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red · warm

#c4aaab

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Rust

RGB
196, 170, 171
HSL
358°, 18%, 72%
CMYK
0, 13, 13, 23
Luminance
0.4343

#c4aaab is a light soft red, 358° on the wheel and 33/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.69:1). As text it scores 2.17:1 on white — use #986B6D instead. Nearest name is Rosy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(358 18% 72%)rgb(196 170 171)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c4aaab is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c4aaab
Hue
358°
red
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4343
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
33/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.69:1
Closest name
Rosy Brown
ΔE2000 8.9
Chroma
10.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.761
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 22.7
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue358° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c4aaab.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool33% 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
Red27%
Green66%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#c4aaab
HEX (8-digit)#c4aaabff
RGBrgb(196, 170, 171)
RGBArgba(196, 170, 171, 1)
HSLhsl(358, 18%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(358, 13%, 77%)
HWBhwb(358 67% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 13%, 13%, 23%)
LABlab(71.8 9.6 3.0)
LCHlch(71.8 10.0 17.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.761 0.030 15.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.49, 43.43, 44.56)
Decimal12888747
Display P3color(display-p3 0.769 0.667 0.671)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c4aaab;
background-color: #c4aaab;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c4aaab;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c4aaab] bg-[#c4aaab]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c4aaab;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.769, green: 0.667, blue: 0.671)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.769, green: 0.667, blue: 0.671, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C4AAAB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC4AAAB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC4AAAB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(171, 170, 196)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(196, 170, 171)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(196, 170, 171)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 196, 170, 171)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7686f, 0.6667f, 0.6706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{196,170,171}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c4aaab 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c4aaab 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4B3435, #E6DBDB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c4aaab 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: #F8F6F6;
  --brand-100: #F2EEEE;
  --brand-200: #E3D9D9;
  --brand-300: #D1BDBE;
  --brand-400: #c4aaab;
  --brand-500: #A37A7C;
  --brand-600: #916466;
  --brand-700: #785455;
  --brand-800: #604344;
  --brand-900: #473334;
  --brand-950: #2D2020;
  --brand: #c4aaab;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #DECFCF;
  --brand-hover: #B59596;
  --brand-pressed: #A78081;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211717;
    --brand-ink: #E6DBDB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F6F6',
        100: '#F2EEEE',
        200: '#E3D9D9',
        300: '#D1BDBE',
        400: '#c4aaab',
        500: '#A37A7C',
        600: '#916466',
        700: '#785455',
        800: '#604344',
        900: '#473334',
        950: '#2D2020',
        DEFAULT: '#c4aaab',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F6F6,
  '100': #F2EEEE,
  '200': #E3D9D9,
  '300': #D1BDBE,
  '400': #c4aaab,
  '500': #A37A7C,
  '600': #916466,
  '700': #785455,
  '800': #604344,
  '900': #473334,
  '950': #2D2020,
);
$brand-base: #c4aaab;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EEEE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E3D9D9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D1BDBE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c4aaab", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A37A7C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#916466", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#785455", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#604344", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#473334", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2D2020", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c4aaab · 9.69:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.69:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c4aaab as text scores 2.17:1 on white and 9.69:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4B3435 at 5.26:1.

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
#986B6D · 4.51:1
AA on white−21% L
#986B6D
The quick fox
#724F50 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−34% L
#724F50
The quick fox
#c4aaab · 9.69:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c4aaab
The quick fox
#c4aaab · 9.69:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c4aaab

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF8C8D 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
#c4aaab on white: 2.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c4aaab on black: 9.69:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c4aaab as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c4aaab.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.17:1AaAa
Slate 502.07:1AaAa
Slate 1001.98:1AaAa
Slate 2001.76:1AaAa
Slate 3001.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.18:1AaAa
Slate 5002.19:1AaAa
Slate 6003.49:1AaAa
Slate 7004.78:1AaAa
Slate 8006.75:1AaAa
Slate 9008.23:1AaAa
Black9.69:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AEADAB
deuteranopia · #B4B2AB
tritanopia · #CAA8AA

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. #c4aaab 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.

#F8F6F6
#F2EEEE
#E3D9D9
#D1BDBE
#c4aaab
#A37A7C
#916466
#785455
#604344
#473334
#2D2020
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F6F6Darkest = 950 · #2D2020Text 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 0.008 15.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.012 15.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.018 15.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.024 15.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.028 15.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.030 15.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.030 15.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.028 15.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.025 15.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.021 15.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.017 15.2);
}

Colors that work with #c4aaab

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#DECFCF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#885E60
Captions on the surface
Accent#4F7D70
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4B3435
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F0F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211717
Dark-mode background
Hover#B59596
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A78081
Two steps down
Disabled#F2ECED
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3B0B1
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 #c4aaab

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 #4B3435
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AF8C8D

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
  • Weight28/100
  • 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#AAC4C3
Analogous left#C4AAB8
Analogous right#C4B6AA
Split-complement 1#AAC4B6
Split-complement 2#AAB8C4
Triadic 1#ABC4AA
Triadic 2#AAABC4
Tetradic#B8C4AA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°358°

#c4aaab sits at 358°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red76.9%
Green66.7%
Blue67.1%
R · 0–255
196
0xc4
G · 0–255
170
0xaa
B · 0–255
171
0xab

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta13.3%
Yellow12.8%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 49%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c4aaab text on a black background

contrast 9.69:1

Card sample

#c4aaab text on a white background

contrast 2.17:1

Card sample

#c4aaab on grey

1.98:1

#c4aaab on its own surface

2.02:1

#c4aaab on its dark surface

8.07:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c4aaab;
Background color
Panel with #c4aaab background
background-color: #c4aaab;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c4aaab;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(196, 170, 171, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(196, 170, 171, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c4aaab;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c4aaab, #C4BAAA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c4aaab, #C4C1AA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c4aaab;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c4aaab;
caret-color: #c4aaab;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c4aaab;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F0F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c4aaab;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c4aaab 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c4aaab 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(196, 170, 171, 0.5)
rgb(196 170 171 / 50%)
#c4aaab80
hsl(358 18% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c4aaab 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c4aaab1a#F9F7F7
20%#c4aaab33#F3EEEE
40%#c4aaab66#E7DDDD
60%#c4aaab99#DCCCCD
80%#c4aaabcc#D0BBBC

Gradients from #c4aaab

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, #DDCECF, #c4aaab 45%, #4B3435);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c4aaab, #B8AE98);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c4aaab, #AAC4C3);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAE0E1 0%, #c4aaab 45%, #4B3435 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%, #D9C8D3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D1C7BC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4B3435 0%, transparent 65%), #c4aaab;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c4aaab

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.

#c4aaab 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 9.69:1.

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.

#c4aaab, answered

What color is #c4aaab?

#c4aaab is a light soft red, closest to Rosy Brown (ΔE2000 8.9). It sits at 358° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #c4aaab?

rgb(196, 170, 171) — 196 red, 170 green and 171 blue out of 255, or 76.9% / 66.7% / 67.1% by channel.

What is #c4aaab in HSL and HSV?

hsl(358, 18%, 72%) and hsv(358, 13%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c4aaab a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4343 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.69:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c4aaab?

Black. It scores 9.69:1 against #c4aaab, versus 2.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c4aaab accessible on a white background?

#c4aaab on white scores 2.17:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #986B6D to reach 4.5:1, or #724F50 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c4aaab?

#AAC4C3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AAC4B6 and #AAB8C4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c4aaab?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #DECFCF for borders, #885E60 for secondary text, #4F7D70 as an accent and #4B3435 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4AAB8 and #C4B6AA stays calm, while #AAC4C3 is the loudest partner.

What is #c4aaab in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 13%, 13%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c4aaab warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 33 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C4B3AA; nudged cooler, #C6A9B4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c4aaab?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 22.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c4aaab as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c4aaab in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c4aaab] or text-[#c4aaab], 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 #c4aaab with 50% opacity?

rgba(196, 170, 171, 0.5), or #c4aaab80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E2D5D5; over black, #625556.

Is #c4aaab a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 7.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c4aaab 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 #c4aaab?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DDCECF, #c4aaab 45%, #4B3435). For more colour, a short hue run to #B8AE98 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c4aaab in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c4aaab at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.