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red · warm

#fc7973

a light, electric red · warm · closest name: Salmon

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cardinal

RGB
252, 121, 115
HSL
3°, 96%, 72%
CMYK
0, 52, 54, 1
Luminance
0.3561

#fc7973 is a light electric red, 3° on the wheel and 15/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.12:1). As text it scores 2.59:1 on white — use #EB0F05 instead. Nearest name is Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(3 96% 72%)rgb(252 121 115)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fc7973 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fc7973
Hue
red
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3561
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.12:1
Closest name
Salmon
ΔE2000 2.5
Chroma
56.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.728
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 11
Web-safe
#FF6666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue3° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fc7973.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool15% 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
Red58%
Green38%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#fc7973
HEX (8-digit)#fc7973ff
RGBrgb(252, 121, 115)
RGBArgba(252, 121, 115, 1)
HSLhsl(3, 96%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(3, 54%, 99%)
HWBhwb(3 45% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 52%, 54%, 1%)
LABlab(66.2 49.4 27.2)
LCHlch(66.2 56.4 28.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.728 0.161 24.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.08, 35.61, 20.45)
Decimal16546163
Display P3color(display-p3 0.988 0.475 0.451)
Web-safe#FF6666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fc7973;
background-color: #fc7973;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fc7973;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fc7973] bg-[#fc7973]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fc7973;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.988, green: 0.475, blue: 0.451)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.988, green: 0.475, blue: 0.451, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FC7973</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFC7973)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFC7973)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(115, 121, 252)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(252, 121, 115)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(252, 121, 115)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 252, 121, 115)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9882f, 0.4745f, 0.4510f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{252,121,115}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fc7973 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fc7973 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7D0803, #EED4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fc7973 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: #FDF2F1;
  --brand-100: #FCE5E4;
  --brand-200: #FAC4C1;
  --brand-300: #FD9691;
  --brand-400: #fc7973;
  --brand-500: #FA2D23;
  --brand-600: #F00F05;
  --brand-700: #C80D04;
  --brand-800: #A00A03;
  --brand-900: #730C07;
  --brand-950: #480705;
  --brand: #fc7973;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC2C0;
  --brand-hover: #FB5850;
  --brand-pressed: #FB362D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF2F1',
        100: '#FCE5E4',
        200: '#FAC4C1',
        300: '#FD9691',
        400: '#fc7973',
        500: '#FA2D23',
        600: '#F00F05',
        700: '#C80D04',
        800: '#A00A03',
        900: '#730C07',
        950: '#480705',
        DEFAULT: '#fc7973',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF2F1,
  '100': #FCE5E4,
  '200': #FAC4C1,
  '300': #FD9691,
  '400': #fc7973,
  '500': #FA2D23,
  '600': #F00F05,
  '700': #C80D04,
  '800': #A00A03,
  '900': #730C07,
  '950': #480705,
);
$brand-base: #fc7973;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF2F1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCE5E4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FAC4C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FD9691", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#fc7973", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FA2D23", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F00F05", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C80D04", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A00A03", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#730C07", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#480705", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fc7973 · 8.12:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.59:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fc7973 as text scores 2.59:1 on white and 8.12:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7D0803 at 4.26:1.

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
#EB0F05 · 4.56:1
AA on white−25% L
#EB0F05
The quick fox
#B40B04 · 7.02:1
AAA on white−36% L
#B40B04
The quick fox
#fc7973 · 8.12:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fc7973
The quick fox
#fc7973 · 8.12:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fc7973

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #FB615A 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
#fc7973 on white: 2.59:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fc7973 on black: 8.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fc7973 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fc7973.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.59:1AaAa
Slate 502.47:1AaAa
Slate 1002.36:1AaAa
Slate 2002.10:1AaAa
Slate 3001.74:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.84:1AaAa
Slate 6002.93:1AaAa
Slate 7004.00:1AaAa
Slate 8005.66:1AaAa
Slate 9006.90:1AaAa
Black8.12:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #989072
deuteranopia · #B9AB70
tritanopia · #FF6478

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. #fc7973 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.

#FDF2F1
#FCE5E4
#FAC4C1
#FD9691
#fc7973
#FA2D23
#F00F05
#C80D04
#A00A03
#730C07
#480705
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FDF2F1Darkest = 950 · #480705Text step on white = 700
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 0.040 24.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.065 24.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.097 24.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.126 24.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.148 24.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.161 24.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.161 24.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.152 24.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.135 24.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.113 24.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.089 24.5);
}

Colors that work with #fc7973

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC2C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#00CCA1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D0803
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEE7E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#FB5850
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FB362D
Two steps down
Disabled#F3EDEC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FF8A85
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 #fc7973

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 #7D0803
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #FB615A

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight28/100
  • 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#73F6FC
Analogous left#FC73B2
Analogous right#FCBE73
Split-complement 1#73FCBE
Split-complement 2#73B2FC
Triadic 1#73FC79
Triadic 2#7973FC
Tetradic#B2FC73
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°3°

#fc7973 sits at 3°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red98.8%
Green47.5%
Blue45.1%
R · 0–255
252
0xfc
G · 0–255
121
0x79
B · 0–255
115
0x73

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta52.0%
Yellow54.4%
Key (black)1.2%

Total ink coverage is 108%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fc7973 text on a black background

contrast 8.12:1

Card sample

#fc7973 text on a white background

contrast 2.59:1

Card sample

#fc7973 on grey

2.36:1

#fc7973 on its own surface

2.39:1

#fc7973 on its dark surface

6.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fc7973;
Background color
Panel with #fc7973 background
background-color: #fc7973;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fc7973;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(252, 121, 115, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(252, 121, 115, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fc7973;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fc7973, #FCD473);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fc7973, #FCF773);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fc7973;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fc7973;
caret-color: #fc7973;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fc7973;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEE7E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fc7973;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fc7973 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fc7973 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(252, 121, 115, 0.5)
rgb(252 121 115 / 50%)
#fc797380
hsl(3 96% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fc7973 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fc79731a#FFF2F1
20%#fc797333#FEE4E3
40%#fc797366#FEC9C7
60%#fc797399#FDAFAB
80%#fc7973cc#FD948F

Gradients from #fc7973

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, #FDB3AF, #fc7973 45%, #7D0803);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fc7973, #FBD955);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fc7973, #73F6FC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FECFCD 0%, #fc7973 45%, #7D0803 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FDA5D5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FDD591 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7D0803 0%, transparent 65%), #fc7973;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fc7973

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.

#fc7973 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 8.12:1.

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.

#fc7973, answered

What color is #fc7973?

#fc7973 is a light electric red, closest to Salmon (ΔE2000 2.5). It sits at 3° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fc7973?

rgb(252, 121, 115) — 252 red, 121 green and 115 blue out of 255, or 98.8% / 47.5% / 45.1% by channel.

What is #fc7973 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(3, 96%, 72%) and hsv(3, 54%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fc7973 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3561 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 8.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fc7973?

Black. It scores 8.12:1 against #fc7973, versus 2.59:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fc7973 accessible on a white background?

#fc7973 on white scores 2.59:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #EB0F05 to reach 4.5:1, or #B40B04 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fc7973?

#73F6FC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #73FCBE and #73B2FC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fc7973?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC2C0 for borders, #9B4E4B for secondary text, #00CCA1 as an accent and #7D0803 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FC73B2 and #FCBE73 stays calm, while #73F6FC is the loudest partner.

What is #fc7973 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 52%, 54%, 1%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #fc7973 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 15 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FC9A73; nudged cooler, #FD729F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fc7973?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 11 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fc7973 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fc7973 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fc7973] or text-[#fc7973], 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 #fc7973 with 50% opacity?

rgba(252, 121, 115, 0.5), or #fc797380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FEBCB9; over black, #7E3D3A.

Is #fc7973 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF6666, ΔE2000 3.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fc7973 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 #fc7973?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FDB3AF, #fc7973 45%, #7D0803). For more colour, a short hue run to #FBD955 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fc7973 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fc7973 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.