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red · warm

#bb657a

a balanced, soft red · warm · closest name: Pale Violet Red

Token name suggestion: Signal Cardinal

RGB
187, 101, 122
HSL
345°, 39%, 57%
CMYK
0, 46, 35, 27
Luminance
0.2128

#bb657a is a balanced soft red, 345° on the wheel and 25/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.26:1). As text it scores 4.00:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Pale Violet Red, nearest Tailwind family is pink.

hsl(345 39% 57%)rgb(187 101 122)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bb657a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bb657a
Hue
345°
red
Saturation
39%
soft
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2128
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.26:1
Closest name
Pale Violet Red
ΔE2000 7.7
Chroma
37.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.611
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
pink
500 · ΔE 11.5
Web-safe
#CC6666
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue345° of 360°
Saturation39%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bb657a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool25% 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
Red50%
Green44%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#bb657a
HEX (8-digit)#bb657aff
RGBrgb(187, 101, 122)
RGBArgba(187, 101, 122, 1)
HSLhsl(345, 39%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(345, 46%, 73%)
HWBhwb(345 40% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 46%, 35%, 27%)
LABlab(53.3 36.8 3.8)
LCHlch(53.3 37.0 6.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.611 0.112 5.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(28.66, 21.28, 21.01)
Decimal12281210
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.396 0.478)
Web-safe#CC6666

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bb657a;
background-color: #bb657a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bb657a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bb657a] bg-[#bb657a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bb657a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.396, blue: 0.478)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.396, blue: 0.478, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BB657A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBB657A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBB657A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(122, 101, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 101, 122)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 101, 122)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 101, 122)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.3961f, 0.4784f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,101,122}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bb657a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bb657a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#582733, #ECD5DA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bb657a 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: #E9D3D8;
  --brand-300: #DDB1BC;
  --brand-400: #CB8A9A;
  --brand-500: #bb657a;
  --brand-600: #AA4B62;
  --brand-700: #8D3F52;
  --brand-800: #713241;
  --brand-900: #532732;
  --brand-950: #34191F;
  --brand: #bb657a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F6;
  --brand-border: #E6C6CE;
  --brand-hover: #AF4D65;
  --brand-pressed: #964257;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241418;
    --brand-ink: #ECD5DA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F6',
        100: '#F4EBED',
        200: '#E9D3D8',
        300: '#DDB1BC',
        400: '#CB8A9A',
        500: '#bb657a',
        600: '#AA4B62',
        700: '#8D3F52',
        800: '#713241',
        900: '#532732',
        950: '#34191F',
        DEFAULT: '#bb657a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F6,
  '100': #F4EBED,
  '200': #E9D3D8,
  '300': #DDB1BC,
  '400': #CB8A9A,
  '500': #bb657a,
  '600': #AA4B62,
  '700': #8D3F52,
  '800': #713241,
  '900': #532732,
  '950': #34191F,
);
$brand-base: #bb657a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@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": "#E9D3D8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DDB1BC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CB8A9A", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#bb657a", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AA4B62", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8D3F52", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#713241", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#532732", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#34191F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bb657a · 5.26:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.00:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.26:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #bb657a as text scores 4.00:1 on white and 5.26:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #582733 at 3.00:1.

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
#B5576E · 4.61:1
AA on white−4% L
#B5576E
The quick fox
#8C3E51 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−17% L
#8C3E51
The quick fox
#bb657a · 5.26:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bb657a
The quick fox
#C88193 · 7.02:1
AAA on black+8% L
#C88193

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BB657A 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
#bb657a on white: 4.00:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bb657a on black: 5.26:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bb657a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bb657a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.00:1AaAa
Slate 503.82:1AaAa
Slate 1003.65:1AaAa
Slate 2003.24:1AaAa
Slate 3002.69:1AaAa
Slate 4001.56:1AaAa
Slate 5001.19:1AaAa
Slate 6001.90:1AaAa
Slate 7002.59:1AaAa
Slate 8003.66:1AaAa
Slate 9004.47:1AaAa
Black5.26:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #73757B
deuteranopia · #898578
tritanopia · #C85E6D

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. #bb657a is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF5F6
#F4EBED
#E9D3D8
#DDB1BC
#CB8A9A
#bb657a
#AA4B62
#8D3F52
#713241
#532732
#34191F
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F6Darkest = 950 · #34191FText 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 0.028 5.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 5.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.067 5.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.087 5.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.103 5.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.112 5.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.112 5.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.105 5.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.094 5.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.078 5.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 5.3);
}

Colors that work with #bb657a

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#FAF4F6
Tinted page background
Border#E6C6CE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B5E
Captions on the surface
Accent#3B9167
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#582733
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7EDF0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241418
Dark-mode background
Hover#AF4D65
One step down in lightness
Pressed#964257
Two steps down
Disabled#D4BCC2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CB6981
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 #bb657a

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #582733
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
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#65BBA6
Analogous left#BB65A5
Analogous right#BB7B65
Split-complement 1#65BB7B
Split-complement 2#65A5BB
Triadic 1#7ABB65
Triadic 2#657ABB
Tetradic#A5BB65
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°345°

#bb657a sits at 345°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green39.6%
Blue47.8%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
101
0x65
B · 0–255
122
0x7a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta46.0%
Yellow34.8%
Key (black)26.7%

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

Color previews

#bb657a text on a black background

contrast 5.26:1

Card sample

#bb657a text on a white background

contrast 4.00:1

Card sample

#bb657a on grey

3.65:1

#bb657a on its own surface

3.68:1

#bb657a on its dark surface

4.42:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bb657a;
Background color
Panel with #bb657a background
background-color: #bb657a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bb657a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 101, 122, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 101, 122, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bb657a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bb657a, #BB8965);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb657a, #BB9F65);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bb657a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bb657a;
caret-color: #bb657a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bb657a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7EDF0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bb657a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bb657a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bb657a 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(187, 101, 122, 0.5)
rgb(187 101 122 / 50%)
#bb657a80
hsl(345 39% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bb657a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bb657a1a#F8F0F2
20%#bb657a33#F1E0E4
40%#bb657a66#E4C1CA
60%#bb657a99#D6A3AF
80%#bb657acc#C98495

Gradients from #bb657a

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, #CE909F, #bb657a 45%, #582733);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bb657a, #B28150);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb657a, #65BBA6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D7A5B1 0%, #bb657a 45%, #582733 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CB89BF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C4937A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #582733 0%, transparent 65%), #bb657a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bb657a

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.

#bb657a 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.26:1.

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.

#bb657a, answered

What color is #bb657a?

#bb657a is a balanced soft red, closest to Pale Violet Red (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 345° on the hue wheel with 39% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bb657a?

rgb(187, 101, 122) — 187 red, 101 green and 122 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 39.6% / 47.8% by channel.

What is #bb657a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(345, 39%, 57%) and hsv(345, 46%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bb657a a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2128 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 5.26:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bb657a?

Black. It scores 5.26:1 against #bb657a, versus 4.00:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #bb657a accessible on a white background?

#bb657a on white scores 4.00:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #B5576E to reach 4.5:1, or #8C3E51 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bb657a?

#65BBA6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #65BB7B and #65A5BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bb657a?

For interface work: #FAF4F6 as the surface, #E6C6CE for borders, #9B4B5E for secondary text, #3B9167 as an accent and #582733 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB65A5 and #BB7B65 stays calm, while #65BBA6 is the loudest partner.

What is #bb657a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 46%, 35%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bb657a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 25 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BB7065; nudged cooler, #BD639A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bb657a?

The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 11.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bb657a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bb657a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bb657a] or text-[#bb657a], 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 #bb657a with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 101, 122, 0.5), or #bb657a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDB2BD; over black, #5E333D.

Is #bb657a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC6666, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bb657a 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 #bb657a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CE909F, #bb657a 45%, #582733). For more colour, a short hue run to #B28150 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bb657a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bb657a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.