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red · warm

#fd7971

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Cardinal

RGB
253, 121, 113
HSL
3°, 97%, 72%
CMYK
0, 52, 55, 1
Luminance
0.3575

#fd7971 is a light electric red, 3° on the wheel and 15/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.15:1). As text it scores 2.58:1 on white — use #EB1003 instead. Nearest name is Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(3 97% 72%)rgb(253 121 113)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fd7971 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fd7971
Hue
red
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3575
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.15:1
Closest name
Salmon
ΔE2000 2.1
Chroma
57.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.729
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 10.9
Web-safe
#FF6666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue3° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fd7971.

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#fd7971
HEX (8-digit)#fd7971ff
RGBrgb(253, 121, 113)
RGBArgba(253, 121, 113, 1)
HSLhsl(3, 97%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(3, 55%, 99%)
HWBhwb(3 44% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 52%, 55%, 1%)
LABlab(66.3 49.6 28.5)
LCHlch(66.3 57.2 29.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.729 0.163 25.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.33, 35.76, 19.87)
Decimal16611697
Display P3color(display-p3 0.992 0.475 0.443)
Web-safe#FF6666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fd7971;
background-color: #fd7971;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fd7971;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fd7971] bg-[#fd7971]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fd7971;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.992, green: 0.475, blue: 0.443)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.992, green: 0.475, blue: 0.443, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FD7971</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFD7971)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFD7971)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(113, 121, 253)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(253, 121, 113)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(253, 121, 113)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 253, 121, 113)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9922f, 0.4745f, 0.4431f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{253,121,113}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fd7971 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fd7971 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7E0902, #EED4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fd7971 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: #FBC4C1;
  --brand-300: #FD9790;
  --brand-400: #fd7971;
  --brand-500: #FC2E22;
  --brand-600: #F11103;
  --brand-700: #C90E03;
  --brand-800: #A10B02;
  --brand-900: #740D06;
  --brand-950: #480804;
  --brand: #fd7971;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC2C0;
  --brand-hover: #FC584E;
  --brand-pressed: #FC372B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241514;
    --brand-ink: #EED4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF2F1',
        100: '#FCE5E4',
        200: '#FBC4C1',
        300: '#FD9790',
        400: '#fd7971',
        500: '#FC2E22',
        600: '#F11103',
        700: '#C90E03',
        800: '#A10B02',
        900: '#740D06',
        950: '#480804',
        DEFAULT: '#fd7971',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF2F1,
  '100': #FCE5E4,
  '200': #FBC4C1,
  '300': #FD9790,
  '400': #fd7971,
  '500': #FC2E22,
  '600': #F11103,
  '700': #C90E03,
  '800': #A10B02,
  '900': #740D06,
  '950': #480804,
);
$brand-base: #fd7971;
$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": "#FBC4C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FD9790", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#fd7971", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FC2E22", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F11103", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C90E03", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A10B02", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#740D06", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#480804", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fd7971 · 8.15:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.58:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.15:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fd7971 as text scores 2.58:1 on white and 8.15:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7E0902 at 4.23:1.

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
#EB1003 · 4.56:1
AA on white−25% L
#EB1003
The quick fox
#B40D03 · 7.00:1
AAA on white−36% L
#B40D03
The quick fox
#fd7971 · 8.15:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fd7971
The quick fox
#fd7971 · 8.15:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fd7971

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #FD5D53 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
#fd7971 on white: 2.58:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fd7971 on black: 8.15:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fd7971 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fd7971.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.58:1AaAa
Slate 502.46:1AaAa
Slate 1002.35:1AaAa
Slate 2002.09:1AaAa
Slate 3001.74:1AaAa
Slate 4001.00:1AaAa
Slate 5001.85:1AaAa
Slate 6002.94:1AaAa
Slate 7004.02:1AaAa
Slate 8005.68:1AaAa
Slate 9006.93:1AaAa
Black8.15:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #999070
deuteranopia · #B9AC6E
tritanopia · #FF6378

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. #fd7971 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
#FBC4C1
#FD9790
#fd7971
#FC2E22
#F11103
#C90E03
#A10B02
#740D06
#480804
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FDF2F1Darkest = 950 · #480804Text 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 0.041 25.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.065 25.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.098 25.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.127 25.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.150 25.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.163 25.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.163 25.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.153 25.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.137 25.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.114 25.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.089 25.4);
}

Colors that work with #fd7971

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#9B4F4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#00CCA4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7E0902
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFE7E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241514
Dark-mode background
Hover#FC584E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FC372B
Two steps down
Disabled#F3ECEC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FF8B84
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 #fd7971

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 #7E0902
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #FD5D53

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#71F5FD
Analogous left#FD71AF
Analogous right#FDBF71
Split-complement 1#71FDBF
Split-complement 2#71AFFD
Triadic 1#71FD79
Triadic 2#7971FD
Tetradic#AFFD71
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°3°

#fd7971 sits at 3°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.2%
Green47.5%
Blue44.3%
R · 0–255
253
0xfd
G · 0–255
121
0x79
B · 0–255
113
0x71

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta52.2%
Yellow55.3%
Key (black)0.8%

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

Color previews

#fd7971 text on a black background

contrast 8.15:1

Card sample

#fd7971 text on a white background

contrast 2.58:1

Card sample

#fd7971 on grey

2.35:1

#fd7971 on its own surface

2.38:1

#fd7971 on its dark surface

6.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fd7971;
Background color
Panel with #fd7971 background
background-color: #fd7971;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fd7971;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(253, 121, 113, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(253, 121, 113, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fd7971;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fd7971, #FDD671);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fd7971, #FDF971);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fd7971;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fd7971;
caret-color: #fd7971;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fd7971;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFE7E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fd7971;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fd7971 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fd7971 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(253, 121, 113, 0.5)
rgb(253 121 113 / 50%)
#fd797180
hsl(3 97% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fd7971 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fd79711a#FFF2F1
20%#fd797133#FFE4E3
40%#fd797166#FEC9C6
60%#fd797199#FEAFAA
80%#fd7971cc#FD948D

Gradients from #fd7971

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, #FEB2AE, #fd7971 45%, #7E0902);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fd7971, #FDDC53);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fd7971, #71F5FD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FECFCC 0%, #fd7971 45%, #7E0902 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%, #FEA3D3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FDD68F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7E0902 0%, transparent 65%), #fd7971;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fd7971

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.

#fd7971 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 8.15:1.

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.

#fd7971, answered

What color is #fd7971?

#fd7971 is a light electric red, closest to Salmon (ΔE2000 2.1). It sits at 3° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fd7971?

rgb(253, 121, 113) — 253 red, 121 green and 113 blue out of 255, or 99.2% / 47.5% / 44.3% by channel.

What is #fd7971 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(3, 97%, 72%) and hsv(3, 55%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fd7971 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3575 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 8.15:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fd7971?

Black. It scores 8.15:1 against #fd7971, versus 2.58:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fd7971 accessible on a white background?

#fd7971 on white scores 2.58:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #EB1003 to reach 4.5:1, or #B40D03 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fd7971?

#71F5FD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #71FDBF and #71AFFD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fd7971?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC2C0 for borders, #9B4F4B for secondary text, #00CCA4 as an accent and #7E0902 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FD71AF and #FDBF71 stays calm, while #71F5FD is the loudest partner.

What is #fd7971 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 52%, 55%, 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 #fd7971 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 #FD9971; nudged cooler, #FE709C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fd7971?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 10.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fd7971 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fd7971 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fd7971] or text-[#fd7971], 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 #fd7971 with 50% opacity?

rgba(253, 121, 113, 0.5), or #fd797180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FEBCB8; over black, #7F3D39.

Is #fd7971 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF6666, ΔE2000 3.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fd7971 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 #fd7971?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEB2AE, #fd7971 45%, #7E0902). For more colour, a short hue run to #FDDC53 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fd7971 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fd7971 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.