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red · warm

#c99b8c

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cherry

RGB
201, 155, 140
HSL
15°, 36%, 67%
CMYK
0, 23, 30, 21
Luminance
0.3775

#c99b8c is a light soft red, 15° on the wheel and 8/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.55:1). As text it scores 2.46:1 on white — use #A6644E instead. Nearest name is Rosy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(15 36% 67%)rgb(201 155 140)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c99b8c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c99b8c
Hue
15°
red
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3775
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
8/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.55:1
Closest name
Rosy Brown
ΔE2000 7.2
Chroma
20.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.728
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 19.6
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue15° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #c99b8c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool8% 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
Red33%
Green62%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#c99b8c
HEX (8-digit)#c99b8cff
RGBrgb(201, 155, 140)
RGBArgba(201, 155, 140, 1)
HSLhsl(15, 36%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(15, 30%, 79%)
HWBhwb(15 55% 21%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 30%, 21%)
LABlab(67.8 15.0 14.5)
LCHlch(67.8 20.8 44.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.728 0.059 38.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(40.54, 37.76, 29.96)
Decimal13212556
Display P3color(display-p3 0.788 0.608 0.549)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #c99b8c;
background-color: #c99b8c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #c99b8c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c99b8c] bg-[#c99b8c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c99b8c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.788, green: 0.608, blue: 0.549)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.788, green: 0.608, blue: 0.549, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#C99B8C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFC99B8C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC99B8C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(140, 155, 201)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(201, 155, 140)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(201, 155, 140)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 201, 155, 140)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7882f, 0.6078f, 0.5490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{201,155,140}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #c99b8c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #c99b8c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#573429, #EBDBD5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #c99b8c 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: #F4EEEB;
  --brand-200: #E8D9D3;
  --brand-300: #DBBDB3;
  --brand-400: #c99b8c;
  --brand-500: #B77A66;
  --brand-600: #A7644E;
  --brand-700: #8B5341;
  --brand-800: #6F4334;
  --brand-900: #523329;
  --brand-950: #33201A;
  --brand: #c99b8c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F5;
  --brand-border: #E5CFC7;
  --brand-hover: #BE8674;
  --brand-pressed: #B2715C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241814;
    --brand-ink: #EBDBD5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF6F5',
        100: '#F4EEEB',
        200: '#E8D9D3',
        300: '#DBBDB3',
        400: '#c99b8c',
        500: '#B77A66',
        600: '#A7644E',
        700: '#8B5341',
        800: '#6F4334',
        900: '#523329',
        950: '#33201A',
        DEFAULT: '#c99b8c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF6F5,
  '100': #F4EEEB,
  '200': #E8D9D3,
  '300': #DBBDB3,
  '400': #c99b8c,
  '500': #B77A66,
  '600': #A7644E,
  '700': #8B5341,
  '800': #6F4334,
  '900': #523329,
  '950': #33201A,
);
$brand-base: #c99b8c;
$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": "#F4EEEB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8D9D3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBBDB3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#c99b8c", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B77A66", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A7644E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8B5341", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6F4334", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#523329", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#33201A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #c99b8c · 8.55:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.46:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.55:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c99b8c as text scores 2.46:1 on white and 8.55:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #573429 at 4.43:1.

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
#A6644E · 4.61:1
AA on white−19% L
#A6644E
The quick fox
#7D4B3A · 7.14:1
AAA on white−31% L
#7D4B3A
The quick fox
#c99b8c · 8.55:1
AA on blackalready passes
#c99b8c
The quick fox
#c99b8c · 8.55:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#c99b8c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BE8674 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
#c99b8c on white: 2.46:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c99b8c on black: 8.55:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #c99b8c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #c99b8c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.46:1AaAa
Slate 502.35:1AaAa
Slate 1002.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.99:1AaAa
Slate 3001.65:1AaAa
Slate 4001.04:1AaAa
Slate 5001.94:1AaAa
Slate 6003.09:1AaAa
Slate 7004.22:1AaAa
Slate 8005.96:1AaAa
Slate 9007.27:1AaAa
Black8.55:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A6A08B
deuteranopia · #B0A98C
tritanopia · #D49497

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. #c99b8c 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.

#FAF6F5
#F4EEEB
#E8D9D3
#DBBDB3
#c99b8c
#B77A66
#A7644E
#8B5341
#6F4334
#523329
#33201A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF6F5Darkest = 950 · #33201AText 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 0.015 38.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.024 38.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.036 38.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.046 38.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.055 38.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.059 38.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.059 38.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.056 38.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.050 38.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.042 38.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.033 38.8);
}

Colors that work with #c99b8c

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#FAF6F5
Tinted page background
Border#E5CFC7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B5E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3E8E8E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#573429
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F0EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241814
Dark-mode background
Hover#BE8674
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B2715C
Two steps down
Disabled#E9E0DC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D7A393
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 #c99b8c

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 #573429
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BE8674

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
  • Weight33/100
  • 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#8CBAC9
Analogous left#C98C9C
Analogous right#C9BA8C
Split-complement 1#8CC9BA
Split-complement 2#8C9CC9
Triadic 1#8CC99B
Triadic 2#9B8CC9
Tetradic#9CC98C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°15°

#c99b8c sits at 15°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red78.8%
Green60.8%
Blue54.9%
R · 0–255
201
0xc9
G · 0–255
155
0x9b
B · 0–255
140
0x8c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta22.9%
Yellow30.3%
Key (black)21.2%

Total ink coverage is 74%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#c99b8c text on a black background

contrast 8.55:1

Card sample

#c99b8c text on a white background

contrast 2.46:1

Card sample

#c99b8c on grey

2.24:1

#c99b8c on its own surface

2.29:1

#c99b8c on its dark surface

7.03:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c99b8c;
Background color
Panel with #c99b8c background
background-color: #c99b8c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c99b8c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(201, 155, 140, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(201, 155, 140, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c99b8c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c99b8c, #C9C48C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c99b8c, #BFC98C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #c99b8c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #c99b8c;
caret-color: #c99b8c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #c99b8c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F0EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #c99b8c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#c99b8c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #c99b8c 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, 155, 140, 0.5)
rgb(201 155 140 / 50%)
#c99b8c80
hsl(15 36% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #c99b8c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#c99b8c1a#FAF5F4
20%#c99b8c33#F4EBE8
40%#c99b8c66#E9D7D1
60%#c99b8c99#DFC3BA
80%#c99b8ccc#D4AFA3

Gradients from #c99b8c

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, #DDBFB6, #c99b8c 45%, #573429);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #c99b8c, #BFBF77);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #c99b8c, #8CBAC9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E6D1CB 0%, #c99b8c 45%, #573429 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF6F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D9AFBD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D3CAA1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #573429 0%, transparent 65%), #c99b8c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c99b8c

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.

#c99b8c 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 8.55:1.

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.

#c99b8c, answered

What color is #c99b8c?

#c99b8c is a light soft red, closest to Rosy Brown (ΔE2000 7.2). It sits at 15° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #c99b8c?

rgb(201, 155, 140) — 201 red, 155 green and 140 blue out of 255, or 78.8% / 60.8% / 54.9% by channel.

What is #c99b8c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(15, 36%, 67%) and hsv(15, 30%, 79%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #c99b8c a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3775 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.55:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c99b8c?

Black. It scores 8.55:1 against #c99b8c, versus 2.46:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #c99b8c accessible on a white background?

#c99b8c on white scores 2.46:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A6644E to reach 4.5:1, or #7D4B3A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #c99b8c?

#8CBAC9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8CC9BA and #8C9CC9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c99b8c?

For interface work: #FAF6F5 as the surface, #E5CFC7 for borders, #9B5E4B for secondary text, #3E8E8E as an accent and #573429 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C98C9C and #C9BA8C stays calm, while #8CBAC9 is the loudest partner.

What is #c99b8c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 30%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #c99b8c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 8 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C9A48C; nudged cooler, #CB8A92.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #c99b8c?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 19.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #c99b8c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #c99b8c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#c99b8c] or text-[#c99b8c], 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 #c99b8c with 50% opacity?

rgba(201, 155, 140, 0.5), or #c99b8c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E4CDC6; over black, #654E46.

Is #c99b8c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 6.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #c99b8c 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 #c99b8c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DDBFB6, #c99b8c 45%, #573429). For more colour, a short hue run to #BFBF77 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #c99b8c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #c99b8c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.