '800': #7D2629,
  '900': #5B1F21,
  '950': #391315,
);
$brand-base: #bb393d;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6E9EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDCECF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E5A9AB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D87E81", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#CB5357", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bb393d", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9C3033", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7D2629", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5B1F21", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#391315", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bb393d · 5.58:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.58:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.77:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #bb393d as text scores 5.58:1 on white and 3.77:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F9EBEC at 4.81:1.

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
#bb393d · 5.58:1
AA on whitealready passes
#bb393d
The quick fox
#9F3134 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−7% L
#9F3134
The quick fox
#C84A4E · 4.55:1
AA on black+6% L
#C84A4E
The quick fox
#D77D80 · 7.13:1
AAA on black+19% L
#D77D80

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BB393D 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
#bb393d on white: 5.58:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bb393d on black: 3.77:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bb393d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bb393d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.58:1AaAa
Slate 505.33:1AaAa
Slate 1005.09:1AaAa
Slate 2004.52:1AaAa
Slate 3003.76:1AaAa
Slate 4002.18:1AaAa
Slate 5001.17:1AaAa
Slate 6001.36:1AaAa
Slate 7001.86:1AaAa
Slate 8002.62:1AaAa
Slate 9003.20:1AaAa
Black3.77:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5D563C
deuteranopia · #7E7239
tritanopia · #CD123C

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. #bb393d 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.

#FBF4F4
#F6E9EA
#EDCECF
#E5A9AB
#D87E81
#CB5357
#bb393d
#9C3033
#7D2629
#5B1F21
#391315
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF4F4Darkest = 950 · #391315Text 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 0.042 23.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 23.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.100 23.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.130 23.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.153 23.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.166 23.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.166 23.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.156 23.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.140 23.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.116 23.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.091 23.1);
}

Colors that work with #bb393d

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#FAF4F4
Tinted page background
Border#ECC0C2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4D
Captions on the surface
Accent#2BA180
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#621E20
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9EBEC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F3134
One step down in lightness
Pressed#84282B
Two steps down
Disabled#C3A1A2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D2363B
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 #bb393d

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 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-high
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#39BBB7
Analogous left#BB397E
Analogous right#BB7639
Split-complement 1#39BB76
Split-complement 2#397EBB
Triadic 1#3DBB39
Triadic 2#393DBB
Tetradic#7EBB39
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°358°

#bb393d sits at 358°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green22.4%
Blue23.9%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
57
0x39
B · 0–255
61
0x3d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta69.5%
Yellow67.4%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 164%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bb393d text on a black background

contrast 3.77:1

Card sample

#bb393d text on a white background

contrast 5.58:1

Card sample

#bb393d on grey

5.09:1

#bb393d on its own surface

5.13:1

#bb393d on its dark surface

3.18:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bb393d;
Background color
Panel with #bb393d background
background-color: #bb393d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bb393d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 57, 61, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 57, 61, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bb393d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bb393d, #BB8C39);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb393d, #BBAC39);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bb393d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bb393d;
caret-color: #bb393d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bb393d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9EBEC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bb393d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bb393d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bb393d 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(187, 57, 61, 0.5)
rgb(187 57 61 / 50%)
#bb393d80
hsl(358 53% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bb393d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bb393d1a#F8EBEC
20%#bb393d33#F1D7D8
40%#bb393d66#E4B0B1
60%#bb393d99#D6888B
80%#bb393dcc#C96164

Gradients from #bb393d

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, #CF6265, #bb393d 45%, #621E20);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bb393d, #A38432);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb393d, #39BBB7);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D6797C 0%, #bb393d 45%, #621E20 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CD5AA0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8904A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #621E20 0%, transparent 65%), #bb393d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bb393d

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.

#bb393d 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 3.77:1 — lift it to #C84A4E 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.

#bb393d, answered

What color is #bb393d?

#bb393d is a balanced vivid red, closest to Crimson (ΔE2000 5.8). It sits at 358° on the hue wheel with 53% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bb393d?

rgb(187, 57, 61) — 187 red, 57 green and 61 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 22.4% / 23.9% by channel.

What is #bb393d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(358, 53%, 48%) and hsv(358, 70%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bb393d a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1383 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.58:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bb393d?

White. It scores 5.58:1 against #bb393d, versus 3.77:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #bb393d accessible on a white background?

#bb393d on white scores 5.58:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #bb393d?

#39BBB7 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39BB76 and #397EBB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bb393d?

For interface work: #FAF4F4 as the surface, #ECC0C2 for borders, #9B4B4D for secondary text, #2BA180 as an accent and #621E20 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB397E and #BB7639 stays calm, while #39BBB7 is the loudest partner.

What is #bb393d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 70%, 67%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bb393d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BB5B39; nudged cooler, #BD366C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bb393d?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 11.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bb393d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bb393d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bb393d] or text-[#bb393d], 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 #bb393d with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 57, 61, 0.5), or #bb393d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DD9C9E; over black, #5E1D1F.

Is #bb393d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC3333, ΔE2000 4.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bb393d 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 #bb393d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CF6265, #bb393d 45%, #621E20). For more colour, a short hue run to #A38432 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bb393d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bb393d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.