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red · warm

#c5afac

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: Morning Cherry

RGB
197, 175, 172
HSL
7°, 18%, 72%
CMYK
0, 11, 13, 23
Luminance
0.4551

#c5afac is a light soft red, 7° on the wheel and 31/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.10:1). As text it scores 2.08:1 on white — use #946D68 instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(7 18% 72%)rgb(197 175 172)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c5afac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c5afac
Hue
red
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4551
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
31/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.10:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 9.9
Chroma
8.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.772
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 22.9
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue7° 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 #c5afac.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool31% 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
Red26%
Green67%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#c5afac
HEX (8-digit)#c5afacff
RGBrgb(197, 175, 172)
RGBArgba(197, 175, 172, 1)
HSLhsl(7, 18%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(7, 13%, 77%)
HWBhwb(7 67% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 11%, 13%, 23%)
LABlab(73.2 7.4 4.4)
LCHlch(73.2 8.6 30.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.772 0.026 27.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.80, 45.51, 45.39)
Decimal12955564
Display P3color(display-p3 0.773 0.686 0.675)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c5afac;
background-color: #c5afac;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c5afac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c5afac] bg-[#c5afac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c5afac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.773, green: 0.686, blue: 0.675)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.773, green: 0.686, blue: 0.675, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C5AFAC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC5AFAC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC5AFAC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 175, 197)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(197, 175, 172)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(197, 175, 172)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 197, 175, 172)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7725f, 0.6863f, 0.6745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{197,175,172}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c5afac 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c5afac 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4B3734, #E6DCDB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c5afac 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: #F8F7F6;
  --brand-100: #F2EEEE;
  --brand-200: #E3DAD9;
  --brand-300: #D1BFBD;
  --brand-400: #c5afac;
  --brand-500: #A3807B;
  --brand-600: #906A65;
  --brand-700: #785854;
  --brand-800: #604743;
  --brand-900: #473633;
  --brand-950: #2C2220;
  --brand: #c5afac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #DDD1CF;
  --brand-hover: #B69B97;
  --brand-pressed: #A88782;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211817;
    --brand-ink: #E6DCDB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F6',
        100: '#F2EEEE',
        200: '#E3DAD9',
        300: '#D1BFBD',
        400: '#c5afac',
        500: '#A3807B',
        600: '#906A65',
        700: '#785854',
        800: '#604743',
        900: '#473633',
        950: '#2C2220',
        DEFAULT: '#c5afac',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F6,
  '100': #F2EEEE,
  '200': #E3DAD9,
  '300': #D1BFBD,
  '400': #c5afac,
  '500': #A3807B,
  '600': #906A65,
  '700': #785854,
  '800': #604743,
  '900': #473633,
  '950': #2C2220,
);
$brand-base: #c5afac;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F7F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EEEE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E3DAD9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D1BFBD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c5afac", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A3807B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#906A65", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#785854", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#604743", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#473633", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C2220", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c5afac · 10.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.08:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c5afac as text scores 2.08:1 on white and 10.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4B3734 at 5.33:1.

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
#946D68 · 4.52:1
AA on white−23% L
#946D68
The quick fox
#6D504C · 7.24:1
AAA on white−36% L
#6D504C
The quick fox
#c5afac · 10.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c5afac
The quick fox
#c5afac · 10.10:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c5afac

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC8C88 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
#c5afac on white: 2.08:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c5afac on black: 10.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c5afac as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c5afac.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.08:1AaAa
Slate 501.99:1AaAa
Slate 1001.90:1AaAa
Slate 2001.69:1AaAa
Slate 3001.40:1AaAa
Slate 4001.23:1AaAa
Slate 5002.29:1AaAa
Slate 6003.65:1AaAa
Slate 7004.98:1AaAa
Slate 8007.04:1AaAa
Slate 9008.59:1AaAa
Black10.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3B1AC
deuteranopia · #B8B5AC
tritanopia · #CBADAE

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. #c5afac 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.

#F8F7F6
#F2EEEE
#E3DAD9
#D1BFBD
#c5afac
#A3807B
#906A65
#785854
#604743
#473633
#2C2220
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F6Darkest = 950 · #2C2220Text 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 0.006 27.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 27.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 27.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.020 27.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.024 27.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.026 27.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.026 27.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.024 27.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.022 27.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 27.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 27.0);
}

Colors that work with #c5afac

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#DDD1CF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#87635E
Captions on the surface
Accent#507C77
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4B3734
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F1F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211817
Dark-mode background
Hover#B69B97
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A88782
Two steps down
Disabled#F3EFEE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D3B6B2
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 #c5afac

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 #4B3734
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AC8C88

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#ACC2C5
Analogous left#C5ACB6
Analogous right#C5BCAC
Split-complement 1#ACC5BC
Split-complement 2#ACB6C5
Triadic 1#ACC5AF
Triadic 2#AFACC5
Tetradic#B6C5AC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°7°

#c5afac sits at 7°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red77.3%
Green68.6%
Blue67.5%
R · 0–255
197
0xc5
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
172
0xac

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta11.2%
Yellow12.7%
Key (black)22.7%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c5afac text on a black background

contrast 10.10:1

Card sample

#c5afac text on a white background

contrast 2.08:1

Card sample

#c5afac on grey

1.90:1

#c5afac on its own surface

1.93:1

#c5afac on its dark surface

8.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c5afac;
Background color
Panel with #c5afac background
background-color: #c5afac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c5afac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(197, 175, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(197, 175, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c5afac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c5afac, #C5C0AC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c5afac, #C4C5AC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c5afac;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c5afac;
caret-color: #c5afac;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c5afac;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F1F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c5afac;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c5afac 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c5afac 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(197, 175, 172, 0.5)
rgb(197 175 172 / 50%)
#c5afac80
hsl(7 18% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c5afac 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c5afac1a#F9F7F7
20%#c5afac33#F3EFEE
40%#c5afac66#E8DFDE
60%#c5afac99#DCCFCD
80%#c5afaccc#D1BFBD

Gradients from #c5afac

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, #DED2D0, #c5afac 45%, #4B3734);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c5afac, #B8B59A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c5afac, #ACC2C5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBE3E2 0%, #c5afac 45%, #4B3734 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%, #DACAD2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D2CCBE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4B3734 0%, transparent 65%), #c5afac;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c5afac

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.

#c5afac 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 10.10:1.

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.

#c5afac, answered

What color is #c5afac?

#c5afac is a light soft red, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 9.9). It sits at 7° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #c5afac?

rgb(197, 175, 172) — 197 red, 175 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 77.3% / 68.6% / 67.5% by channel.

What is #c5afac in HSL and HSV?

hsl(7, 18%, 72%) and hsv(7, 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 #c5afac a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4551 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c5afac?

Black. It scores 10.10:1 against #c5afac, versus 2.08:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c5afac accessible on a white background?

#c5afac on white scores 2.08:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #946D68 to reach 4.5:1, or #6D504C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c5afac?

#ACC2C5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ACC5BC and #ACB6C5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c5afac?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #DDD1CF for borders, #87635E for secondary text, #507C77 as an accent and #4B3734 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C5ACB6 and #C5BCAC stays calm, while #ACC2C5 is the loudest partner.

What is #c5afac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 11%, 13%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c5afac warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 31 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C5B6AC; nudged cooler, #C6ABB2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c5afac?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 22.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c5afac as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c5afac in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c5afac] or text-[#c5afac], 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 #c5afac with 50% opacity?

rgba(197, 175, 172, 0.5), or #c5afac80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E2D7D6; over black, #635856.

Is #c5afac a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 9.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c5afac 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 #c5afac?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DED2D0, #c5afac 45%, #4B3734). For more colour, a short hue run to #B8B59A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c5afac in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c5afac at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.