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red · warm

#bc2c2d

a balanced, vivid red · warm · closest name: Firebrick

Token name suggestion: Studio Ember

RGB
188, 44, 45
HSL
360°, 62%, 46%
CMYK
0, 77, 76, 26
Luminance
0.1268

#bc2c2d is a balanced vivid red, 360° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.94:1). As text it scores 5.94:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Firebrick, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(360 62% 46%)rgb(188 44 45)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc2c2d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc2c2d
Hue
360°
red
Saturation
62%
vivid
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
43%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1268
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
5.94:1
Closest name
Firebrick
ΔE2000 3.1
Chroma
66.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.524
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 12.8
Web-safe
#CC3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue360° of 360°
Saturation62%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bc2c2d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool17% 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
Red84%
Green14%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bc2c2d
HEX (8-digit)#bc2c2dff
RGBrgb(188, 44, 45)
RGBArgba(188, 44, 45, 1)
HSLhsl(360, 62%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(360, 77%, 74%)
HWBhwb(360 17% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 77%, 76%, 26%)
LABlab(42.3 56.3 35.3)
LCHlch(42.3 66.5 32.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.524 0.181 25.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.12, 12.69, 3.77)
Decimal12332077
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.173 0.176)
Web-safe#CC3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc2c2d;
background-color: #bc2c2d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc2c2d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc2c2d] bg-[#bc2c2d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc2c2d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.173, blue: 0.176)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.173, blue: 0.176, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC2C2D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC2C2D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC2C2D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(45, 44, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 44, 45)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 44, 45)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 44, 45)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.1725f, 0.1765f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,44,45}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc2c2d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc2c2d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#671819, #EED3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc2c2d 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: #FBF4F4;
  --brand-100: #F7E8E8;
  --brand-200: #F0CCCC;
  --brand-300: #EAA4A5;
  --brand-400: #DF7777;
  --brand-500: #D4494A;
  --brand-600: #bc2c2d;
  --brand-700: #A52728;
  --brand-800: #841F20;
  --brand-900: #601A1B;
  --brand-950: #3C1011;
  --brand: #bc2c2d;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C0;
  --brand-hover: #9F2526;
  --brand-pressed: #821E1F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF4F4',
        100: '#F7E8E8',
        200: '#F0CCCC',
        300: '#EAA4A5',
        400: '#DF7777',
        500: '#D4494A',
        600: '#bc2c2d',
        700: '#A52728',
        800: '#841F20',
        900: '#601A1B',
        950: '#3C1011',
        DEFAULT: '#bc2c2d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF4F4,
  '100': #F7E8E8,
  '200': #F0CCCC,
  '300': #EAA4A5,
  '400': #DF7777,
  '500': #D4494A,
  '600': #bc2c2d,
  '700': #A52728,
  '800': #841F20,
  '900': #601A1B,
  '950': #3C1011,
);
$brand-base: #bc2c2d;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF4F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7E8E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0CCCC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EAA4A5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DF7777", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D4494A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bc2c2d", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A52728", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#841F20", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#601A1B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C1011", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc2c2d · 5.94:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.94:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.54:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #bc2c2d as text scores 5.94:1 on white and 3.54:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FAEAEA at 5.10:1.

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
#bc2c2d · 5.94:1
AA on whitealready passes
#bc2c2d
The quick fox
#A72728 · 7.09:1
AAA on white−5% L
#A72728
The quick fox
#D23F40 · 4.53:1
AA on black+8% L
#D23F40
The quick fox
#E07979 · 7.18:1
AAA on black+22% L
#E07979

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BC2C2D 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
#bc2c2d on white: 5.94:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc2c2d on black: 3.54:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc2c2d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc2c2d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.94:1AaAa
Slate 505.68:1AaAa
Slate 1005.42:1AaAa
Slate 2004.82:1AaAa
Slate 3004.00:1AaAa
Slate 4002.32:1AaAa
Slate 5001.25:1AaAa
Slate 6001.28:1AaAa
Slate 7001.74:1AaAa
Slate 8002.46:1AaAa
Slate 9003.01:1AaAa
Black3.54:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #58502B
deuteranopia · #7C6F27
tritanopia · #CF002E

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. #bc2c2d 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.

#FBF4F4
#F7E8E8
#F0CCCC
#EAA4A5
#DF7777
#D4494A
#bc2c2d
#A52728
#841F20
#601A1B
#3C1011
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF4F4Darkest = 950 · #3C1011Text 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 0.045 25.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.072 25.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.108 25.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.141 25.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.166 25.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.181 25.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.181 25.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.170 25.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.152 25.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.126 25.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.099 25.8);
}

Colors that work with #bc2c2d

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#FAF4F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#22AA87
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#671819
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAEAEA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F2526
One step down in lightness
Pressed#821E1F
Two steps down
Disabled#BE9A9A
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D92324
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 #bc2c2d

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • 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#2CBCBB
Analogous left#BC2C75
Analogous right#BC732C
Split-complement 1#2CBC73
Split-complement 2#2C75BC
Triadic 1#2DBC2C
Triadic 2#2C2DBC
Tetradic#75BC2C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°360°

#bc2c2d sits at 360°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green17.3%
Blue17.6%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
44
0x2c
B · 0–255
45
0x2d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta76.6%
Yellow76.1%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 179%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc2c2d text on a black background

contrast 3.54:1

Card sample

#bc2c2d text on a white background

contrast 5.94:1

Card sample

#bc2c2d on grey

5.42:1

#bc2c2d on its own surface

5.46:1

#bc2c2d on its dark surface

2.98:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc2c2d;
Background color
Panel with #bc2c2d background
background-color: #bc2c2d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc2c2d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 44, 45, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 44, 45, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc2c2d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc2c2d, #BC8B2C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc2c2d, #BCAF2C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc2c2d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc2c2d;
caret-color: #bc2c2d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc2c2d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAEAEA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc2c2d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc2c2d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc2c2d 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(188, 44, 45, 0.5)
rgb(188 44 45 / 50%)
#bc2c2d80
hsl(360 62% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc2c2d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc2c2d1a#F8EAEA
20%#bc2c2d33#F2D5D5
40%#bc2c2d66#E4ABAB
60%#bc2c2d99#D78081
80%#bc2c2dcc#C95657

Gradients from #bc2c2d

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, #D64F50, #bc2c2d 45%, #671819);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc2c2d, #A38326);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc2c2d, #2CBCBB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DC6869 0%, #bc2c2d 45%, #671819 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D4479A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D08F37 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #671819 0%, transparent 65%), #bc2c2d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc2c2d

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.

#bc2c2d 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 3.54:1 — lift it to #D23F40 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.

#bc2c2d, answered

What color is #bc2c2d?

#bc2c2d is a balanced vivid red, closest to Firebrick (ΔE2000 3.1). It sits at 360° on the hue wheel with 62% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bc2c2d?

rgb(188, 44, 45) — 188 red, 44 green and 45 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 17.3% / 17.6% by channel.

What is #bc2c2d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(360, 62%, 46%) and hsv(360, 77%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc2c2d a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1268 and perceived brightness is 43%, so white text on it reaches 5.94:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc2c2d?

White. It scores 5.94:1 against #bc2c2d, versus 3.54:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #bc2c2d accessible on a white background?

#bc2c2d on white scores 5.94:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #bc2c2d?

#2CBCBB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2CBC73 and #2C75BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc2c2d?

For interface work: #FAF4F4 as the surface, #EDC0C0 for borders, #9B4B4B for secondary text, #22AA87 as an accent and #671819 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC2C75 and #BC732C stays calm, while #2CBCBB is the loudest partner.

What is #bc2c2d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 77%, 76%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc2c2d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 17 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC512C; nudged cooler, #BE2A61.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc2c2d?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 12.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc2c2d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc2c2d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc2c2d] or text-[#bc2c2d], 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 #bc2c2d with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 44, 45, 0.5), or #bc2c2d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DE9696; over black, #5E1617.

Is #bc2c2d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC3333, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc2c2d 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 #bc2c2d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D64F50, #bc2c2d 45%, #671819). For more colour, a short hue run to #A38326 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc2c2d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc2c2d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.