Skip to content
red · warm

#ddab9b

a light, vivid red · warm · closest name: Dark Salmon

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cherry

RGB
221, 171, 155
HSL
15°, 49%, 74%
CMYK
0, 23, 30, 13
Luminance
0.4686

#ddab9b is a light vivid red, 15° on the wheel and 9/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.37:1). As text it scores 2.02:1 on white — use #B65B3E instead. Nearest name is Dark Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(15 49% 74%)rgb(221 171 155)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ddab9b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ddab9b
Hue
15°
red
Saturation
49%
vivid
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4686
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
10.37:1
Closest name
Dark Salmon
ΔE2000 8
Chroma
22.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.783
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 20.5
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue15° of 360°
Saturation49%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ddab9b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool9% 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#ddab9b
HEX (8-digit)#ddab9bff
RGBrgb(221, 171, 155)
RGBArgba(221, 171, 155, 1)
HSLhsl(15, 49%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(15, 30%, 87%)
HWBhwb(15 61% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 30%, 13%)
LABlab(74.1 16.1 15.3)
LCHlch(74.1 22.2 43.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.783 0.063 38.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.30, 46.87, 37.40)
Decimal14527387
Display P3color(display-p3 0.867 0.671 0.608)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ddab9b;
background-color: #ddab9b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ddab9b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ddab9b] bg-[#ddab9b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ddab9b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.671, blue: 0.608)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.671, blue: 0.608, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDAB9B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDAB9B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDAB9B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(155, 171, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 171, 155)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 171, 155)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 171, 155)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.6706f, 0.6078f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,171,155}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ddab9b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ddab9b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5F3020, #EED9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ddab9b 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: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-100: #F6EDEA;
  --brand-200: #ECD6CF;
  --brand-300: #ddab9b;
  --brand-400: #D49581;
  --brand-500: #C67257;
  --brand-600: #B75B3E;
  --brand-700: #984C34;
  --brand-800: #7A3D29;
  --brand-900: #592F21;
  --brand-950: #381D15;
  --brand: #ddab9b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-border: #EACCC2;
  --brand-hover: #D49480;
  --brand-pressed: #CB7E66;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241814;
    --brand-ink: #EED9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF6F4',
        100: '#F6EDEA',
        200: '#ECD6CF',
        300: '#ddab9b',
        400: '#D49581',
        500: '#C67257',
        600: '#B75B3E',
        700: '#984C34',
        800: '#7A3D29',
        900: '#592F21',
        950: '#381D15',
        DEFAULT: '#ddab9b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF6F4,
  '100': #F6EDEA,
  '200': #ECD6CF,
  '300': #ddab9b,
  '400': #D49581,
  '500': #C67257,
  '600': #B75B3E,
  '700': #984C34,
  '800': #7A3D29,
  '900': #592F21,
  '950': #381D15,
);
$brand-base: #ddab9b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF6F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6EDEA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECD6CF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ddab9b", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D49581", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C67257", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B75B3E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#984C34", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7A3D29", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#592F21", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#381D15", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ddab9b · 10.37:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.02:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.37:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ddab9b as text scores 2.02:1 on white and 10.37:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5F3020 at 5.37:1.

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
#B65B3E · 4.61:1
AA on white−26% L
#B65B3E
The quick fox
#88442E · 7.21:1
AAA on white−38% L
#88442E
The quick fox
#ddab9b · 10.37:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ddab9b
The quick fox
#ddab9b · 10.37:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ddab9b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CC8169 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
#ddab9b on white: 2.02:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ddab9b on black: 10.37:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ddab9b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ddab9b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.02:1AaAa
Slate 501.93:1AaAa
Slate 1001.85:1AaAa
Slate 2001.64:1AaAa
Slate 3001.36:1AaAa
Slate 4001.27:1AaAa
Slate 5002.35:1AaAa
Slate 6003.74:1AaAa
Slate 7005.11:1AaAa
Slate 8007.23:1AaAa
Slate 9008.82:1AaAa
Black10.37:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B7B09A
deuteranopia · #C2BA9B
tritanopia · #E9A4A7

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. #ddab9b 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.

#FAF6F4
#F6EDEA
#ECD6CF
#ddab9b
#D49581
#C67257
#B75B3E
#984C34
#7A3D29
#592F21
#381D15
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF6F4Darkest = 950 · #381D15Text 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 0.016 38.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 38.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 38.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 38.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 38.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.063 38.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.063 38.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.060 38.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 38.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 38.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 38.5);
}

Colors that work with #ddab9b

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#FAF6F4
Tinted page background
Border#EACCC2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B5E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2F9D9B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5F3020
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9EFEC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241814
Dark-mode background
Hover#D49480
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CB7E66
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F3F2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E8B5A4
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 #ddab9b

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #5F3020
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #CC8169

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight26/100
  • 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#9BCDDD
Analogous left#DD9BAC
Analogous right#DDCC9B
Split-complement 1#9BDDCC
Split-complement 2#9BACDD
Triadic 1#9BDDAB
Triadic 2#AB9BDD
Tetradic#ACDD9B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°15°

#ddab9b sits at 15°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.7%
Green67.1%
Blue60.8%
R · 0–255
221
0xdd
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
155
0x9b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta22.6%
Yellow29.9%
Key (black)13.3%

Total ink coverage is 66%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ddab9b text on a black background

contrast 10.37:1

Card sample

#ddab9b text on a white background

contrast 2.02:1

Card sample

#ddab9b on grey

1.85:1

#ddab9b on its own surface

1.89:1

#ddab9b on its dark surface

8.53:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ddab9b;
Background color
Panel with #ddab9b background
background-color: #ddab9b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ddab9b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 171, 155, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 171, 155, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ddab9b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ddab9b, #DDD79B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddab9b, #D3DD9B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ddab9b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ddab9b;
caret-color: #ddab9b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ddab9b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9EFEC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ddab9b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ddab9b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ddab9b 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(221, 171, 155, 0.5)
rgb(221 171 155 / 50%)
#ddab9b80
hsl(15 49% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ddab9b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ddab9b1a#FCF7F5
20%#ddab9b33#F8EEEB
40%#ddab9b66#F1DDD7
60%#ddab9b99#EBCDC3
80%#ddab9bcc#E4BCAF

Gradients from #ddab9b

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, #EDD1C9, #ddab9b 45%, #5F3020);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ddab9b, #D5D584);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ddab9b, #9BCDDD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4E4DF 0%, #ddab9b 45%, #5F3020 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF6F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EAC1CF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5DCB2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5F3020 0%, transparent 65%), #ddab9b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ddab9b

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.

#ddab9b 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 10.37:1.

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.

#ddab9b, answered

What color is #ddab9b?

#ddab9b is a light vivid red, closest to Dark Salmon (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 15° on the hue wheel with 49% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ddab9b?

rgb(221, 171, 155) — 221 red, 171 green and 155 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 67.1% / 60.8% by channel.

What is #ddab9b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(15, 49%, 74%) and hsv(15, 30%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ddab9b a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4686 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 10.37:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ddab9b?

Black. It scores 10.37:1 against #ddab9b, versus 2.02:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ddab9b accessible on a white background?

#ddab9b on white scores 2.02:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B65B3E to reach 4.5:1, or #88442E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ddab9b?

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

What colors go well with #ddab9b?

For interface work: #FAF6F4 as the surface, #EACCC2 for borders, #9B5E4B for secondary text, #2F9D9B as an accent and #5F3020 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DD9BAC and #DDCC9B stays calm, while #9BCDDD is the loudest partner.

What is #ddab9b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 30%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ddab9b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 9 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DDB49B; nudged cooler, #DE9AA2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ddab9b?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 20.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ddab9b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ddab9b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ddab9b] or text-[#ddab9b], 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 #ddab9b with 50% opacity?

rgba(221, 171, 155, 0.5), or #ddab9b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EED5CD; over black, #6F564E.

Is #ddab9b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 8.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ddab9b 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #ddab9b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EDD1C9, #ddab9b 45%, #5F3020). For more colour, a short hue run to #D5D584 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ddab9b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ddab9b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.