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red · warm

#cbaeb2

a light, soft red · warm · closest name: Thistle

Token name suggestion: Drift Rust

RGB
203, 174, 178
HSL
352°, 22%, 74%
CMYK
0, 14, 12, 20
Luminance
0.4618

#cbaeb2 is a light soft red, 352° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.24:1). As text it scores 2.05:1 on white — use #9D676E instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(352 22% 74%)rgb(203 174 178)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbaeb2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbaeb2
Hue
352°
red
Saturation
22%
soft
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4618
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.24:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 9.1
Chroma
11.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.777
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 24.5
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue352° of 360°
Saturation22%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbaeb2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool32% 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
Red27%
Green66%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#cbaeb2
HEX (8-digit)#cbaeb2ff
RGBrgb(203, 174, 178)
RGBArgba(203, 174, 178, 1)
HSLhsl(352, 22%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(352, 14%, 80%)
HWBhwb(352 68% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 12%, 20%)
LABlab(73.7 11.1 1.9)
LCHlch(73.7 11.3 9.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.777 0.034 8.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.80, 46.18, 48.51)
Decimal13348530
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.682 0.698)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbaeb2;
background-color: #cbaeb2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbaeb2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbaeb2] bg-[#cbaeb2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbaeb2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.682, blue: 0.698)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.682, blue: 0.698, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBAEB2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBAEB2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBAEB2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(178, 174, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 174, 178)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 174, 178)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 174, 178)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6824f, 0.6980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,174,178}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbaeb2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbaeb2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4E3236, #E7DADC);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbaeb2 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: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-100: #F2EDEE;
  --brand-200: #E4D7D9;
  --brand-300: #cbaeb2;
  --brand-400: #BD999E;
  --brand-500: #A7767D;
  --brand-600: #956067;
  --brand-700: #7C5056;
  --brand-800: #634045;
  --brand-900: #493134;
  --brand-950: #2E1F21;
  --brand: #cbaeb2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F6F6;
  --brand-border: #DFCDD0;
  --brand-hover: #BD989D;
  --brand-pressed: #AF8289;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #221618;
    --brand-ink: #E7DADC;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F2EDEE',
        200: '#E4D7D9',
        300: '#cbaeb2',
        400: '#BD999E',
        500: '#A7767D',
        600: '#956067',
        700: '#7C5056',
        800: '#634045',
        900: '#493134',
        950: '#2E1F21',
        DEFAULT: '#cbaeb2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F2EDEE,
  '200': #E4D7D9,
  '300': #cbaeb2,
  '400': #BD999E,
  '500': #A7767D,
  '600': #956067,
  '700': #7C5056,
  '800': #634045,
  '900': #493134,
  '950': #2E1F21,
);
$brand-base: #cbaeb2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F6F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2EDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E4D7D9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#cbaeb2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BD999E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A7767D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#956067", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7C5056", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#634045", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#493134", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2E1F21", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbaeb2 · 10.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.05:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbaeb2 as text scores 2.05:1 on white and 10.24:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4E3236 at 5.58:1.

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
#9D676E · 4.57:1
AA on white−23% L
#9D676E
The quick fox
#764C51 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−36% L
#764C51
The quick fox
#cbaeb2 · 10.24:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbaeb2
The quick fox
#cbaeb2 · 10.24:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbaeb2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B3898F 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
#cbaeb2 on white: 2.05:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbaeb2 on black: 10.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbaeb2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbaeb2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.05:1AaAa
Slate 501.96:1AaAa
Slate 1001.87:1AaAa
Slate 2001.66:1AaAa
Slate 3001.38:1AaAa
Slate 4001.25:1AaAa
Slate 5002.32:1AaAa
Slate 6003.69:1AaAa
Slate 7005.05:1AaAa
Slate 8007.13:1AaAa
Slate 9008.70:1AaAa
Black10.24:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B2B2B2
deuteranopia · #B8B7B2
tritanopia · #D1ACAF

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. #cbaeb2 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F6F6
#F2EDEE
#E4D7D9
#cbaeb2
#BD999E
#A7767D
#956067
#7C5056
#634045
#493134
#2E1F21
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #2E1F21Text 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 0.009 8.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 8.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.020 8.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.027 8.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.031 8.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.034 8.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.034 8.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.032 8.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.029 8.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.024 8.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 8.5);
}

Colors that work with #cbaeb2

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#F9F6F6
Tinted page background
Border#DFCDD0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8C5A61
Captions on the surface
Accent#4B816B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4E3236
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5EFF0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#221618
Dark-mode background
Hover#BD989D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#AF8289
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F2F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9B5BA
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 #cbaeb2

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #4E3236
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B3898F

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight26/100
  • 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#AECBC7
Analogous left#CBAEC0
Analogous right#CBB8AE
Split-complement 1#AECBB8
Split-complement 2#AEC0CB
Triadic 1#B2CBAE
Triadic 2#AEB2CB
Tetradic#C0CBAE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°352°

#cbaeb2 sits at 352°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green68.2%
Blue69.8%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
174
0xae
B · 0–255
178
0xb2

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta14.3%
Yellow12.3%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbaeb2 text on a black background

contrast 10.24:1

Card sample

#cbaeb2 text on a white background

contrast 2.05:1

Card sample

#cbaeb2 on grey

1.87:1

#cbaeb2 on its own surface

1.91:1

#cbaeb2 on its dark surface

8.56:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbaeb2;
Background color
Panel with #cbaeb2 background
background-color: #cbaeb2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbaeb2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 174, 178, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 174, 178, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbaeb2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbaeb2, #CBBDAE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbaeb2, #CBC5AE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbaeb2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbaeb2;
caret-color: #cbaeb2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbaeb2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5EFF0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbaeb2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbaeb2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbaeb2 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(203, 174, 178, 0.5)
rgb(203 174 178 / 50%)
#cbaeb280
hsl(352 22% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbaeb2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbaeb21a#FAF7F7
20%#cbaeb233#F5EFF0
40%#cbaeb266#EADFE0
60%#cbaeb299#E0CED1
80%#cbaeb2cc#D5BEC1

Gradients from #cbaeb2

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, #E3D3D5, #cbaeb2 45%, #4E3236);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbaeb2, #BFB19B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbaeb2, #AECBC7);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EFE6E7 0%, #cbaeb2 45%, #4E3236 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F6F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DFCDDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D7CBC1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4E3236 0%, transparent 65%), #cbaeb2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbaeb2

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.

#cbaeb2 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

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 10.24:1.

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.

#cbaeb2, answered

What color is #cbaeb2?

#cbaeb2 is a light soft red, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 9.1). It sits at 352° on the hue wheel with 22% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cbaeb2?

rgb(203, 174, 178) — 203 red, 174 green and 178 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 68.2% / 69.8% by channel.

What is #cbaeb2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(352, 22%, 74%) and hsv(352, 14%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbaeb2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4618 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbaeb2?

Black. It scores 10.24:1 against #cbaeb2, versus 2.05:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbaeb2 accessible on a white background?

#cbaeb2 on white scores 2.05:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9D676E to reach 4.5:1, or #764C51 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbaeb2?

#AECBC7 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AECBB8 and #AEC0CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbaeb2?

For interface work: #F9F6F6 as the surface, #DFCDD0 for borders, #8C5A61 for secondary text, #4B816B as an accent and #4E3236 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CBAEC0 and #CBB8AE stays calm, while #AECBC7 is the loudest partner.

What is #cbaeb2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 12%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbaeb2 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 32 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CBB5AE; nudged cooler, #CCADBD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbaeb2?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 24.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbaeb2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbaeb2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbaeb2] or text-[#cbaeb2], 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 #cbaeb2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 174, 178, 0.5), or #cbaeb280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D7D9; over black, #665759.

Is #cbaeb2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 7.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbaeb2 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 #cbaeb2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3D3D5, #cbaeb2 45%, #4E3236). For more colour, a short hue run to #BFB19B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbaeb2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbaeb2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.