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red · warm

#bc9d94

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Rosy Brown

Token name suggestion: Morning Cardinal

RGB
188, 157, 148
HSL
14°, 23%, 66%
CMYK
0, 17, 21, 26
Luminance
0.3694

#bc9d94 is a light soft red, 14° on the wheel and 23/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.39:1). As text it scores 2.50:1 on white — use #966B5E instead. Nearest name is Rosy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(14 23% 66%)rgb(188 157 148)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc9d94 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc9d94
Hue
14°
red
Saturation
23%
soft
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3694
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
23/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.39:1
Closest name
Rosy Brown
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
13.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.721
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 19.7
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue14° of 360°
Saturation23%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bc9d94.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool23% 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
Red29%
Green65%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#bc9d94
HEX (8-digit)#bc9d94ff
RGBrgb(188, 157, 148)
RGBArgba(188, 157, 148, 1)
HSLhsl(14, 23%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(14, 21%, 74%)
HWBhwb(14 58% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 17%, 21%, 26%)
LABlab(67.2 10.0 9.0)
LCHlch(67.2 13.5 41.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.721 0.039 36.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.14, 36.94, 33.13)
Decimal12361108
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.616 0.580)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc9d94;
background-color: #bc9d94;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc9d94;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc9d94] bg-[#bc9d94]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc9d94;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.616, blue: 0.580)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.616, blue: 0.580, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC9D94</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC9D94)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC9D94)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(148, 157, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 157, 148)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 157, 148)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 157, 148)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.6157f, 0.5804f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,157,148}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc9d94 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc9d94 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4E3831, #E7DDD9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc9d94 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: #F9F7F6;
  --brand-100: #F2EEED;
  --brand-200: #E5DAD7;
  --brand-300: #D4C0BA;
  --brand-400: #bc9d94;
  --brand-500: #A98175;
  --brand-600: #976B5E;
  --brand-700: #7D594F;
  --brand-800: #64473F;
  --brand-900: #4A3630;
  --brand-950: #2E221E;
  --brand: #bc9d94;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #E0D1CD;
  --brand-hover: #AE897E;
  --brand-pressed: #A17568;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #231916;
    --brand-ink: #E7DDD9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F7F6',
        100: '#F2EEED',
        200: '#E5DAD7',
        300: '#D4C0BA',
        400: '#bc9d94',
        500: '#A98175',
        600: '#976B5E',
        700: '#7D594F',
        800: '#64473F',
        900: '#4A3630',
        950: '#2E221E',
        DEFAULT: '#bc9d94',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F7F6,
  '100': #F2EEED,
  '200': #E5DAD7,
  '300': #D4C0BA,
  '400': #bc9d94,
  '500': #A98175,
  '600': #976B5E,
  '700': #7D594F,
  '800': #64473F,
  '900': #4A3630,
  '950': #2E221E,
);
$brand-base: #bc9d94;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F7F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EEED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5DAD7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D4C0BA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bc9d94", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A98175", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#976B5E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7D594F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#64473F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4A3630", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2E221E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc9d94 · 8.39:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.50:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.39:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bc9d94 as text scores 2.50:1 on white and 8.39:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4E3831 at 4.34:1.

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
#966B5E · 4.60:1
AA on white−18% L
#966B5E
The quick fox
#715046 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−30% L
#715046
The quick fox
#bc9d94 · 8.39:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bc9d94
The quick fox
#bc9d94 · 8.39:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bc9d94

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B08C81 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
#bc9d94 on white: 2.50:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc9d94 on black: 8.39:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc9d94 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc9d94.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.50:1AaAa
Slate 502.39:1AaAa
Slate 1002.29:1AaAa
Slate 2002.03:1AaAa
Slate 3001.69:1AaAa
Slate 4001.02:1AaAa
Slate 5001.90:1AaAa
Slate 6003.03:1AaAa
Slate 7004.14:1AaAa
Slate 8005.84:1AaAa
Slate 9007.13:1AaAa
Black8.39:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A4A093
deuteranopia · #ABA694
tritanopia · #C4999B

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. #bc9d94 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F7F6
#F2EEED
#E5DAD7
#D4C0BA
#bc9d94
#A98175
#976B5E
#7D594F
#64473F
#4A3630
#2E221E
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F7F6Darkest = 950 · #2E221EText 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 0.010 36.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.016 36.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.024 36.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.031 36.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.036 36.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.039 36.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.039 36.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.037 36.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.033 36.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 36.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.022 36.8);
}

Colors that work with #bc9d94

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#F9F6F6
Tinted page background
Border#E0D1CD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8D6458
Captions on the surface
Accent#4A827F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4E3831
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F1EF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#231916
Dark-mode background
Hover#AE897E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A17568
Two steps down
Disabled#E7DCD9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CCA499
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 #bc9d94

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White 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
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #4E3831
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B08C81

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

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
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#94B3BC
Analogous left#BC949F
Analogous right#BCB194
Split-complement 1#94BCB1
Split-complement 2#949FBC
Triadic 1#94BC9D
Triadic 2#9D94BC
Tetradic#9FBC94
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°14°

#bc9d94 sits at 14°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green61.6%
Blue58.0%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
157
0x9d
B · 0–255
148
0x94

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta16.5%
Yellow21.3%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 64%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc9d94 text on a black background

contrast 8.39:1

Card sample

#bc9d94 text on a white background

contrast 2.50:1

Card sample

#bc9d94 on grey

2.29:1

#bc9d94 on its own surface

2.33:1

#bc9d94 on its dark surface

6.86:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc9d94;
Background color
Panel with #bc9d94 background
background-color: #bc9d94;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc9d94;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 157, 148, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 157, 148, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc9d94;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc9d94, #BCB894);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc9d94, #B6BC94);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc9d94;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc9d94;
caret-color: #bc9d94;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc9d94;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F1EF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc9d94;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc9d94 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc9d94 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, 157, 148, 0.5)
rgb(188 157 148 / 50%)
#bc9d9480
hsl(14 23% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc9d94 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc9d941a#F8F5F4
20%#bc9d9433#F2EBEA
40%#bc9d9466#E4D8D4
60%#bc9d9499#D7C4BF
80%#bc9d94cc#C9B1A9

Gradients from #bc9d94

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, #D4C0BA, #bc9d94 45%, #4E3831);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc9d94, #B0AF81);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc9d94, #94B3BC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DFD1CD 0%, #bc9d94 45%, #4E3831 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F6F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D0B3BE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8C2A7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4E3831 0%, transparent 65%), #bc9d94;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc9d94

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.

#bc9d94 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 8.39:1.

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.

#bc9d94, answered

What color is #bc9d94?

#bc9d94 is a light soft red, closest to Rosy Brown (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 14° on the hue wheel with 23% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bc9d94?

rgb(188, 157, 148) — 188 red, 157 green and 148 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 61.6% / 58% by channel.

What is #bc9d94 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(14, 23%, 66%) and hsv(14, 21%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc9d94 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3694 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.39:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc9d94?

Black. It scores 8.39:1 against #bc9d94, versus 2.50:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bc9d94 accessible on a white background?

#bc9d94 on white scores 2.50:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #966B5E to reach 4.5:1, or #715046 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bc9d94?

#94B3BC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #94BCB1 and #949FBC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc9d94?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #E0D1CD for borders, #8D6458 for secondary text, #4A827F as an accent and #4E3831 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC949F and #BCB194 stays calm, while #94B3BC is the loudest partner.

What is #bc9d94 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 17%, 21%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc9d94 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 23 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCA494; nudged cooler, #BE9298.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc9d94?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 19.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc9d94 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc9d94 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc9d94] or text-[#bc9d94], 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 #bc9d94 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 157, 148, 0.5), or #bc9d9480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DECECA; over black, #5E4F4A.

Is #bc9d94 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 7.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc9d94 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 #bc9d94?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D4C0BA, #bc9d94 45%, #4E3831). For more colour, a short hue run to #B0AF81 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc9d94 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc9d94 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.