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red · warm

#ecb9ac

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cardinal

RGB
236, 185, 172
HSL
12°, 63%, 80%
CMYK
0, 22, 27, 8
Luminance
0.5551

#ecb9ac is a light vivid red, 12° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.10:1). As text it scores 1.74:1 on white — use #CB4E2F instead. Nearest name is Pink, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(12 63% 80%)rgb(236 185 172)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecb9ac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecb9ac
Hue
12°
red
Saturation
63%
vivid
Lightness
80%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5551
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.10:1
Closest name
Pink
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
21.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.828
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 23
Web-safe
#FFCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue12° of 360°
Saturation63%
Lightness80%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecb9ac.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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
Red32%
Green63%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#ecb9ac
HEX (8-digit)#ecb9acff
RGBrgb(236, 185, 172)
RGBArgba(236, 185, 172, 1)
HSLhsl(12, 63%, 80%)
HSV / HSBhsv(12, 27%, 93%)
HWBhwb(12 67% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 22%, 27%, 8%)
LABlab(79.3 16.5 13.6)
LCHlch(79.3 21.4 39.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.828 0.062 34.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(59.39, 55.51, 46.61)
Decimal15514028
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.725 0.675)
Web-safe#FFCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecb9ac;
background-color: #ecb9ac;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecb9ac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecb9ac] bg-[#ecb9ac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecb9ac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.725, blue: 0.675)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.725, blue: 0.675, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECB9AC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECB9AC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECB9AC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 185, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 185, 172)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 185, 172)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 185, 172)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.7255f, 0.6745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,185,172}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecb9ac 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecb9ac 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#682818, #EED8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecb9ac 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: #F7EBE8;
  --brand-200: #F0D3CC;
  --brand-300: #ecb9ac;
  --brand-400: #E08C76;
  --brand-500: #D56548;
  --brand-600: #C74D2E;
  --brand-700: #A64026;
  --brand-800: #85331E;
  --brand-900: #61281A;
  --brand-950: #3C1910;
  --brand: #ecb9ac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC9C0;
  --brand-hover: #E5A18F;
  --brand-pressed: #DF8872;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241714;
    --brand-ink: #EED8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF5F4',
        100: '#F7EBE8',
        200: '#F0D3CC',
        300: '#ecb9ac',
        400: '#E08C76',
        500: '#D56548',
        600: '#C74D2E',
        700: '#A64026',
        800: '#85331E',
        900: '#61281A',
        950: '#3C1910',
        DEFAULT: '#ecb9ac',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF5F4,
  '100': #F7EBE8,
  '200': #F0D3CC,
  '300': #ecb9ac,
  '400': #E08C76,
  '500': #D56548,
  '600': #C74D2E,
  '700': #A64026,
  '800': #85331E,
  '900': #61281A,
  '950': #3C1910,
);
$brand-base: #ecb9ac;
$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": "#F7EBE8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0D3CC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ecb9ac", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E08C76", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D56548", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C74D2E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A64026", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#85331E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#61281A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C1910", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecb9ac · 12.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecb9ac as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #682818 at 6.35:1.

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
#CB4E2F · 4.50:1
AA on white−31% L
#CB4E2F
The quick fox
#953A22 · 7.23:1
AAA on white−44% L
#953A22
The quick fox
#ecb9ac · 12.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecb9ac
The quick fox
#ecb9ac · 12.10:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecb9ac

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #DB7A61 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
#ecb9ac on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecb9ac on black: 12.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecb9ac as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecb9ac.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.74:1AaAa
Slate 501.66:1AaAa
Slate 1001.58:1AaAa
Slate 2001.41:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.48:1AaAa
Slate 5002.74:1AaAa
Slate 6004.37:1AaAa
Slate 7005.97:1AaAa
Slate 8008.43:1AaAa
Slate 90010.29:1AaAa
Black12.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C4BFAB
deuteranopia · #D0C8AC
tritanopia · #F8B2B5

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. #ecb9ac 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.

#FBF5F4
#F7EBE8
#F0D3CC
#ecb9ac
#E08C76
#D56548
#C74D2E
#A64026
#85331E
#61281A
#3C1910
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FBF5F4Darkest = 950 · #3C1910Text 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 34.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 34.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.037 34.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.048 34.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.057 34.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.062 34.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.062 34.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.058 34.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.052 34.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.043 34.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.034 34.7);
}

Colors that work with #ecb9ac

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#EDC9C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B5B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#22AAA4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#682818
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAEEEA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241714
Dark-mode background
Hover#E5A18F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#DF8872
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F4C5B9
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 #ecb9ac

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 #682818
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #DB7A61

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
  • Weight20/100
  • 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#ACDFEC
Analogous left#ECACBF
Analogous right#ECD9AC
Split-complement 1#ACECD9
Split-complement 2#ACBFEC
Triadic 1#ACECB9
Triadic 2#B9ACEC
Tetradic#BFECAC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°12°

#ecb9ac sits at 12°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green72.5%
Blue67.5%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
185
0xb9
B · 0–255
172
0xac

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta21.6%
Yellow27.1%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 56%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecb9ac text on a black background

contrast 12.10:1

Card sample

#ecb9ac text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

#ecb9ac on grey

1.58:1

#ecb9ac on its own surface

1.62:1

#ecb9ac on its dark surface

10.02:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecb9ac;
Background color
Panel with #ecb9ac background
background-color: #ecb9ac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecb9ac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 185, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 185, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecb9ac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecb9ac, #ECE4AC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecb9ac, #E4ECAC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecb9ac;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecb9ac;
caret-color: #ecb9ac;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecb9ac;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAEEEA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecb9ac;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecb9ac 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecb9ac 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(236, 185, 172, 0.5)
rgb(236 185 172 / 50%)
#ecb9ac80
hsl(12 63% 80% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecb9ac 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecb9ac1a#FDF8F7
20%#ecb9ac33#FBF1EE
40%#ecb9ac66#F7E3DE
60%#ecb9ac99#F4D5CD
80%#ecb9accc#F0C7BD

Gradients from #ecb9ac

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, #F7E3DE, #ecb9ac 45%, #682818);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecb9ac, #E6E293);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecb9ac, #ACDFEC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FCF5F3 0%, #ecb9ac 45%, #682818 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%, #F5D6E2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F2E8C5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #682818 0%, transparent 65%), #ecb9ac;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecb9ac

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.

#ecb9ac 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 12.10:1.

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.

#ecb9ac, answered

What color is #ecb9ac?

#ecb9ac is a light vivid red, closest to Pink (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 12° on the hue wheel with 63% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecb9ac?

rgb(236, 185, 172) — 236 red, 185 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 72.5% / 67.5% by channel.

What is #ecb9ac in HSL and HSV?

hsl(12, 63%, 80%) and hsv(12, 27%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecb9ac a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5551 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecb9ac?

Black. It scores 12.10:1 against #ecb9ac, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecb9ac accessible on a white background?

#ecb9ac on white scores 1.74:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #CB4E2F to reach 4.5:1, or #953A22 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecb9ac?

#ACDFEC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #ACECD9 and #ACBFEC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecb9ac?

For interface work: #FAF6F4 as the surface, #EDC9C0 for borders, #9B5B4B for secondary text, #22AAA4 as an accent and #682818 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ECACBF and #ECD9AC stays calm, while #ACDFEC is the loudest partner.

What is #ecb9ac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 22%, 27%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ecb9ac warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ECC4AC; nudged cooler, #EDABB6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecb9ac?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 23 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecb9ac as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecb9ac in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecb9ac] or text-[#ecb9ac], 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 #ecb9ac with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 185, 172, 0.5), or #ecb9ac80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6DCD6; over black, #765D56.

Is #ecb9ac a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC99, ΔE2000 13.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ecb9ac 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 #ecb9ac?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F7E3DE, #ecb9ac 45%, #682818). For more colour, a short hue run to #E6E293 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecb9ac in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecb9ac at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.