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red · warm

#a94e60

a balanced, soft red · warm · closest name: Indian Red

Token name suggestion: True Rust

RGB
169, 78, 96
HSL
348°, 37%, 48%
CMYK
0, 54, 43, 34
Luminance
0.1473

#a94e60 is a balanced soft red, 348° on the wheel and 23/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.32:1). As text it scores 5.32:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Indian Red, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(348 37% 48%)rgb(169 78 96)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a94e60 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a94e60
Hue
348°
red
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
66%
HSV value
Perceived
45%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1473
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
23/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.32:1
Closest name
Indian Red
ΔE2000 11.3
Chroma
39.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.543
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 14.8
Web-safe
#996666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue348° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a94e60.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool23% 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
Red57%
Green37%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#a94e60
HEX (8-digit)#a94e60ff
RGBrgb(169, 78, 96)
RGBArgba(169, 78, 96, 1)
HSLhsl(348, 37%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(348, 54%, 66%)
HWBhwb(348 31% 34%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 54%, 43%, 34%)
LABlab(45.3 39.2 7.7)
LCHlch(45.3 39.9 11.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.543 0.120 9.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(21.20, 14.73, 12.79)
Decimal11095648
Display P3color(display-p3 0.663 0.306 0.376)
Web-safe#996666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a94e60;
background-color: #a94e60;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a94e60;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a94e60] bg-[#a94e60]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a94e60;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.663, green: 0.306, blue: 0.376)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.663, green: 0.306, blue: 0.376, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A94E60</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA94E60)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA94E60)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(96, 78, 169)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(169, 78, 96)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(169, 78, 96)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 169, 78, 96)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6627f, 0.3059f, 0.3765f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{169,78,96}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a94e60 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a94e60 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#572832, #ECD5DA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a94e60 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: #FAF5F6;
  --brand-100: #F4EBED;
  --brand-200: #E9D3D7;
  --brand-300: #DCB2BA;
  --brand-400: #CA8C98;
  --brand-500: #B86676;
  --brand-600: #a94e60;
  --brand-700: #8C404F;
  --brand-800: #70343F;
  --brand-900: #522831;
  --brand-950: #33191E;
  --brand: #a94e60;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F6;
  --brand-border: #E5C7CD;
  --brand-hover: #904352;
  --brand-pressed: #783744;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241417;
    --brand-ink: #ECD5DA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F6',
        100: '#F4EBED',
        200: '#E9D3D7',
        300: '#DCB2BA',
        400: '#CA8C98',
        500: '#B86676',
        600: '#a94e60',
        700: '#8C404F',
        800: '#70343F',
        900: '#522831',
        950: '#33191E',
        DEFAULT: '#a94e60',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F6,
  '100': #F4EBED,
  '200': #E9D3D7,
  '300': #DCB2BA,
  '400': #CA8C98,
  '500': #B86676,
  '600': #a94e60,
  '700': #8C404F,
  '800': #70343F,
  '900': #522831,
  '950': #33191E,
);
$brand-base: #a94e60;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF5F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4EBED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E9D3D7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DCB2BA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CA8C98", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B86676", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#a94e60", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8C404F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#70343F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#522831", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#33191E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a94e60 · 5.32:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.95:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a94e60 as text scores 5.32:1 on white and 3.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F7EEEF at 4.67:1.

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
#a94e60 · 5.32:1
AA on whitealready passes
#a94e60
The quick fox
#893F4E · 7.28:1
AAA on white−9% L
#893F4E
The quick fox
#B2596B · 4.53:1
AA on black+4% L
#B2596B
The quick fox
#C68390 · 7.05:1
AAA on black+16% L
#C68390

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A94E60 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
#a94e60 on white: 5.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a94e60 on black: 3.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a94e60 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a94e60.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.32:1AaAa
Slate 505.09:1AaAa
Slate 1004.86:1AaAa
Slate 2004.32:1AaAa
Slate 3003.58:1AaAa
Slate 4002.08:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.42:1AaAa
Slate 7001.95:1AaAa
Slate 8002.75:1AaAa
Slate 9003.35:1AaAa
Black3.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #606060
deuteranopia · #77725E
tritanopia · #B74455

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. #a94e60 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.

#FAF5F6
#F4EBED
#E9D3D7
#DCB2BA
#CA8C98
#B86676
#a94e60
#8C404F
#70343F
#522831
#33191E
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F6Darkest = 950 · #33191EText 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 0.030 9.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 9.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.072 9.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.094 9.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.111 9.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.120 9.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.120 9.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.113 9.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.101 9.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.084 9.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.066 9.6);
}

Colors that work with #a94e60

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#FAF5F6
Tinted page background
Border#E5C7CD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B5B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3C906B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#572832
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EEEF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241417
Dark-mode background
Hover#904352
One step down in lightness
Pressed#783744
Two steps down
Disabled#C4A3AA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BE4D63
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 #a94e60

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • 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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

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
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#4EA997
Analogous left#A94E8D
Analogous right#A9694E
Split-complement 1#4EA969
Split-complement 2#4E8DA9
Triadic 1#60A94E
Triadic 2#4E60A9
Tetradic#8DA94E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°348°

#a94e60 sits at 348°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red66.3%
Green30.6%
Blue37.6%
R · 0–255
169
0xa9
G · 0–255
78
0x4e
B · 0–255
96
0x60

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta53.8%
Yellow43.2%
Key (black)33.7%

Total ink coverage is 131%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a94e60 text on a black background

contrast 3.95:1

Card sample

#a94e60 text on a white background

contrast 5.32:1

Card sample

#a94e60 on grey

4.86:1

#a94e60 on its own surface

4.93:1

#a94e60 on its dark surface

3.32:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a94e60;
Background color
Panel with #a94e60 background
background-color: #a94e60;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a94e60;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(169, 78, 96, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(169, 78, 96, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a94e60;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a94e60, #A9794E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a94e60, #A98F4E);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a94e60;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a94e60;
caret-color: #a94e60;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a94e60;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EEEF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a94e60;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a94e60 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a94e60 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(169, 78, 96, 0.5)
rgb(169 78 96 / 50%)
#a94e6080
hsl(348 37% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a94e60 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a94e601a#F6EDEF
20%#a94e6033#EEDCDF
40%#a94e6066#DDB8BF
60%#a94e6099#CB95A0
80%#a94e60cc#BA7180

Gradients from #a94e60

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, #BF7584, #a94e60 45%, #572832);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a94e60, #947044);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a94e60, #4EA997);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C98A96 0%, #a94e60 45%, #572832 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #BC6EAB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B68160 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #572832 0%, transparent 65%), #a94e60;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a94e60

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.

#a94e60 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 3.95:1 — lift it to #B2596B 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.

#a94e60, answered

What color is #a94e60?

#a94e60 is a balanced soft red, closest to Indian Red (ΔE2000 11.3). It sits at 348° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #a94e60?

rgb(169, 78, 96) — 169 red, 78 green and 96 blue out of 255, or 66.3% / 30.6% / 37.6% by channel.

What is #a94e60 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(348, 37%, 48%) and hsv(348, 54%, 66%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a94e60 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1473 and perceived brightness is 45%, so white text on it reaches 5.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a94e60?

White. It scores 5.32:1 against #a94e60, versus 3.95:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #a94e60 accessible on a white background?

#a94e60 on white scores 5.32:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #a94e60?

#4EA997 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4EA969 and #4E8DA9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a94e60?

For interface work: #FAF5F6 as the surface, #E5C7CD for borders, #9B4B5B for secondary text, #3C906B as an accent and #572832 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A94E8D and #A9694E stays calm, while #4EA997 is the loudest partner.

What is #a94e60 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 54%, 43%, 34%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a94e60 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 23 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A95D4E; nudged cooler, #AB4C82.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a94e60?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 14.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a94e60 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a94e60 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a94e60] or text-[#a94e60], 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 #a94e60 with 50% opacity?

rgba(169, 78, 96, 0.5), or #a94e6080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D4A7B0; over black, #552730.

Is #a94e60 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996666, ΔE2000 9.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a94e60 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 #a94e60?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BF7584, #a94e60 45%, #572832). For more colour, a short hue run to #947044 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a94e60 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a94e60 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.