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#cb331c

a balanced, electric red · warm · closest name: Firebrick

RGB
203, 51, 28
HSL
8°, 76%, 45%
CMYK
0, 75, 86, 20
Luminance
0.1515

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cb331c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cb331c
Hue
red
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
46%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1515
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.21:1
Closest name
Firebrick
ΔE2000 7.7
Where it sits
Hue8° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness45%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool12% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#cb331c
RGBrgb(203, 51, 28)
HSLhsl(8, 76%, 45%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 75%, 86%, 20%)
LABlab(45.8 58.1 48.6)
LCHlch(45.8 75.8 39.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.555 0.192 31.6)
Decimal13316892
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.200 0.110)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cb331c;
background-color: #cb331c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cb331c] bg-[#cb331c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cb331c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.200, blue: 0.110)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cb331c")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCB331C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(28, 51, 203)

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#ffffff on #cb331c · 5.21:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 5.21:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.03:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #cb331c as text scores 5.21:1 on white and 4.03:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cb331c on white: 5.21:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cb331c on black: 4.03:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #625717
deuteranopia · #887911
tritanopia · #E00030

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cb331c is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCF4F3
#F9E9E7
#F4CEC8
#F1A89C
#EB7C6B
#E4503A
#cb331c
#B32D19
#8F2414
#681E13
#41130C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCF4F3Darkest = 950 · #41130C
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCF4F3;
  --brand-100: #F9E9E7;
  --brand-200: #F4CEC8;
  --brand-300: #F1A89C;
  --brand-400: #EB7C6B;
  --brand-500: #E4503A;
  --brand-600: #cb331c;
  --brand-700: #B32D19;
  --brand-800: #8F2414;
  --brand-900: #681E13;
  --brand-950: #41130C;
  --brand: #cb331c;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
}

Colors that work with #cb331c

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B554B
Captions on the surface
Accent#14B8A4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#701C0F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCEBE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #cb331c

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#1CB4CB
Analogous left#CB1C5C
Analogous right#CB8B1C
Split-complement 1#1CCB8B
Split-complement 2#1C5CCB
Triadic 1#1CCB33
Triadic 2#331CCB
Tetradic#5CCB1C

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green20.0%
Blue11.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta74.9%
Yellow86.2%
Key (black)20.4%

Color previews

#cb331c text on a black background

contrast 4.03:1

Card sample

#cb331c text on a white background

contrast 5.21:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cb331c;
Background color
Panel with #cb331c background
background-color: #cb331c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cb331c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 51, 28, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 51, 28, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cb331c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cb331c, #CBA81C);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cb331c

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#cb331c 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#cb331c, answered

What color is #cb331c?

#cb331c is a balanced electric red, closest to Firebrick (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 8° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cb331c?

rgb(203, 51, 28) — 203 red, 51 green and 28 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 20% / 11% by channel.

Is #cb331c a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1515 and perceived brightness is 46%, so white text on it reaches 5.21:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cb331c?

White. It scores 5.21:1 against #cb331c, versus 4.03:1 for black — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cb331c?

#1CB4CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1CCB8B and #1C5CCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cb331c?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC6C0 for borders, #9B554B for secondary text, #14B8A4 as an accent and #701C0F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB1C5C and #CB8B1C stays calm, while #1CB4CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cb331c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 75%, 86%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #cb331c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 12 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB501C; nudged cooler, #CD1A44.

Work with #cb331c in the Color Lab