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red · warm

#dcb5af

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cardinal

RGB
220, 181, 175
HSL
8°, 39%, 78%
CMYK
0, 18, 21, 14
Luminance
0.5136

#dcb5af is a light soft red, 8° on the wheel and 12/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.27:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #B25D4F instead. Nearest name is Pink, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(8 39% 78%)rgb(220 181 175)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcb5af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcb5af
Hue
red
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5136
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.27:1
Closest name
Pink
ΔE2000 9.6
Chroma
15.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.806
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 25
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue8° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dcb5af.

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.

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#dcb5af
HEX (8-digit)#dcb5afff
RGBrgb(220, 181, 175)
RGBArgba(220, 181, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(8, 39%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(8, 20%, 86%)
HWBhwb(8 69% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 18%, 21%, 14%)
LABlab(76.9 13.1 8.3)
LCHlch(76.9 15.6 32.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.806 0.046 28.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.78, 51.36, 47.63)
Decimal14464431
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.710 0.686)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dcb5af;
background-color: #dcb5af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dcb5af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcb5af] bg-[#dcb5af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcb5af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.710, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.710, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCB5AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCB5AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCB5AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 181, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 181, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 181, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 181, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.7098f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,181,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dcb5af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dcb5af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#592D27, #ECD8D4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dcb5af 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: #F4ECEB;
  --brand-200: #E9D5D2;
  --brand-300: #dcb5af;
  --brand-400: #CC938A;
  --brand-500: #BB6F63;
  --brand-600: #AA574B;
  --brand-700: #8E493E;
  --brand-800: #723A32;
  --brand-900: #532D27;
  --brand-950: #341C18;
  --brand: #dcb5af;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #E6CBC6;
  --brand-hover: #D19E96;
  --brand-pressed: #C6877E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241614;
    --brand-ink: #ECD8D4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF6F5',
        100: '#F4ECEB',
        200: '#E9D5D2',
        300: '#dcb5af',
        400: '#CC938A',
        500: '#BB6F63',
        600: '#AA574B',
        700: '#8E493E',
        800: '#723A32',
        900: '#532D27',
        950: '#341C18',
        DEFAULT: '#dcb5af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF6F5,
  '100': #F4ECEB,
  '200': #E9D5D2,
  '300': #dcb5af,
  '400': #CC938A,
  '500': #BB6F63,
  '600': #AA574B,
  '700': #8E493E,
  '800': #723A32,
  '900': #532D27,
  '950': #341C18,
);
$brand-base: #dcb5af;
$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": "#F4ECEB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E9D5D2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#dcb5af", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CC938A", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BB6F63", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AA574B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8E493E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#723A32", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#532D27", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#341C18", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dcb5af · 11.27:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.27:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcb5af as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.27:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #592D27 at 6.16:1.

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
#B25D4F · 4.59:1
AA on white−27% L
#B25D4F
The quick fox
#85443A · 7.28:1
AAA on white−40% L
#85443A
The quick fox
#dcb5af · 11.27:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dcb5af
The quick fox
#dcb5af · 11.27:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dcb5af

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C5847A 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
#dcb5af on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcb5af on black: 11.27:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcb5af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcb5af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.78:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.55:1AaAa
Slate 6004.07:1AaAa
Slate 7005.56:1AaAa
Slate 8007.85:1AaAa
Slate 9009.58:1AaAa
Black11.27:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BDB9AE
deuteranopia · #C6C1AF
tritanopia · #E5B1B3

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. #dcb5af 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.

#FAF6F5
#F4ECEB
#E9D5D2
#dcb5af
#CC938A
#BB6F63
#AA574B
#8E493E
#723A32
#532D27
#341C18
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF6F5Darkest = 950 · #341C18Text 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 0.012 28.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.018 28.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 28.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.036 28.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.043 28.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.046 28.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.046 28.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.043 28.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 28.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.032 28.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.025 28.3);
}

Colors that work with #dcb5af

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#E6CBC6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B554B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3B9189
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#592D27
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EFED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
Hover#D19E96
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C6877E
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7BFB9
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 #dcb5af

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 #592D27
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C5847A

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
  • Weight23/100
  • 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#AFD6DC
Analogous left#DCAFC0
Analogous right#DCCCAF
Split-complement 1#AFDCCC
Split-complement 2#AFC0DC
Triadic 1#AFDCB5
Triadic 2#B5AFDC
Tetradic#C0DCAF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°8°

#dcb5af sits at 8°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green71.0%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
181
0xb5
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta17.7%
Yellow20.5%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 52%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dcb5af text on a black background

contrast 11.27:1

Card sample

#dcb5af text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#dcb5af on grey

1.70:1

#dcb5af on its own surface

1.72:1

#dcb5af on its dark surface

9.39:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcb5af;
Background color
Panel with #dcb5af background
background-color: #dcb5af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcb5af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 181, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 181, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcb5af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcb5af, #DCD3AF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcb5af, #DADCAF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dcb5af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dcb5af;
caret-color: #dcb5af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dcb5af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EFED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dcb5af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dcb5af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcb5af 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(220, 181, 175, 0.5)
rgb(220 181 175 / 50%)
#dcb5af80
hsl(8 39% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcb5af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dcb5af1a#FCF8F7
20%#dcb5af33#F8F0EF
40%#dcb5af66#F1E1DF
60%#dcb5af99#EAD3CF
80%#dcb5afcc#E3C4BF

Gradients from #dcb5af

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, #EFDDDA, #dcb5af 45%, #592D27);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcb5af, #D3CC9A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcb5af, #AFD6DC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F0EF 0%, #dcb5af 45%, #592D27 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ECD3DE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5DCC4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #592D27 0%, transparent 65%), #dcb5af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcb5af

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.

#dcb5af 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 11.27:1.

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.

#dcb5af, answered

What color is #dcb5af?

#dcb5af is a light soft red, closest to Pink (ΔE2000 9.6). It sits at 8° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dcb5af?

rgb(220, 181, 175) — 220 red, 181 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 71% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #dcb5af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(8, 39%, 78%) and hsv(8, 20%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dcb5af a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5136 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.27:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcb5af?

Black. It scores 11.27:1 against #dcb5af, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dcb5af accessible on a white background?

#dcb5af on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B25D4F to reach 4.5:1, or #85443A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dcb5af?

#AFD6DC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AFDCCC and #AFC0DC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcb5af?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #E6CBC6 for borders, #9B554B for secondary text, #3B9189 as an accent and #592D27 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DCAFC0 and #DCCCAF stays calm, while #AFD6DC is the loudest partner.

What is #dcb5af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 18%, 21%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dcb5af 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 #DCC0AF; nudged cooler, #DDAEB9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dcb5af?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 25 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dcb5af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dcb5af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dcb5af] or text-[#dcb5af], 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 #dcb5af with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 181, 175, 0.5), or #dcb5af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEDAD7; over black, #6E5B58.

Is #dcb5af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 25.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dcb5af 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 #dcb5af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFDDDA, #dcb5af 45%, #592D27). For more colour, a short hue run to #D3CC9A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dcb5af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dcb5af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.