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red · warm

#d6baba

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Rust

RGB
214, 186, 186
HSL
0°, 26%, 78%
CMYK
0, 13, 13, 16
Luminance
0.5296

#d6baba is a light soft red, 0° on the wheel and 26/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.59:1). As text it scores 1.81:1 on white — use #A36363 instead. Nearest name is Thistle, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(0 26% 78%)rgb(214 186 186)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #d6baba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#d6baba
Hue
red
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
78%
light
Brightness
84%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5296
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
26/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.59:1
Closest name
Thistle
ΔE2000 9.6
Chroma
10.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.813
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 26.7
Web-safe
#CCCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue0° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness78%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #d6baba.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool26% 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#d6baba
HEX (8-digit)#d6babaff
RGBrgb(214, 186, 186)
RGBArgba(214, 186, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(0, 26%, 78%)
HSV / HSBhsv(0, 13%, 84%)
HWBhwb(0 73% 16%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 13%, 13%, 16%)
LABlab(77.8 10.0 3.7)
LCHlch(77.8 10.6 20.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.813 0.032 17.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(54.15, 52.96, 53.81)
Decimal14072506
Display P3color(display-p3 0.839 0.729 0.729)
Web-safe#CCCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #d6baba;
background-color: #d6baba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #d6baba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#d6baba] bg-[#d6baba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #d6baba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.839, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.839, green: 0.729, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#D6BABA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFD6BABA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFD6BABA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 186, 214)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(214, 186, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(214, 186, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 214, 186, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8392f, 0.7294f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{214,186,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #d6baba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #d6baba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#502F2F, #E8D9D9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #d6baba 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: #F3EDED;
  --brand-200: #E5D6D6;
  --brand-300: #d6baba;
  --brand-400: #C09595;
  --brand-500: #AB7272;
  --brand-600: #9A5B5B;
  --brand-700: #804C4C;
  --brand-800: #663D3D;
  --brand-900: #4C2F2F;
  --brand-950: #2F1D1D;
  --brand: #d6baba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F5F5;
  --brand-border: #E1CCCC;
  --brand-hover: #C9A3A3;
  --brand-pressed: #BB8D8D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #231515;
    --brand-ink: #E8D9D9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F6F6',
        100: '#F3EDED',
        200: '#E5D6D6',
        300: '#d6baba',
        400: '#C09595',
        500: '#AB7272',
        600: '#9A5B5B',
        700: '#804C4C',
        800: '#663D3D',
        900: '#4C2F2F',
        950: '#2F1D1D',
        DEFAULT: '#d6baba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F6F6,
  '100': #F3EDED,
  '200': #E5D6D6,
  '300': #d6baba,
  '400': #C09595,
  '500': #AB7272,
  '600': #9A5B5B,
  '700': #804C4C,
  '800': #663D3D,
  '900': #4C2F2F,
  '950': #2F1D1D,
);
$brand-base: #d6baba;
$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": "#F3EDED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5D6D6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#d6baba", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C09595", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AB7272", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9A5B5B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#804C4C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#663D3D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C2F2F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F1D1D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #d6baba · 11.59:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.81:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.59:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #d6baba as text scores 1.81:1 on white and 11.59:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #502F2F at 6.48:1.

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
#A36363 · 4.64:1
AA on white−27% L
#A36363
The quick fox
#7E4B4B · 7.01:1
AAA on white−39% L
#7E4B4B
The quick fox
#d6baba · 11.59:1
AA on blackalready passes
#d6baba
The quick fox
#d6baba · 11.59:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#d6baba

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B88787 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
#d6baba on white: 1.81:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#d6baba on black: 11.59:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #d6baba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #d6baba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.81:1AaAa
Slate 501.73:1AaAa
Slate 1001.65:1AaAa
Slate 2001.47:1AaAa
Slate 3001.22:1AaAa
Slate 4001.42:1AaAa
Slate 5002.63:1AaAa
Slate 6004.18:1AaAa
Slate 7005.72:1AaAa
Slate 8008.07:1AaAa
Slate 9009.85:1AaAa
Black11.59:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BFBDBA
deuteranopia · #C5C2BA
tritanopia · #DCB8BA

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. #d6baba 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
#F3EDED
#E5D6D6
#d6baba
#C09595
#AB7272
#9A5B5B
#804C4C
#663D3D
#4C2F2F
#2F1D1D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F9F6F6Darkest = 950 · #2F1D1DText 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 0.008 17.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 17.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.019 17.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.025 17.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 17.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.032 17.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.032 17.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.030 17.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.027 17.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.022 17.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 17.8);
}

Colors that work with #d6baba

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#F9F5F5
Tinted page background
Border#E1CCCC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#905555
Captions on the surface
Accent#488475
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#502F2F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6EFEF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#231515
Dark-mode background
Hover#C9A3A3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BB8D8D
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E2C2C2
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 #d6baba

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 #502F2F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B88787

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
  • Weight22/100
  • 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#BAD6D6
Analogous left#D6BAC8
Analogous right#D6C8BA
Split-complement 1#BAD6C8
Split-complement 2#BAC8D6
Triadic 1#BAD6BA
Triadic 2#BABAD6
Tetradic#C8D6BA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°0°

#d6baba sits at 0°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red83.9%
Green72.9%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
214
0xd6
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta13.1%
Yellow13.1%
Key (black)16.1%

Total ink coverage is 42%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#d6baba text on a black background

contrast 11.59:1

Card sample

#d6baba text on a white background

contrast 1.81:1

Card sample

#d6baba on grey

1.65:1

#d6baba on its own surface

1.67:1

#d6baba on its dark surface

9.74:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #d6baba;
Background color
Panel with #d6baba background
background-color: #d6baba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #d6baba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(214, 186, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(214, 186, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #d6baba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #d6baba, #D6CDBA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d6baba, #D6D4BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #d6baba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #d6baba;
caret-color: #d6baba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #d6baba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6EFEF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #d6baba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#d6baba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #d6baba 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(214, 186, 186, 0.5)
rgb(214 186 186 / 50%)
#d6baba80
hsl(0 26% 78% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #d6baba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#d6baba1a#FBF8F8
20%#d6baba33#F7F1F1
40%#d6baba66#EFE3E3
60%#d6baba99#E6D6D6
80%#d6babacc#DEC8C8

Gradients from #d6baba

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, #EDE0E0, #d6baba 45%, #502F2F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #d6baba, #CBC2A7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #d6baba, #BAD6D6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F3F3 0%, #d6baba 45%, #502F2F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F5F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E9DAE3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E1D9CD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #502F2F 0%, transparent 65%), #d6baba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #d6baba

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.

#d6baba 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 11.59:1.

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.

#d6baba, answered

What color is #d6baba?

#d6baba is a light soft red, closest to Thistle (ΔE2000 9.6). It sits at 0° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 78% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #d6baba?

rgb(214, 186, 186) — 214 red, 186 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 83.9% / 72.9% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #d6baba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(0, 26%, 78%) and hsv(0, 13%, 84%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #d6baba a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5296 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.59:1.

Should I use black or white text on #d6baba?

Black. It scores 11.59:1 against #d6baba, versus 1.81:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #d6baba accessible on a white background?

#d6baba on white scores 1.81:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A36363 to reach 4.5:1, or #7E4B4B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #d6baba?

#BAD6D6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BAD6C8 and #BAC8D6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #d6baba?

For interface work: #F9F5F5 as the surface, #E1CCCC for borders, #905555 for secondary text, #488475 as an accent and #502F2F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D6BAC8 and #D6C8BA stays calm, while #BAD6D6 is the loudest partner.

What is #d6baba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 13%, 13%, 16%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #d6baba warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 26 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D6C4BA; nudged cooler, #D7B9C4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #d6baba?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 26.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #d6baba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #d6baba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#d6baba] or text-[#d6baba], 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 #d6baba with 50% opacity?

rgba(214, 186, 186, 0.5), or #d6baba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EBDDDD; over black, #6B5D5D.

Is #d6baba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCCCC, ΔE2000 11.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #d6baba 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 #d6baba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EDE0E0, #d6baba 45%, #502F2F). For more colour, a short hue run to #CBC2A7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #d6baba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #d6baba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.