Skip to content
red · warm

#fe856c

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Cardinal

RGB
254, 133, 108
HSL
10°, 99%, 71%
CMYK
0, 48, 58, 0
Luminance
0.3893

#fe856c is a light electric red, 10° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.79:1). As text it scores 2.39:1 on white — use #E42802 instead. Nearest name is Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(10 99% 71%)rgb(254 133 108)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fe856c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fe856c
Hue
10°
red
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3893
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.79:1
Closest name
Salmon
ΔE2000 3.4
Chroma
55.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.747
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 13.6
Web-safe
#FF9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue10° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fe856c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red54%
Green43%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#fe856c
HEX (8-digit)#fe856cff
RGBrgb(254, 133, 108)
RGBArgba(254, 133, 108, 1)
HSLhsl(10, 99%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(10, 57%, 100%)
HWBhwb(10 42% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 48%, 58%, 0%)
LABlab(68.7 43.8 34.4)
LCHlch(68.7 55.6 38.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.747 0.152 32.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.97, 38.93, 18.96)
Decimal16680300
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.522 0.424)
Web-safe#FF9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fe856c;
background-color: #fe856c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fe856c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fe856c] bg-[#fe856c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fe856c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.522, blue: 0.424)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.996, green: 0.522, blue: 0.424, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FE856C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFE856C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFE856C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(108, 133, 254)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(254, 133, 108)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(254, 133, 108)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 133, 108)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9961f, 0.5216f, 0.4235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{254,133,108}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fe856c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fe856c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7F1601, #EED7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fe856c 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: #FEF3F1;
  --brand-100: #FCE8E3;
  --brand-200: #FBCBC0;
  --brand-300: #FEA390;
  --brand-400: #fe856c;
  --brand-500: #FD4620;
  --brand-600: #F32B02;
  --brand-700: #CB2401;
  --brand-800: #A21D01;
  --brand-900: #751906;
  --brand-950: #490F04;
  --brand: #fe856c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC7C0;
  --brand-hover: #FE6849;
  --brand-pressed: #FD4A25;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241714;
    --brand-ink: #EED7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEF3F1',
        100: '#FCE8E3',
        200: '#FBCBC0',
        300: '#FEA390',
        400: '#fe856c',
        500: '#FD4620',
        600: '#F32B02',
        700: '#CB2401',
        800: '#A21D01',
        900: '#751906',
        950: '#490F04',
        DEFAULT: '#fe856c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEF3F1,
  '100': #FCE8E3,
  '200': #FBCBC0,
  '300': #FEA390,
  '400': #fe856c,
  '500': #FD4620,
  '600': #F32B02,
  '700': #CB2401,
  '800': #A21D01,
  '900': #751906,
  '950': #490F04,
);
$brand-base: #fe856c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FEF3F1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCE8E3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FBCBC0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FEA390", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#fe856c", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FD4620", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F32B02", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CB2401", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A21D01", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#751906", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#490F04", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fe856c · 8.79:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.39:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.79:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fe856c as text scores 2.39:1 on white and 8.79:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7F1601 at 4.35:1.

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
#E42802 · 4.56:1
AA on white−26% L
#E42802
The quick fox
#AC1F01 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−37% L
#AC1F01
The quick fox
#fe856c · 8.79:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fe856c
The quick fox
#fe856c · 8.79:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fe856c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #FE5F3F 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
#fe856c on white: 2.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fe856c on black: 8.79:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fe856c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fe856c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.39:1AaAa
Slate 502.28:1AaAa
Slate 1002.18:1AaAa
Slate 2001.94:1AaAa
Slate 3001.61:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.99:1AaAa
Slate 6003.17:1AaAa
Slate 7004.33:1AaAa
Slate 8006.12:1AaAa
Slate 9007.47:1AaAa
Black8.79:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A39869
deuteranopia · #C1B26A
tritanopia · #FF707F

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. #fe856c 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.

#FEF3F1
#FCE8E3
#FBCBC0
#FEA390
#fe856c
#FD4620
#F32B02
#CB2401
#A21D01
#751906
#490F04
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FEF3F1Darkest = 950 · #490F04Text 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 0.038 32.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 32.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.091 32.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.119 32.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.140 32.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.152 32.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.152 32.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.143 32.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.128 32.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 32.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 32.9);
}

Colors that work with #fe856c

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#EDC7C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B584B
Captions on the surface
Accent#00CCBB
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7F1601
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFEAE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241714
Dark-mode background
Hover#FE6849
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FD4A25
Two steps down
Disabled#F1EBE9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FF9580
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 #fe856c

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 #7F1601
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #FE5F3F

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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#6CE5FE
Analogous left#FE6C9C
Analogous right#FECE6C
Split-complement 1#6CFECE
Split-complement 2#6C9CFE
Triadic 1#6CFE85
Triadic 2#856CFE
Tetradic#9CFE6C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°10°

#fe856c sits at 10°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green52.2%
Blue42.4%
R · 0–255
254
0xfe
G · 0–255
133
0x85
B · 0–255
108
0x6c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta47.6%
Yellow57.5%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 106%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fe856c text on a black background

contrast 8.79:1

Card sample

#fe856c text on a white background

contrast 2.39:1

Card sample

#fe856c on grey

2.18:1

#fe856c on its own surface

2.21:1

#fe856c on its dark surface

7.27:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fe856c;
Background color
Panel with #fe856c background
background-color: #fe856c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fe856c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 133, 108, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 133, 108, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fe856c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fe856c, #FEE66C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fe856c, #F1FE6C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fe856c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fe856c;
caret-color: #fe856c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fe856c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFEAE6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fe856c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fe856c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fe856c 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(254, 133, 108, 0.5)
rgb(254 133 108 / 50%)
#fe856c80
hsl(10 99% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fe856c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fe856c1a#FFF3F0
20%#fe856c33#FFE7E2
40%#fe856c66#FFCEC4
60%#fe856c99#FEB6A7
80%#fe856ccc#FE9D89

Gradients from #fe856c

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, #FEB8A9, #fe856c 45%, #7F1601);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fe856c, #FEF04E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fe856c, #6CE5FE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFD1C7 0%, #fe856c 45%, #7F1601 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%, #FE9FC6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FEE28B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7F1601 0%, transparent 65%), #fe856c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fe856c

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.

#fe856c 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 8.79:1.

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.

#fe856c, answered

What color is #fe856c?

#fe856c is a light electric red, closest to Salmon (ΔE2000 3.4). It sits at 10° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fe856c?

rgb(254, 133, 108) — 254 red, 133 green and 108 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 52.2% / 42.4% by channel.

What is #fe856c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(10, 99%, 71%) and hsv(10, 57%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fe856c a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3893 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 8.79:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fe856c?

Black. It scores 8.79:1 against #fe856c, versus 2.39:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fe856c accessible on a white background?

#fe856c on white scores 2.39:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #E42802 to reach 4.5:1, or #AC1F01 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fe856c?

#6CE5FE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #6CFECE and #6C9CFE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fe856c?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC7C0 for borders, #9B584B for secondary text, #00CCBB as an accent and #7F1601 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FE6C9C and #FECE6C stays calm, while #6CE5FE is the loudest partner.

What is #fe856c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 48%, 58%, 0%). 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 #fe856c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FE9C6C; nudged cooler, #FF6B88.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fe856c?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 13.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fe856c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fe856c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fe856c] or text-[#fe856c], 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 #fe856c with 50% opacity?

rgba(254, 133, 108, 0.5), or #fe856c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFC2B6; over black, #7F4336.

Is #fe856c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9966, ΔE2000 9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fe856c 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 #fe856c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEB8A9, #fe856c 45%, #7F1601). For more colour, a short hue run to #FEF04E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fe856c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fe856c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.