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red · warm

#a04449

a dark, soft red · warm · closest name: Brown

Token name suggestion: Shadow Ember

RGB
160, 68, 73
HSL
357°, 40%, 45%
CMYK
0, 58, 54, 37
Luminance
0.1209

#a04449 is a dark soft red, 357° on the wheel and 18/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (6.14:1). As text it scores 6.14:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Brown, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(357 40% 45%)rgb(160 68 73)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a04449 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a04449
Hue
357°
red
Saturation
40%
soft
Lightness
45%
dark
Brightness
63%
HSV value
Perceived
41%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1209
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
6.14:1
Closest name
Brown
ΔE2000 7.6
Chroma
41.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.509
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 16.8
Web-safe
#993333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue357° of 360°
Saturation40%
Lightness45%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a04449.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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
Red62%
Green34%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#a04449
HEX (8-digit)#a04449ff
RGBrgb(160, 68, 73)
RGBArgba(160, 68, 73, 1)
HSLhsl(357, 40%, 45%)
HSV / HSBhsv(357, 57%, 63%)
HWBhwb(357 27% 37%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 58%, 54%, 37%)
LABlab(41.4 38.6 16.2)
LCHlch(41.4 41.9 22.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.509 0.122 19.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(17.77, 12.09, 7.70)
Decimal10503241
Display P3color(display-p3 0.627 0.267 0.286)
Web-safe#993333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a04449;
background-color: #a04449;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a04449;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a04449] bg-[#a04449]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a04449;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.627, green: 0.267, blue: 0.286)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.627, green: 0.267, blue: 0.286, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A04449</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA04449)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA04449)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(73, 68, 160)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(160, 68, 73)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(160, 68, 73)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 160, 68, 73)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6275f, 0.2667f, 0.2863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{160,68,73}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a04449 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a04449 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5A2629, #EDD4D5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a04449 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: #FAF5F5;
  --brand-100: #F5EBEB;
  --brand-200: #EAD2D3;
  --brand-300: #DEB0B3;
  --brand-400: #CD898D;
  --brand-500: #BC6166;
  --brand-600: #a04449;
  --brand-700: #8F3D41;
  --brand-800: #733134;
  --brand-900: #542629;
  --brand-950: #34181A;
  --brand: #a04449;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #E7C6C8;
  --brand-hover: #87393E;
  --brand-pressed: #6E2F32;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241415;
    --brand-ink: #EDD4D5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F5',
        100: '#F5EBEB',
        200: '#EAD2D3',
        300: '#DEB0B3',
        400: '#CD898D',
        500: '#BC6166',
        600: '#a04449',
        700: '#8F3D41',
        800: '#733134',
        900: '#542629',
        950: '#34181A',
        DEFAULT: '#a04449',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F5,
  '100': #F5EBEB,
  '200': #EAD2D3,
  '300': #DEB0B3,
  '400': #CD898D,
  '500': #BC6166,
  '600': #a04449,
  '700': #8F3D41,
  '800': #733134,
  '900': #542629,
  '950': #34181A,
);
$brand-base: #a04449;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF5F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5EBEB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EAD2D3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DEB0B3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CD898D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BC6166", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#a04449", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8F3D41", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#733134", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#542629", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#34181A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #a04449 · 6.14:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 6.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.42:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a04449 as text scores 6.14:1 on white and 3.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F7EDEE at 5.36:1.

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
#a04449 · 6.14:1
AA on whitealready passes
#a04449
The quick fox
#923E42 · 7.02:1
AAA on white−4% L
#923E42
The quick fox
#B7565B · 4.50:1
AA on black+8% L
#B7565B
The quick fox
#CB8488 · 7.20:1
AAA on black+21% L
#CB8488

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A04449 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
#a04449 on white: 6.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a04449 on black: 3.42:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a04449 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a04449.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White6.14:1AaAa
Slate 505.87:1AaAa
Slate 1005.61:1AaAa
Slate 2004.98:1AaAa
Slate 3004.14:1AaAa
Slate 4002.40:1AaAa
Slate 5001.29:1AaAa
Slate 6001.23:1AaAa
Slate 7001.69:1AaAa
Slate 8002.38:1AaAa
Slate 9002.91:1AaAa
Black3.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #595649
deuteranopia · #716947
tritanopia · #AE3546

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. #a04449 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF5F5
#F5EBEB
#EAD2D3
#DEB0B3
#CD898D
#BC6166
#a04449
#8F3D41
#733134
#542629
#34181A
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F5Darkest = 950 · #34181AText 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 0.031 19.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 19.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.073 19.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.096 19.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.113 19.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.122 19.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.122 19.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.115 19.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.103 19.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.086 19.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.067 19.2);
}

Colors that work with #a04449

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF4F5
Tinted page background
Border#E7C6C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4F
Captions on the surface
Accent#389478
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5A2629
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EDEE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241415
Dark-mode background
Hover#87393E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6E2F32
Two steps down
Disabled#BD9799
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BB3E44
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 #a04449

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Black 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
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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 low lightness adds weight and formality.

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
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight55/100
  • 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#44A09B
Analogous left#A04477
Analogous right#A06D44
Split-complement 1#44A06D
Split-complement 2#4477A0
Triadic 1#49A044
Triadic 2#4449A0
Tetradic#77A044
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°357°

#a04449 sits at 357°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red62.7%
Green26.7%
Blue28.6%
R · 0–255
160
0xa0
G · 0–255
68
0x44
B · 0–255
73
0x49

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta57.5%
Yellow54.4%
Key (black)37.3%

Total ink coverage is 149%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a04449 text on a black background

contrast 3.42:1

Card sample

#a04449 text on a white background

contrast 6.14:1

Card sample

#a04449 on grey

5.61:1

#a04449 on its own surface

5.65:1

#a04449 on its dark surface

2.88:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a04449;
Background color
Panel with #a04449 background
background-color: #a04449;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a04449;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(160, 68, 73, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(160, 68, 73, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a04449;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a04449, #A07C44);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a04449, #A09344);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a04449;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a04449;
caret-color: #a04449;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a04449;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EDEE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a04449;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a04449 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a04449 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(160, 68, 73, 0.5)
rgb(160 68 73 / 50%)
#a0444980
hsl(357 40% 45% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a04449 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a044491a#F6ECED
20%#a0444933#ECDADB
40%#a0444966#D9B4B6
60%#a0444999#C68F92
80%#a04449cc#B3696D

Gradients from #a04449

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, #BD6469, #a04449 45%, #5A2629);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a04449, #8B723B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a04449, #44A09B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C6797E 0%, #a04449 45%, #5A2629 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BA5D98 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B4844E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5A2629 0%, transparent 65%), #a04449;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a04449

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.

#a04449 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
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

Too dim on dark surfaces at 3.42:1 — lift it to #B7565B for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#a04449, answered

What color is #a04449?

#a04449 is a dark soft red, closest to Brown (ΔE2000 7.6). It sits at 357° on the hue wheel with 40% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #a04449?

rgb(160, 68, 73) — 160 red, 68 green and 73 blue out of 255, or 62.7% / 26.7% / 28.6% by channel.

What is #a04449 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(357, 40%, 45%) and hsv(357, 57%, 63%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a04449 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1209 and perceived brightness is 41%, so white text on it reaches 6.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a04449?

White. It scores 6.14:1 against #a04449, versus 3.42:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #a04449 accessible on a white background?

#a04449 on white scores 6.14:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #a04449?

#44A09B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #44A06D and #4477A0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a04449?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #E7C6C8 for borders, #9B4B4F for secondary text, #389478 as an accent and #5A2629 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A04477 and #A06D44 stays calm, while #44A09B is the loudest partner.

What is #a04449 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 58%, 54%, 37%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a04449 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A05F44; nudged cooler, #A2426A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a04449?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 16.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a04449 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a04449 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a04449] or text-[#a04449], 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 #a04449 with 50% opacity?

rgba(160, 68, 73, 0.5), or #a0444980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D0A2A4; over black, #502225.

Is #a04449 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #993333, ΔE2000 5.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a04449 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 #a04449?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BD6469, #a04449 45%, #5A2629). For more colour, a short hue run to #8B723B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a04449 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a04449 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.