Skip to content
red · warm

#cba59f

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cardinal

RGB
203, 165, 159
HSL
8°, 30%, 71%
CMYK
0, 19, 22, 20
Luminance
0.4211

#cba59f is a light soft red, 8° on the wheel and 18/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.42:1). As text it scores 2.23:1 on white — use #A5645A instead. Nearest name is Rosy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(8 30% 71%)rgb(203 165 159)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cba59f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cba59f
Hue
red
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4211
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.42:1
Closest name
Rosy Brown
ΔE2000 6.9
Chroma
15.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.754
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 23.2
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue8° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cba59f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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
Red30%
Green64%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#cba59f
HEX (8-digit)#cba59fff
RGBrgb(203, 165, 159)
RGBArgba(203, 165, 159, 1)
HSLhsl(8, 30%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(8, 22%, 80%)
HWBhwb(8 62% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 19%, 22%, 20%)
LABlab(71.0 13.0 8.4)
LCHlch(71.0 15.5 32.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.754 0.046 28.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.34, 42.11, 38.59)
Decimal13346207
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.647 0.624)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cba59f;
background-color: #cba59f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cba59f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba59f] bg-[#cba59f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba59f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.647, blue: 0.624)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.647, blue: 0.624, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBA59F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBA59F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA59F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(159, 165, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 165, 159)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 165, 159)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 165, 159)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6471f, 0.6235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,165,159}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cba59f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cba59f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#53322D, #E9DAD7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cba59f 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: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-100: #F3EDEC;
  --brand-200: #E7D8D5;
  --brand-300: #D8BBB6;
  --brand-400: #cba59f;
  --brand-500: #B0776D;
  --brand-600: #9F6056;
  --brand-700: #845048;
  --brand-800: #6A4039;
  --brand-900: #4E312C;
  --brand-950: #311F1C;
  --brand: #cba59f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F5;
  --brand-border: #E2CDCA;
  --brand-hover: #BE8F88;
  --brand-pressed: #B27A71;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241614;
    --brand-ink: #E9DAD7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F3EDEC',
        200: '#E7D8D5',
        300: '#D8BBB6',
        400: '#cba59f',
        500: '#B0776D',
        600: '#9F6056',
        700: '#845048',
        800: '#6A4039',
        900: '#4E312C',
        950: '#311F1C',
        DEFAULT: '#cba59f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F3EDEC,
  '200': #E7D8D5,
  '300': #D8BBB6,
  '400': #cba59f,
  '500': #B0776D,
  '600': #9F6056,
  '700': #845048,
  '800': #6A4039,
  '900': #4E312C,
  '950': #311F1C,
);
$brand-base: #cba59f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EDEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7D8D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D8BBB6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cba59f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B0776D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9F6056", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#845048", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6A4039", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4E312C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#311F1C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cba59f · 9.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.23:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cba59f as text scores 2.23:1 on white and 9.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #53322D at 5.06:1.

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
#A5645A · 4.59:1
AA on white−21% L
#A5645A
The quick fox
#7A4A42 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−34% L
#7A4A42
The quick fox
#cba59f · 9.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cba59f
The quick fox
#cba59f · 9.42:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cba59f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BB8981 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
#cba59f on white: 2.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cba59f on black: 9.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cba59f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cba59f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.23:1AaAa
Slate 502.13:1AaAa
Slate 1002.03:1AaAa
Slate 2001.81:1AaAa
Slate 3001.50:1AaAa
Slate 4001.15:1AaAa
Slate 5002.14:1AaAa
Slate 6003.40:1AaAa
Slate 7004.65:1AaAa
Slate 8006.56:1AaAa
Slate 9008.01:1AaAa
Black9.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #ADA99F
deuteranopia · #B5B09F
tritanopia · #D4A1A3

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. #cba59f 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.

#F9F6F6
#F3EDEC
#E7D8D5
#D8BBB6
#cba59f
#B0776D
#9F6056
#845048
#6A4039
#4E312C
#311F1C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #311F1CText 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 0.011 28.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 28.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 28.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.036 28.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.042 28.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.046 28.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.046 28.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.043 28.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 28.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.032 28.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.025 28.6);
}

Colors that work with #cba59f

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#E2CDCA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#955A51
Captions on the surface
Accent#448880
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#53322D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EFEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
Hover#BE8F88
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B27A71
Two steps down
Disabled#F1EAE9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9ADA6
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 #cba59f

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 #53322D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BB8981

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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#9FC5CB
Analogous left#CB9FAF
Analogous right#CBBB9F
Split-complement 1#9FCBBB
Split-complement 2#9FAFCB
Triadic 1#9FCBA5
Triadic 2#A59FCB
Tetradic#AFCB9F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°8°

#cba59f sits at 8°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green64.7%
Blue62.4%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
165
0xa5
B · 0–255
159
0x9f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta18.7%
Yellow21.7%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 61%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cba59f text on a black background

contrast 9.42:1

Card sample

#cba59f text on a white background

contrast 2.23:1

Card sample

#cba59f on grey

2.03:1

#cba59f on its own surface

2.08:1

#cba59f on its dark surface

7.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cba59f;
Background color
Panel with #cba59f background
background-color: #cba59f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba59f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 165, 159, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 165, 159, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cba59f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba59f, #CBC29F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba59f, #C9CB9F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cba59f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cba59f;
caret-color: #cba59f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cba59f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EFEE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cba59f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cba59f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cba59f 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(203, 165, 159, 0.5)
rgb(203 165 159 / 50%)
#cba59f80
hsl(8 30% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cba59f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cba59f1a#FAF6F5
20%#cba59f33#F5EDEC
40%#cba59f66#EADBD9
60%#cba59f99#E0C9C5
80%#cba59fcc#D5B7B2

Gradients from #cba59f

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, #E1CAC7, #cba59f 45%, #53322D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cba59f, #C0BA8B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba59f, #9FC5CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBDDDB 0%, #cba59f 45%, #53322D 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%, #DDC0CD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D6CCB3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #53322D 0%, transparent 65%), #cba59f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cba59f

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.

#cba59f 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 9.42:1.

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.

#cba59f, answered

What color is #cba59f?

#cba59f is a light soft red, closest to Rosy Brown (ΔE2000 6.9). It sits at 8° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cba59f?

rgb(203, 165, 159) — 203 red, 165 green and 159 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 64.7% / 62.4% by channel.

What is #cba59f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(8, 30%, 71%) and hsv(8, 22%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cba59f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4211 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cba59f?

Black. It scores 9.42:1 against #cba59f, versus 2.23:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cba59f accessible on a white background?

#cba59f on white scores 2.23:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A5645A to reach 4.5:1, or #7A4A42 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cba59f?

#9FC5CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9FCBBB and #9FAFCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cba59f?

For interface work: #FAF6F5 as the surface, #E2CDCA for borders, #955A51 for secondary text, #448880 as an accent and #53322D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB9FAF and #CBBB9F stays calm, while #9FC5CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cba59f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 19%, 22%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cba59f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBB09F; nudged cooler, #CC9EA8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cba59f?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 23.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cba59f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cba59f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cba59f] or text-[#cba59f], 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 #cba59f with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 165, 159, 0.5), or #cba59f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D2CF; over black, #665350.

Is #cba59f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 5.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cba59f 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 #cba59f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E1CAC7, #cba59f 45%, #53322D). For more colour, a short hue run to #C0BA8B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cba59f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cba59f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.