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red · neutral

#e2dcdd

a pale, muted red · neutral · closest name: Gainsboro

Token name suggestion: Frost Ember

RGB
226, 220, 221
HSL
350°, 9%, 88%
CMYK
0, 3, 2, 11
Luminance
0.7258

#e2dcdd is a pale muted red, 350° on the wheel and 43/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.52:1). As text it scores 1.35:1 on white — use #877074 instead. Nearest name is Gainsboro, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(350 9% 88%)rgb(226 220 221)Base step 200AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #e2dcdd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#e2dcdd
Hue
350°
red
Saturation
9%
muted
Lightness
88%
pale
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
87%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7258
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
43/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
15.52:1
Closest name
Gainsboro
ΔE2000 3.1
Chroma
2.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.899
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 30.7
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue350° of 360°
Saturation9%
Lightness88%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #e2dcdd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool43% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red22%
Green71%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#e2dcdd
HEX (8-digit)#e2dcddff
RGBrgb(226, 220, 221)
RGBArgba(226, 220, 221, 1)
HSLhsl(350, 9%, 88%)
HSV / HSBhsv(350, 3%, 89%)
HWBhwb(350 86% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 3%, 2%, 11%)
LABlab(88.3 2.2 0.2)
LCHlch(88.3 2.2 6.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.899 0.007 5.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(70.01, 72.58, 78.71)
Decimal14867677
Display P3color(display-p3 0.886 0.863 0.867)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #e2dcdd;
background-color: #e2dcdd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #e2dcdd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#e2dcdd] bg-[#e2dcdd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #e2dcdd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.886, green: 0.863, blue: 0.867)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.886, green: 0.863, blue: 0.867, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#E2DCDD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFE2DCDD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFE2DCDD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(221, 220, 226)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(226, 220, 221)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(226, 220, 221)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 226, 220, 221)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8863f, 0.8627f, 0.8667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{226,220,221}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #e2dcdd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #e2dcdd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#463A3C, #E3DEDE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #e2dcdd 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: #F8F7F7;
  --brand-100: #F1EFEF;
  --brand-200: #e2dcdd;
  --brand-300: #CCC2C3;
  --brand-400: #B3A3A6;
  --brand-500: #998488;
  --brand-600: #866F73;
  --brand-700: #705C60;
  --brand-800: #594A4C;
  --brand-900: #42383A;
  --brand-950: #2A2324;
  --brand: #e2dcdd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F7F7;
  --brand-border: #DAD2D4;
  --brand-hover: #D2C9CA;
  --brand-pressed: #C2B5B7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F191A;
    --brand-ink: #E3DEDE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F7F7',
        100: '#F1EFEF',
        200: '#e2dcdd',
        300: '#CCC2C3',
        400: '#B3A3A6',
        500: '#998488',
        600: '#866F73',
        700: '#705C60',
        800: '#594A4C',
        900: '#42383A',
        950: '#2A2324',
        DEFAULT: '#e2dcdd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F7F7,
  '100': #F1EFEF,
  '200': #e2dcdd,
  '300': #CCC2C3,
  '400': #B3A3A6,
  '500': #998488,
  '600': #866F73,
  '700': #705C60,
  '800': #594A4C,
  '900': #42383A,
  '950': #2A2324,
);
$brand-base: #e2dcdd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F7F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1EFEF", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#e2dcdd", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CCC2C3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B3A3A6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#998488", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#866F73", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#705C60", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#594A4C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#42383A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A2324", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #e2dcdd · 15.52:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.35:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.52:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #e2dcdd as text scores 1.35:1 on white and 15.52:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #463A3C at 8.04:1.

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
#877074 · 4.57:1
AA on white−39% L
#877074
The quick fox
#665457 · 7.07:1
AAA on white−51% L
#665457
The quick fox
#e2dcdd · 15.52:1
AA on blackalready passes
#e2dcdd
The quick fox
#e2dcdd · 15.52:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#e2dcdd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A18E91 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
#e2dcdd on white: 1.35:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#e2dcdd on black: 15.52:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #e2dcdd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #e2dcdd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.35:1AaAa
Slate 501.29:1AaAa
Slate 1001.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.10:1AaAa
Slate 3001.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.89:1AaAa
Slate 5003.52:1AaAa
Slate 6005.60:1AaAa
Slate 7007.65:1AaAa
Slate 80010.81:1AaAa
Slate 90013.19:1AaAa
Black15.52:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DDDDDD
deuteranopia · #DEDEDD
tritanopia · #E3DCDC

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. #e2dcdd is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F7F7
#F1EFEF
#e2dcdd
#CCC2C3
#B3A3A6
#998488
#866F73
#705C60
#594A4C
#42383A
#2A2324
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F8F7F7Darkest = 950 · #2A2324Text 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 0.002 5.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.003 5.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.004 5.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.005 5.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.006 5.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.007 5.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.007 5.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.006 5.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.006 5.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.005 5.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.004 5.6);
}

Colors that work with #e2dcdd

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#F8F7F7
Tinted page background
Border#DAD2D4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7E686C
Captions on the surface
Accent#597369
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#463A3C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F1F1
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F191A
Dark-mode background
Hover#D2C9CA
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C2B5B7
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F4F4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EEE5E7
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 #e2dcdd

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading 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 #463A3C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A18E91

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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight13/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#DCE2E1
Analogous left#E2DCE0
Analogous right#E2DEDC
Split-complement 1#DCE2DE
Split-complement 2#DCE0E2
Triadic 1#DDE2DC
Triadic 2#DCDDE2
Tetradic#E0E2DC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°350°

#e2dcdd sits at 350°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red88.6%
Green86.3%
Blue86.7%
R · 0–255
226
0xe2
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
221
0xdd

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta2.7%
Yellow2.2%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 16%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#e2dcdd text on a black background

contrast 15.52:1

Card sample

#e2dcdd text on a white background

contrast 1.35:1

Card sample

#e2dcdd on grey

1.24:1

#e2dcdd on its own surface

1.27:1

#e2dcdd on its dark surface

12.80:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #e2dcdd;
Background color
Panel with #e2dcdd background
background-color: #e2dcdd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #e2dcdd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(226, 220, 221, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(226, 220, 221, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #e2dcdd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #e2dcdd, #E2DFDC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e2dcdd, #E2E1DC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #e2dcdd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #e2dcdd;
caret-color: #e2dcdd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #e2dcdd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F1F1;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #e2dcdd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#e2dcdd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #e2dcdd 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(226, 220, 221, 0.5)
rgb(226 220 221 / 50%)
#e2dcdd80
hsl(350 9% 88% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #e2dcdd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#e2dcdd1a#FCFCFC
20%#e2dcdd33#F9F8F8
40%#e2dcdd66#F3F1F1
60%#e2dcdd99#EEEAEB
80%#e2dcddcc#E8E3E4

Gradients from #e2dcdd

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, #F6F4F4, #e2dcdd 45%, #463A3C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #e2dcdd, #D4D1CB);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e2dcdd, #DCE2E1);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F7F7 0%, #e2dcdd 45%, #463A3C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F7F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F9F8F9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F0EEED 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #463A3C 0%, transparent 65%), #e2dcdd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #e2dcdd

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.

#e2dcdd 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
Print note

Very light tints can drop out on uncoated stock; check it at 100% size before signing off.

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 15.52:1.

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.

#e2dcdd, answered

What color is #e2dcdd?

#e2dcdd is a pale muted red, closest to Gainsboro (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 350° on the hue wheel with 9% saturation and 88% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #e2dcdd?

rgb(226, 220, 221) — 226 red, 220 green and 221 blue out of 255, or 88.6% / 86.3% / 86.7% by channel.

What is #e2dcdd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(350, 9%, 88%) and hsv(350, 3%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #e2dcdd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7258 and perceived brightness is 87%, so black text on it reaches 15.52:1.

Should I use black or white text on #e2dcdd?

Black. It scores 15.52:1 against #e2dcdd, versus 1.35:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #e2dcdd accessible on a white background?

#e2dcdd on white scores 1.35:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #877074 to reach 4.5:1, or #665457 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #e2dcdd?

#DCE2E1 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DCE2DE and #DCE0E2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #e2dcdd?

For interface work: #F8F7F7 as the surface, #DAD2D4 for borders, #7E686C for secondary text, #597369 as an accent and #463A3C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #E2DCE0 and #E2DEDC stays calm, while #DCE2E1 is the loudest partner.

What is #e2dcdd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 3%, 2%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #e2dcdd warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 43 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E8E4E0; nudged cooler, #D5DADF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #e2dcdd?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 30.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #e2dcdd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #e2dcdd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#e2dcdd] or text-[#e2dcdd], 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 #e2dcdd with 50% opacity?

rgba(226, 220, 221, 0.5), or #e2dcdd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F1EEEE; over black, #716E6F.

Is #e2dcdd a web-safe color?

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

What does the color #e2dcdd 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #e2dcdd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F6F4F4, #e2dcdd 45%, #463A3C). For more colour, a short hue run to #D4D1CB keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #e2dcdd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #e2dcdd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.