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red · warm

#cdb4b7

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Meadow Ember

RGB
205, 180, 183
HSL
353°, 20%, 76%
CMYK
0, 12, 11, 20
Luminance
0.4904

#cdb4b7 is a light soft red, 353° on the wheel and 33/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.81:1). As text it scores 1.94:1 on white — use #9A686E instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(353 20% 76%)rgb(205 180 183)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdb4b7 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdb4b7
Hue
353°
red
Saturation
20%
soft
Lightness
76%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4904
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
33/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.81:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
9.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.792
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 25.1
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue353° of 360°
Saturation20%
Lightness76%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdb4b7.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool33% 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#cdb4b7
HEX (8-digit)#cdb4b7ff
RGBrgb(205, 180, 183)
RGBArgba(205, 180, 183, 1)
HSLhsl(353, 20%, 76%)
HSV / HSBhsv(353, 12%, 80%)
HWBhwb(353 71% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 12%, 11%, 20%)
LABlab(75.5 9.4 1.8)
LCHlch(75.5 9.6 10.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.792 0.029 9.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.04, 49.04, 51.62)
Decimal13481143
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.706 0.718)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdb4b7;
background-color: #cdb4b7;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdb4b7;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdb4b7] bg-[#cdb4b7]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdb4b7;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.706, blue: 0.718)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.706, blue: 0.718, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDB4B7</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDB4B7)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDB4B7)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(183, 180, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 180, 183)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 180, 183)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 180, 183)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.7059f, 0.7176f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,180,183}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdb4b7 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdb4b7 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4D3336, #E7DADC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdb4b7 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: #F2EDEE;
  --brand-200: #E4D8D9;
  --brand-300: #cdb4b7;
  --brand-400: #BC9A9E;
  --brand-500: #A5787E;
  --brand-600: #936268;
  --brand-700: #7A5256;
  --brand-800: #624145;
  --brand-900: #483235;
  --brand-950: #2D1F21;
  --brand: #cdb4b7;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #DECED0;
  --brand-hover: #BF9FA2;
  --brand-pressed: #B0898E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #221618;
    --brand-ink: #E7DADC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F2EDEE',
        200: '#E4D8D9',
        300: '#cdb4b7',
        400: '#BC9A9E',
        500: '#A5787E',
        600: '#936268',
        700: '#7A5256',
        800: '#624145',
        900: '#483235',
        950: '#2D1F21',
        DEFAULT: '#cdb4b7',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F2EDEE,
  '200': #E4D8D9,
  '300': #cdb4b7,
  '400': #BC9A9E,
  '500': #A5787E,
  '600': #936268,
  '700': #7A5256,
  '800': #624145,
  '900': #483235,
  '950': #2D1F21,
);
$brand-base: #cdb4b7;
$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": "#F2EDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E4D8D9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cdb4b7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BC9A9E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A5787E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#936268", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7A5256", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#624145", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#483235", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2D1F21", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdb4b7 · 10.81:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.94:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.81:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdb4b7 as text scores 1.94:1 on white and 10.81:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4D3336 at 5.87:1.

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
#9A686E · 4.59:1
AA on white−25% L
#9A686E
The quick fox
#734D51 · 7.22:1
AAA on white−38% L
#734D51
The quick fox
#cdb4b7 · 10.81:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdb4b7
The quick fox
#cdb4b7 · 10.81:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdb4b7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B0898E 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
#cdb4b7 on white: 1.94:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdb4b7 on black: 10.81:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdb4b7 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdb4b7.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.94:1AaAa
Slate 501.86:1AaAa
Slate 1001.77:1AaAa
Slate 2001.58:1AaAa
Slate 3001.31:1AaAa
Slate 4001.32:1AaAa
Slate 5002.45:1AaAa
Slate 6003.90:1AaAa
Slate 7005.33:1AaAa
Slate 8007.53:1AaAa
Slate 9009.19:1AaAa
Black10.81:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7B7B7
deuteranopia · #BDBCB7
tritanopia · #D2B2B5

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. #cdb4b7 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F6F6
#F2EDEE
#E4D8D9
#cdb4b7
#BC9A9E
#A5787E
#936268
#7A5256
#624145
#483235
#2D1F21
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #2D1F21Text 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 0.007 9.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.012 9.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.017 9.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.023 9.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.027 9.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.029 9.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.029 9.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.027 9.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.024 9.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.020 9.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.016 9.5);
}

Colors that work with #cdb4b7

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#DECED0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8A5C61
Captions on the surface
Accent#4D7F6B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4D3336
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F0F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#221618
Dark-mode background
Hover#BF9FA2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B0898E
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DABBBF
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 #cdb4b7

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 #4D3336
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B0898E

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
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#B4CDCA
Analogous left#CDB4C4
Analogous right#CDBEB4
Split-complement 1#B4CDBE
Split-complement 2#B4C4CD
Triadic 1#B7CDB4
Triadic 2#B4B7CD
Tetradic#C4CDB4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°353°

#cdb4b7 sits at 353°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green70.6%
Blue71.8%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
180
0xb4
B · 0–255
183
0xb7

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta12.2%
Yellow10.7%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 43%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdb4b7 text on a black background

contrast 10.81:1

Card sample

#cdb4b7 text on a white background

contrast 1.94:1

Card sample

#cdb4b7 on grey

1.77:1

#cdb4b7 on its own surface

1.81:1

#cdb4b7 on its dark surface

9.04:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdb4b7;
Background color
Panel with #cdb4b7 background
background-color: #cdb4b7;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdb4b7;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 180, 183, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 180, 183, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdb4b7;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdb4b7, #CDC2B4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdb4b7, #CDC8B4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdb4b7;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdb4b7;
caret-color: #cdb4b7;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdb4b7;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F0F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdb4b7;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdb4b7 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdb4b7 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(205, 180, 183, 0.5)
rgb(205 180 183 / 50%)
#cdb4b780
hsl(353 20% 76% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdb4b7 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdb4b71a#FAF8F8
20%#cdb4b733#F5F0F1
40%#cdb4b766#EBE1E2
60%#cdb4b799#E1D2D4
80%#cdb4b7cc#D7C3C5

Gradients from #cdb4b7

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, #E6D9DA, #cdb4b7 45%, #4D3336);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdb4b7, #C1B5A2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdb4b7, #B4CDCA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2EBEC 0%, #cdb4b7 45%, #4D3336 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%, #E1D3DD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D9CFC6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4D3336 0%, transparent 65%), #cdb4b7;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdb4b7

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.

#cdb4b7 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 10.81:1.

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.

#cdb4b7, answered

What color is #cdb4b7?

#cdb4b7 is a light soft red, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 353° on the hue wheel with 20% saturation and 76% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdb4b7?

rgb(205, 180, 183) — 205 red, 180 green and 183 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 70.6% / 71.8% by channel.

What is #cdb4b7 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(353, 20%, 76%) and hsv(353, 12%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdb4b7 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4904 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 10.81:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdb4b7?

Black. It scores 10.81:1 against #cdb4b7, versus 1.94:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdb4b7 accessible on a white background?

#cdb4b7 on white scores 1.94:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9A686E to reach 4.5:1, or #734D51 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdb4b7?

#B4CDCA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B4CDBE and #B4C4CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdb4b7?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #DECED0 for borders, #8A5C61 for secondary text, #4D7F6B as an accent and #4D3336 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDB4C4 and #CDBEB4 stays calm, while #B4CDCA is the loudest partner.

What is #cdb4b7 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 12%, 11%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdb4b7 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 33 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDBAB4; nudged cooler, #CEB3C0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdb4b7?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 25.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdb4b7 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdb4b7 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdb4b7] or text-[#cdb4b7], 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 #cdb4b7 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 180, 183, 0.5), or #cdb4b780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6DADB; over black, #675A5C.

Is #cdb4b7 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 11.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdb4b7 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 #cdb4b7?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6D9DA, #cdb4b7 45%, #4D3336). For more colour, a short hue run to #C1B5A2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdb4b7 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdb4b7 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.