Skip to content
red · warm

#df8970

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cardinal

RGB
223, 137, 112
HSL
14°, 63%, 66%
CMYK
0, 39, 50, 13
Luminance
0.3475

#df8970 is a light vivid red, 14° on the wheel and 9/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.95:1). As text it scores 2.64:1 on white — use #C74F2D instead. Nearest name is Dark Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(14 63% 66%)rgb(223 137 112)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #df8970 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#df8970
Hue
14°
red
Saturation
63%
vivid
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3475
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.95:1
Closest name
Dark Salmon
ΔE2000 3.7
Chroma
40.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.715
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 13.8
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue14° of 360°
Saturation63%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #df8970.

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
Red45%
Green51%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#df8970
HEX (8-digit)#df8970ff
RGBrgb(223, 137, 112)
RGBArgba(223, 137, 112, 1)
HSLhsl(14, 63%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(14, 50%, 87%)
HWBhwb(14 44% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 39%, 50%, 13%)
LABlab(65.6 30.2 27.3)
LCHlch(65.6 40.7 42.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.715 0.112 37.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.30, 34.75, 19.81)
Decimal14649712
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.537 0.439)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #df8970;
background-color: #df8970;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #df8970;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#df8970] bg-[#df8970]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #df8970;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.537, blue: 0.439)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.537, blue: 0.439, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DF8970</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDF8970)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDF8970)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(112, 137, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 137, 112)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 137, 112)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 137, 112)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.5373f, 0.4392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,137,112}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #df8970 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #df8970 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#682A17, #EED9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #df8970 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: #FBF5F4;
  --brand-100: #F7ECE8;
  --brand-200: #F0D4CB;
  --brand-300: #EAB3A3;
  --brand-400: #df8970;
  --brand-500: #D66848;
  --brand-600: #C8502D;
  --brand-700: #A74225;
  --brand-800: #85351E;
  --brand-900: #612A1A;
  --brand-950: #3D1A10;
  --brand: #df8970;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-border: #EDCAC0;
  --brand-hover: #D87153;
  --brand-pressed: #D25936;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241714;
    --brand-ink: #EED9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF5F4',
        100: '#F7ECE8',
        200: '#F0D4CB',
        300: '#EAB3A3',
        400: '#df8970',
        500: '#D66848',
        600: '#C8502D',
        700: '#A74225',
        800: '#85351E',
        900: '#612A1A',
        950: '#3D1A10',
        DEFAULT: '#df8970',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF5F4,
  '100': #F7ECE8,
  '200': #F0D4CB,
  '300': #EAB3A3,
  '400': #df8970,
  '500': #D66848,
  '600': #C8502D,
  '700': #A74225,
  '800': #85351E,
  '900': #612A1A,
  '950': #3D1A10,
);
$brand-base: #df8970;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF5F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7ECE8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0D4CB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EAB3A3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#df8970", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D66848", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C8502D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A74225", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#85351E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#612A1A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3D1A10", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #df8970 · 7.95:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.64:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #df8970 as text scores 2.64:1 on white and 7.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #682A17 at 4.11:1.

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
#C74F2D · 4.58:1
AA on white−18% L
#C74F2D
The quick fox
#953B21 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−30% L
#953B21
The quick fox
#df8970 · 7.95:1
AA on blackalready passes
#df8970
The quick fox
#df8970 · 7.95:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#df8970

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #DB7B5F 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
#df8970 on white: 2.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#df8970 on black: 7.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #df8970 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #df8970.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.64:1AaAa
Slate 502.52:1AaAa
Slate 1002.41:1AaAa
Slate 2002.14:1AaAa
Slate 3001.78:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.80:1AaAa
Slate 6002.87:1AaAa
Slate 7003.92:1AaAa
Slate 8005.54:1AaAa
Slate 9006.76:1AaAa
Black7.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9E946E
deuteranopia · #B3A66F
tritanopia · #F17B83

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. #df8970 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.

#FBF5F4
#F7ECE8
#F0D4CB
#EAB3A3
#df8970
#D66848
#C8502D
#A74225
#85351E
#612A1A
#3D1A10
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FBF5F4Darkest = 950 · #3D1A10Text 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 0.028 37.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 37.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.067 37.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.087 37.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.103 37.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.112 37.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.112 37.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.105 37.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.094 37.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.078 37.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 37.0);
}

Colors that work with #df8970

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#EDCAC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B5D4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#22AAA8
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#682A17
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAEEEA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241714
Dark-mode background
Hover#D87153
One step down in lightness
Pressed#D25936
Two steps down
Disabled#E7DCD9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EA9379
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 #df8970

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 #682A17
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #DB7B5F

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
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#70C6DF
Analogous left#DF708F
Analogous right#DFC070
Split-complement 1#70DFC0
Split-complement 2#708FDF
Triadic 1#70DF89
Triadic 2#8970DF
Tetradic#8FDF70
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°14°

#df8970 sits at 14°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green53.7%
Blue43.9%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
137
0x89
B · 0–255
112
0x70

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta38.6%
Yellow49.8%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#df8970 text on a black background

contrast 7.95:1

Card sample

#df8970 text on a white background

contrast 2.64:1

Card sample

#df8970 on grey

2.41:1

#df8970 on its own surface

2.46:1

#df8970 on its dark surface

6.58:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #df8970;
Background color
Panel with #df8970 background
background-color: #df8970;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #df8970;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 137, 112, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 137, 112, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #df8970;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #df8970, #DFD370);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #df8970, #CFDF70);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #df8970;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #df8970;
caret-color: #df8970;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #df8970;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAEEEA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #df8970;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#df8970 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #df8970 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(223, 137, 112, 0.5)
rgb(223 137 112 / 50%)
#df897080
hsl(14 63% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #df8970 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#df89701a#FCF3F1
20%#df897033#F9E7E2
40%#df897066#F2D0C6
60%#df897099#ECB8A9
80%#df8970cc#E5A18D

Gradients from #df8970

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, #EAB2A2, #df8970 45%, #682A17);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #df8970, #D9D657);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #df8970, #70C6DF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0C7BB 0%, #df8970 45%, #682A17 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%, #E89AB6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E5D389 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #682A17 0%, transparent 65%), #df8970;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #df8970

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.

#df8970 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 7.95:1.

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.

#df8970, answered

What color is #df8970?

#df8970 is a light vivid red, closest to Dark Salmon (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 14° on the hue wheel with 63% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #df8970?

rgb(223, 137, 112) — 223 red, 137 green and 112 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 53.7% / 43.9% by channel.

What is #df8970 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(14, 63%, 66%) and hsv(14, 50%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #df8970 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3475 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 7.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #df8970?

Black. It scores 7.95:1 against #df8970, versus 2.64:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #df8970 accessible on a white background?

#df8970 on white scores 2.64:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #C74F2D to reach 4.5:1, or #953B21 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #df8970?

#70C6DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #70DFC0 and #708FDF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #df8970?

For interface work: #FAF6F4 as the surface, #EDCAC0 for borders, #9B5D4B for secondary text, #22AAA8 as an accent and #682A17 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DF708F and #DFC070 stays calm, while #70C6DF is the loudest partner.

What is #df8970 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 39%, 50%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #df8970 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 #DF9870; nudged cooler, #E16E7F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #df8970?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 13.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #df8970 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #df8970 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#df8970] or text-[#df8970], 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 #df8970 with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 137, 112, 0.5), or #df897080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFC4B8; over black, #704538.

Is #df8970 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 13.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #df8970 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 #df8970?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EAB2A2, #df8970 45%, #682A17). For more colour, a short hue run to #D9D657 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #df8970 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #df8970 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.