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red · warm

#e5cdcb

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Misty Rose

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cardinal

RGB
229, 205, 203
HSL
5°, 33%, 85%
CMYK
0, 11, 11, 10
Luminance
0.6463

#e5cdcb is a light soft red, 5° on the wheel and 16/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.93:1). As text it scores 1.51:1 on white — use #AD615B instead. Nearest name is Misty Rose, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(5 33% 85%)rgb(229 205 203)Base step 200AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #e5cdcb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#e5cdcb
Hue
red
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
85%
light
Brightness
90%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6463
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
16/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.93:1
Closest name
Misty Rose
ΔE2000 5.4
Chroma
9.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.868
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 28.9
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue5° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness85%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #e5cdcb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool16% 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%
Green68%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#e5cdcb
HEX (8-digit)#e5cdcbff
RGBrgb(229, 205, 203)
RGBArgba(229, 205, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(5, 33%, 85%)
HSV / HSBhsv(5, 11%, 90%)
HWBhwb(5 80% 10%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 11%, 11%, 10%)
LABlab(84.3 8.0 4.0)
LCHlch(84.3 9.0 26.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.868 0.027 23.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(64.92, 64.63, 65.54)
Decimal15060427
Display P3color(display-p3 0.898 0.804 0.796)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #e5cdcb;
background-color: #e5cdcb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #e5cdcb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#e5cdcb] bg-[#e5cdcb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #e5cdcb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.898, green: 0.804, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.898, green: 0.804, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#E5CDCB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFE5CDCB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFE5CDCB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 205, 229)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(229, 205, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(229, 205, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 229, 205, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8980f, 0.8039f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{229,205,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #e5cdcb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #e5cdcb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#552E2B, #EBD8D6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #e5cdcb 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: #F9F6F5;
  --brand-100: #F4ECEC;
  --brand-200: #e5cdcb;
  --brand-300: #DAB7B4;
  --brand-400: #C7938F;
  --brand-500: #B46F69;
  --brand-600: #A35852;
  --brand-700: #884944;
  --brand-800: #6D3B36;
  --brand-900: #502D2A;
  --brand-950: #321C1B;
  --brand: #e5cdcb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F5;
  --brand-border: #E4CBC9;
  --brand-hover: #D9B6B3;
  --brand-pressed: #CD9F9B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241514;
    --brand-ink: #EBD8D6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F5',
        100: '#F4ECEC',
        200: '#e5cdcb',
        300: '#DAB7B4',
        400: '#C7938F',
        500: '#B46F69',
        600: '#A35852',
        700: '#884944',
        800: '#6D3B36',
        900: '#502D2A',
        950: '#321C1B',
        DEFAULT: '#e5cdcb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F5,
  '100': #F4ECEC,
  '200': #e5cdcb,
  '300': #DAB7B4,
  '400': #C7938F,
  '500': #B46F69,
  '600': #A35852,
  '700': #884944,
  '800': #6D3B36,
  '900': #502D2A,
  '950': #321C1B,
);
$brand-base: #e5cdcb;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4ECEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#e5cdcb", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DAB7B4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C7938F", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B46F69", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A35852", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#884944", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6D3B36", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#502D2A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#321C1B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #e5cdcb · 13.93:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.51:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.93:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #e5cdcb as text scores 1.51:1 on white and 13.93:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #552E2B at 7.69:1.

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
#AD615B · 4.53:1
AA on white−33% L
#AD615B
The quick fox
#844742 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−46% L
#844742
The quick fox
#e5cdcb · 13.93:1
AA on blackalready passes
#e5cdcb
The quick fox
#e5cdcb · 13.93:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#e5cdcb

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C08580 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
#e5cdcb on white: 1.51:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#e5cdcb on black: 13.93:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #e5cdcb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #e5cdcb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.51:1AaAa
Slate 501.44:1AaAa
Slate 1001.38:1AaAa
Slate 2001.22:1AaAa
Slate 3001.02:1AaAa
Slate 4001.70:1AaAa
Slate 5003.16:1AaAa
Slate 6005.03:1AaAa
Slate 7006.87:1AaAa
Slate 8009.70:1AaAa
Slate 90011.84:1AaAa
Black13.93:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D1D0CB
deuteranopia · #D7D4CB
tritanopia · #EBCBCD

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. #e5cdcb 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.

#F9F6F5
#F4ECEC
#e5cdcb
#DAB7B4
#C7938F
#B46F69
#A35852
#884944
#6D3B36
#502D2A
#321C1B
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F5Darkest = 950 · #321C1BText 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 23.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.011 23.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 23.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.021 23.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.025 23.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.027 23.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.027 23.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.025 23.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.023 23.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.019 23.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.015 23.4);
}

Colors that work with #e5cdcb

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#FAF5F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4CBC9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#99524D
Captions on the surface
Accent#3F8D7E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#552E2B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EFEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241514
Dark-mode background
Hover#D9B6B3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CD9F9B
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EFD8D6
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 #e5cdcb

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 #552E2B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C08580

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
  • Weight15/100
  • 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#CBE3E5
Analogous left#E5CBD6
Analogous right#E5DACB
Split-complement 1#CBE5DA
Split-complement 2#CBD6E5
Triadic 1#CBE5CD
Triadic 2#CDCBE5
Tetradic#D6E5CB
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°5°

#e5cdcb sits at 5°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red89.8%
Green80.4%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
229
0xe5
G · 0–255
205
0xcd
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta10.5%
Yellow11.4%
Key (black)10.2%

Total ink coverage is 32%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#e5cdcb text on a black background

contrast 13.93:1

Card sample

#e5cdcb text on a white background

contrast 1.51:1

Card sample

#e5cdcb on grey

1.38:1

#e5cdcb on its own surface

1.40:1

#e5cdcb on its dark surface

11.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #e5cdcb;
Background color
Panel with #e5cdcb background
background-color: #e5cdcb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #e5cdcb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(229, 205, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(229, 205, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #e5cdcb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #e5cdcb, #E5DECB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e5cdcb, #E5E5CB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #e5cdcb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #e5cdcb;
caret-color: #e5cdcb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #e5cdcb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EFEE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #e5cdcb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#e5cdcb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #e5cdcb 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(229, 205, 203, 0.5)
rgb(229 205 203 / 50%)
#e5cdcb80
hsl(5 33% 85% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #e5cdcb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#e5cdcb1a#FCFAFA
20%#e5cdcb33#FAF5F5
40%#e5cdcb66#F5EBEA
60%#e5cdcb99#EFE1E0
80%#e5cdcbcc#EAD7D5

Gradients from #e5cdcb

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, #F8F2F1, #e5cdcb 45%, #552E2B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #e5cdcb, #DBD5B7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #e5cdcb, #CBE3E5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FAF5F5 0%, #e5cdcb 45%, #552E2B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6EDF2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EFEADF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #552E2B 0%, transparent 65%), #e5cdcb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #e5cdcb

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.

#e5cdcb 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 13.93:1.

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.

#e5cdcb, answered

What color is #e5cdcb?

#e5cdcb is a light soft red, closest to Misty Rose (ΔE2000 5.4). It sits at 5° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 85% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #e5cdcb?

rgb(229, 205, 203) — 229 red, 205 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 89.8% / 80.4% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #e5cdcb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(5, 33%, 85%) and hsv(5, 11%, 90%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #e5cdcb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6463 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 13.93:1.

Should I use black or white text on #e5cdcb?

Black. It scores 13.93:1 against #e5cdcb, versus 1.51:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #e5cdcb accessible on a white background?

#e5cdcb on white scores 1.51:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #AD615B to reach 4.5:1, or #844742 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #e5cdcb?

#CBE3E5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CBE5DA and #CBD6E5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #e5cdcb?

For interface work: #FAF5F5 as the surface, #E4CBC9 for borders, #99524D for secondary text, #3F8D7E as an accent and #552E2B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #E5CBD6 and #E5DACB stays calm, while #CBE3E5 is the loudest partner.

What is #e5cdcb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 11%, 11%, 10%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #e5cdcb warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 16 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E5D5CB; nudged cooler, #E6CAD2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #e5cdcb?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 28.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #e5cdcb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #e5cdcb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#e5cdcb] or text-[#e5cdcb], 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 #e5cdcb with 50% opacity?

rgba(229, 205, 203, 0.5), or #e5cdcb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F2E6E5; over black, #736766.

Is #e5cdcb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 10 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #e5cdcb 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 #e5cdcb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F8F2F1, #e5cdcb 45%, #552E2B). For more colour, a short hue run to #DBD5B7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #e5cdcb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #e5cdcb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.