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red · warm

#bc604f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Ember

RGB
188, 96, 79
HSL
9°, 45%, 52%
CMYK
0, 49, 58, 26
Luminance
0.1962

#bc604f is a balanced soft red, 9° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (4.92:1). As text it scores 4.26:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Indian Red, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(9 45% 52%)rgb(188 96 79)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc604f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc604f
Hue
red
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1962
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
4.92:1
Closest name
Indian Red
ΔE2000 6.2
Chroma
44.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.595
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 9.8
Web-safe
#CC6666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue9° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bc604f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red54%
Green43%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#bc604f
HEX (8-digit)#bc604fff
RGBrgb(188, 96, 79)
RGBArgba(188, 96, 79, 1)
HSLhsl(9, 45%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(9, 58%, 74%)
HWBhwb(9 31% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 49%, 58%, 26%)
LABlab(51.4 35.4 26.6)
LCHlch(51.4 44.3 36.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.595 0.122 31.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.34, 19.62, 9.80)
Decimal12345423
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.376 0.310)
Web-safe#CC6666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc604f;
background-color: #bc604f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc604f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc604f] bg-[#bc604f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc604f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.376, blue: 0.310)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.376, blue: 0.310, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC604F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC604F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC604F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(79, 96, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 96, 79)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 96, 79)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 96, 79)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.3765f, 0.3098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,96,79}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc604f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc604f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5C2C23, #EED7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc604f 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: #FAF6F5;
  --brand-100: #F5ECEA;
  --brand-200: #EBD5D1;
  --brand-300: #E0B6AE;
  --brand-400: #D19185;
  --brand-500: #bc604f;
  --brand-600: #B15543;
  --brand-700: #944738;
  --brand-800: #76382D;
  --brand-900: #562C24;
  --brand-950: #361B16;
  --brand: #bc604f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #E9CAC4;
  --brand-hover: #A85040;
  --brand-pressed: #8E4436;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241614;
    --brand-ink: #EED7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF6F5',
        100: '#F5ECEA',
        200: '#EBD5D1',
        300: '#E0B6AE',
        400: '#D19185',
        500: '#bc604f',
        600: '#B15543',
        700: '#944738',
        800: '#76382D',
        900: '#562C24',
        950: '#361B16',
        DEFAULT: '#bc604f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF6F5,
  '100': #F5ECEA,
  '200': #EBD5D1,
  '300': #E0B6AE,
  '400': #D19185,
  '500': #bc604f,
  '600': #B15543,
  '700': #944738,
  '800': #76382D,
  '900': #562C24,
  '950': #361B16,
);
$brand-base: #bc604f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF6F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5ECEA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBD5D1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E0B6AE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D19185", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#bc604f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B15543", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#944738", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#76382D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#562C24", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#361B16", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc604f · 4.92:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.26:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.92:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #bc604f as text scores 4.26:1 on white and 4.92:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5C2C23 at 2.68:1.

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
#B95A48 · 4.55:1
AA on white−2% L
#B95A48
The quick fox
#8A4235 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−15% L
#8A4235
The quick fox
#bc604f · 4.92:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bc604f
The quick fox
#CC8578 · 7.19:1
AAA on black+11% L
#CC8578

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BC604F 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
#bc604f on white: 4.26:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc604f on black: 4.92:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc604f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc604f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.26:1AaAa
Slate 504.08:1AaAa
Slate 1003.89:1AaAa
Slate 2003.46:1AaAa
Slate 3002.87:1AaAa
Slate 4001.66:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.78:1AaAa
Slate 7002.43:1AaAa
Slate 8003.43:1AaAa
Slate 9004.19:1AaAa
Black4.92:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #776E4D
deuteranopia · #8D824D
tritanopia · #CD505C

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. #bc604f 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.

#FAF6F5
#F5ECEA
#EBD5D1
#E0B6AE
#D19185
#bc604f
#B15543
#944738
#76382D
#562C24
#361B16
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF6F5Darkest = 950 · #361B16Text 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 0.031 31.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 31.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.073 31.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.095 31.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.112 31.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.122 31.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.122 31.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.115 31.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.103 31.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.085 31.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.067 31.8);
}

Colors that work with #bc604f

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#E9CAC4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B574B
Captions on the surface
Accent#34988F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5C2C23
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8EEED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
Hover#A85040
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E4436
Two steps down
Disabled#CCB4AF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CD6653
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 #bc604f

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 #5C2C23
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#4FABBC
Analogous left#BC4F75
Analogous right#BC974F
Split-complement 1#4FBC97
Split-complement 2#4F75BC
Triadic 1#4FBC60
Triadic 2#604FBC
Tetradic#75BC4F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°9°

#bc604f sits at 9°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green37.6%
Blue31.0%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
96
0x60
B · 0–255
79
0x4f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta48.9%
Yellow58.0%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 133%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc604f text on a black background

contrast 4.92:1

Card sample

#bc604f text on a white background

contrast 4.26:1

Card sample

#bc604f on grey

3.89:1

#bc604f on its own surface

3.95:1

#bc604f on its dark surface

4.10:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc604f;
Background color
Panel with #bc604f background
background-color: #bc604f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc604f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 96, 79, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 96, 79, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc604f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc604f, #BCA94F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc604f, #B4BC4F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc604f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc604f;
caret-color: #bc604f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc604f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8EEED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc604f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc604f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc604f 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(188, 96, 79, 0.5)
rgb(188 96 79 / 50%)
#bc604f80
hsl(9 45% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc604f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc604f1a#F8EFED
20%#bc604f33#F2DFDC
40%#bc604f66#E4BFB9
60%#bc604f99#D7A095
80%#bc604fcc#C98072

Gradients from #bc604f

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, #CD887B, #bc604f 45%, #5C2C23);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc604f, #ABA241);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc604f, #4FABBC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D59C92 0%, #bc604f 45%, #5C2C23 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%, #CA7499 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C5AC65 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5C2C23 0%, transparent 65%), #bc604f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc604f

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.

#bc604f 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 4.92:1.

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.

#bc604f, answered

What color is #bc604f?

#bc604f is a balanced soft red, closest to Indian Red (ΔE2000 6.2). It sits at 9° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bc604f?

rgb(188, 96, 79) — 188 red, 96 green and 79 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 37.6% / 31% by channel.

What is #bc604f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(9, 45%, 52%) and hsv(9, 58%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc604f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.1962 and perceived brightness is 51%, so black text on it reaches 4.92:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc604f?

Black. It scores 4.92:1 against #bc604f, versus 4.26:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #bc604f accessible on a white background?

#bc604f on white scores 4.26:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #B95A48 to reach 4.5:1, or #8A4235 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bc604f?

#4FABBC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4FBC97 and #4F75BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc604f?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #E9CAC4 for borders, #9B574B for secondary text, #34988F as an accent and #5C2C23 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC4F75 and #BC974F stays calm, while #4FABBC is the loudest partner.

What is #bc604f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 49%, 58%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc604f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC744F; nudged cooler, #BF4D65.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc604f?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 9.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc604f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc604f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc604f] or text-[#bc604f], 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 #bc604f with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 96, 79, 0.5), or #bc604f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEB0A7; over black, #5E3028.

Is #bc604f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC6666, ΔE2000 7.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc604f 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 #bc604f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CD887B, #bc604f 45%, #5C2C23). For more colour, a short hue run to #ABA241 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc604f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc604f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.