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red · warm

#c97482

a balanced, soft red · warm · closest name: Pale Violet Red

Token name suggestion: Signal Ember

RGB
201, 116, 130
HSL
350°, 44%, 62%
CMYK
0, 42, 35, 21
Luminance
0.2652

#c97482 is a balanced soft red, 350° on the wheel and 22/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.30:1). As text it scores 3.33:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Pale Violet Red, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(350 44% 62%)rgb(201 116 130)Base step 400AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c97482 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c97482
Hue
350°
red
Saturation
44%
soft
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2652
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
22/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.30:1
Closest name
Pale Violet Red
ΔE2000 5.9
Chroma
35.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.656
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 12
Web-safe
#CC6699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue350° of 360°
Saturation44%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c97482.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool22% 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
Red47%
Green47%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#c97482
HEX (8-digit)#c97482ff
RGBrgb(201, 116, 130)
RGBArgba(201, 116, 130, 1)
HSLhsl(350, 44%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(350, 42%, 79%)
HWBhwb(350 45% 21%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 42%, 35%, 21%)
LABlab(58.5 35.0 7.0)
LCHlch(58.5 35.6 11.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.656 0.108 9.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(34.36, 26.52, 24.42)
Decimal13202562
Display P3color(display-p3 0.788 0.455 0.510)
Web-safe#CC6699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c97482;
background-color: #c97482;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c97482;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c97482] bg-[#c97482]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c97482;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.788, green: 0.455, blue: 0.510)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.788, green: 0.455, blue: 0.510, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C97482</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC97482)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC97482)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(130, 116, 201)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(201, 116, 130)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(201, 116, 130)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 201, 116, 130)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7882f, 0.4549f, 0.5098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{201,116,130}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c97482 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c97482 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5C242D, #EED3D7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c97482 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: #FAF5F6;
  --brand-100: #F5EAEC;
  --brand-200: #EBD1D5;
  --brand-300: #E0AEB6;
  --brand-400: #c97482;
  --brand-500: #C05D6E;
  --brand-600: #B04556;
  --brand-700: #933948;
  --brand-800: #762E3A;
  --brand-900: #56242D;
  --brand-950: #36171C;
  --brand: #c97482;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #E8C4CA;
  --brand-hover: #BF5A6B;
  --brand-pressed: #B14557;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241416;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F6',
        100: '#F5EAEC',
        200: '#EBD1D5',
        300: '#E0AEB6',
        400: '#c97482',
        500: '#C05D6E',
        600: '#B04556',
        700: '#933948',
        800: '#762E3A',
        900: '#56242D',
        950: '#36171C',
        DEFAULT: '#c97482',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F6,
  '100': #F5EAEC,
  '200': #EBD1D5,
  '300': #E0AEB6,
  '400': #c97482,
  '500': #C05D6E,
  '600': #B04556,
  '700': #933948,
  '800': #762E3A,
  '900': #56242D,
  '950': #36171C,
);
$brand-base: #c97482;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF5F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5EAEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBD1D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E0AEB6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c97482", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C05D6E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B04556", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#933948", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#762E3A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#56242D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#36171C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c97482 · 6.30:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.33:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.30:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #c97482 as text scores 3.33:1 on white and 6.30:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5C242D at 3.61:1.

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
#BC5364 · 4.61:1
AA on white−9% L
#BC5364
The quick fox
#943948 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−22% L
#943948
The quick fox
#c97482 · 6.30:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c97482
The quick fox
#CD7F8C · 7.01:1
AAA on black+3% L
#CD7F8C

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C97482 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
#c97482 on white: 3.33:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c97482 on black: 6.30:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c97482 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c97482.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.33:1AaAa
Slate 503.18:1AaAa
Slate 1003.04:1AaAa
Slate 2002.70:1AaAa
Slate 3002.24:1AaAa
Slate 4001.30:1AaAa
Slate 5001.43:1AaAa
Slate 6002.27:1AaAa
Slate 7003.11:1AaAa
Slate 8004.39:1AaAa
Slate 9005.36:1AaAa
Black6.30:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #838382
deuteranopia · #989380
tritanopia · #D76C79

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. #c97482 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.

#FAF5F6
#F5EAEC
#EBD1D5
#E0AEB6
#c97482
#C05D6E
#B04556
#933948
#762E3A
#56242D
#36171C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F6Darkest = 950 · #36171CText 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 0.027 9.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 9.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.065 9.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.084 9.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.099 9.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.108 9.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.108 9.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.101 9.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.090 9.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.075 9.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.059 9.9);
}

Colors that work with #c97482

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#FAF4F5
Tinted page background
Border#E8C4CA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B58
Captions on the surface
Accent#35976E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5C242D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8EDEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241416
Dark-mode background
Hover#BF5A6B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B14557
Two steps down
Disabled#E0CED1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D77A8A
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 #c97482

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 #5C242D
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
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#74C9BB
Analogous left#C974AD
Analogous right#C99174
Split-complement 1#74C991
Split-complement 2#74ADC9
Triadic 1#82C974
Triadic 2#7482C9
Tetradic#ADC974
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°350°

#c97482 sits at 350°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red78.8%
Green45.5%
Blue51.0%
R · 0–255
201
0xc9
G · 0–255
116
0x74
B · 0–255
130
0x82

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta42.3%
Yellow35.3%
Key (black)21.2%

Total ink coverage is 99%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c97482 text on a black background

contrast 6.30:1

Card sample

#c97482 text on a white background

contrast 3.33:1

Card sample

#c97482 on grey

3.04:1

#c97482 on its own surface

3.07:1

#c97482 on its dark surface

5.31:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c97482;
Background color
Panel with #c97482 background
background-color: #c97482;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c97482;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(201, 116, 130, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(201, 116, 130, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c97482;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c97482, #C99F74);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c97482, #C9B474);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c97482;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c97482;
caret-color: #c97482;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c97482;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8EDEE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c97482;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c97482 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c97482 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(201, 116, 130, 0.5)
rgb(201 116 130 / 50%)
#c9748280
hsl(350 44% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c97482 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c974821a#FAF1F3
20%#c9748233#F4E3E6
40%#c9748266#E9C7CD
60%#c9748299#DFACB4
80%#c97482cc#D4909B

Gradients from #c97482

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, #DAA0AA, #c97482 45%, #5C242D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c97482, #C0985E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c97482, #74C9BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E3B6BE 0%, #c97482 45%, #5C242D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D799C8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D2A88A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5C242D 0%, transparent 65%), #c97482;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c97482

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.

#c97482 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 6.30:1.

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.

#c97482, answered

What color is #c97482?

#c97482 is a balanced soft red, closest to Pale Violet Red (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 350° on the hue wheel with 44% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #c97482?

rgb(201, 116, 130) — 201 red, 116 green and 130 blue out of 255, or 78.8% / 45.5% / 51% by channel.

What is #c97482 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(350, 44%, 62%) and hsv(350, 42%, 79%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c97482 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2652 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 6.30:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c97482?

Black. It scores 6.30:1 against #c97482, versus 3.33:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #c97482 accessible on a white background?

#c97482 on white scores 3.33:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #BC5364 to reach 4.5:1, or #943948 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c97482?

#74C9BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #74C991 and #74ADC9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c97482?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #E8C4CA for borders, #9B4B58 for secondary text, #35976E as an accent and #5C242D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C974AD and #C99174 stays calm, while #74C9BB is the loudest partner.

What is #c97482 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 42%, 35%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c97482 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 22 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C98574; nudged cooler, #CB72A1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c97482?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 12 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c97482 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c97482 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c97482] or text-[#c97482], 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 #c97482 with 50% opacity?

rgba(201, 116, 130, 0.5), or #c9748280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E4BAC1; over black, #653A41.

Is #c97482 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC6699, ΔE2000 9.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c97482 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 #c97482?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAA0AA, #c97482 45%, #5C242D). For more colour, a short hue run to #C0985E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c97482 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c97482 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.