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red · warm

#dca1af

a light, vivid red · warm · closest name: Light Pink

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cardinal

RGB
220, 161, 175
HSL
346°, 46%, 75%
CMYK
0, 27, 21, 14
Luminance
0.4380

#dca1af is a light vivid red, 346° on the wheel and 25/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.76:1). As text it scores 2.15:1 on white — use #BE4F69 instead. Nearest name is Light Pink, nearest Tailwind family is pink.

hsl(346 46% 75%)rgb(220 161 175)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dca1af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dca1af
Hue
346°
red
Saturation
46%
vivid
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4380
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.76:1
Closest name
Light Pink
ΔE2000 7.1
Chroma
23.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.769
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
pink
500 · ΔE 19.7
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue346° of 360°
Saturation46%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dca1af.

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
Red35%
Green58%
Blue7%

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

Every format

HEX#dca1af
HEX (8-digit)#dca1afff
RGBrgb(220, 161, 175)
RGBArgba(220, 161, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(346, 46%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(346, 27%, 86%)
HWBhwb(346 63% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 21%, 14%)
LABlab(72.1 23.9 1.4)
LCHlch(72.1 23.9 3.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.769 0.072 3.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.00, 43.80, 46.37)
Decimal14459311
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.631 0.686)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dca1af;
background-color: #dca1af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dca1af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dca1af] bg-[#dca1af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dca1af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.631, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.631, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCA1AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCA1AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCA1AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 161, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 161, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 161, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 161, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.6314f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,161,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dca1af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dca1af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5D2330, #EED3D9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dca1af 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: #F5EAED;
  --brand-200: #EBD1D7;
  --brand-300: #dca1af;
  --brand-400: #D18497;
  --brand-500: #C25C74;
  --brand-600: #B2425D;
  --brand-700: #95374D;
  --brand-800: #772C3E;
  --brand-900: #572330;
  --brand-950: #36161E;
  --brand: #dca1af;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F6;
  --brand-border: #E9C4CC;
  --brand-hover: #D28799;
  --brand-pressed: #C96D83;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241418;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF5F6',
        100: '#F5EAED',
        200: '#EBD1D7',
        300: '#dca1af',
        400: '#D18497',
        500: '#C25C74',
        600: '#B2425D',
        700: '#95374D',
        800: '#772C3E',
        900: '#572330',
        950: '#36161E',
        DEFAULT: '#dca1af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF5F6,
  '100': #F5EAED,
  '200': #EBD1D7,
  '300': #dca1af,
  '400': #D18497,
  '500': #C25C74,
  '600': #B2425D,
  '700': #95374D,
  '800': #772C3E,
  '900': #572330,
  '950': #36161E,
);
$brand-base: #dca1af;
$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": "#F5EAED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBD1D7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#dca1af", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D18497", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C25C74", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B2425D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#95374D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#772C3E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#572330", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#36161E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dca1af · 9.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.15:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dca1af as text scores 2.15:1 on white and 9.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5D2330 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
#BE4F69 · 4.65:1
AA on white−22% L
#BE4F69
The quick fox
#97384F · 7.01:1
AAA on white−34% L
#97384F
The quick fox
#dca1af · 9.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dca1af
The quick fox
#dca1af · 9.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dca1af

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CE7C8F 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
#dca1af on white: 2.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dca1af on black: 9.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dca1af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dca1af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.15:1AaAa
Slate 502.06:1AaAa
Slate 1001.96:1AaAa
Slate 2001.75:1AaAa
Slate 3001.45:1AaAa
Slate 4001.19:1AaAa
Slate 5002.21:1AaAa
Slate 6003.52:1AaAa
Slate 7004.81:1AaAa
Slate 8006.80:1AaAa
Slate 9008.30:1AaAa
Black9.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A9ABAF
deuteranopia · #B7B5AE
tritanopia · #E69DA6

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. #dca1af 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.

#FAF5F6
#F5EAED
#EBD1D7
#dca1af
#D18497
#C25C74
#B2425D
#95374D
#772C3E
#572330
#36161E
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF5F6Darkest = 950 · #36161EText 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 0.018 3.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 3.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 3.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.056 3.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.066 3.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 3.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 3.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 3.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 3.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.050 3.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 3.2);
}

Colors that work with #dca1af

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#E9C4CC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B5E
Captions on the surface
Accent#339967
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5D2330
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8ECEF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241418
Dark-mode background
Hover#D28799
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C96D83
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7AAB9
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 #dca1af

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #5D2330
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #CE7C8F

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 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-high
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#A1DCCE
Analogous left#DCA1CC
Analogous right#DCB1A1
Split-complement 1#A1DCB1
Split-complement 2#A1CCDC
Triadic 1#AFDCA1
Triadic 2#A1AFDC
Tetradic#CCDCA1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°346°

#dca1af sits at 346°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green63.1%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
161
0xa1
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta26.8%
Yellow20.5%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 61%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dca1af text on a black background

contrast 9.76:1

Card sample

#dca1af text on a white background

contrast 2.15:1

Card sample

#dca1af on grey

1.96:1

#dca1af on its own surface

1.98:1

#dca1af on its dark surface

8.21:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dca1af;
Background color
Panel with #dca1af background
background-color: #dca1af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dca1af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 161, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 161, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dca1af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dca1af, #DCBAA1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dca1af, #DCC9A1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dca1af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dca1af;
caret-color: #dca1af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dca1af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8ECEF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dca1af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dca1af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dca1af 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(220, 161, 175, 0.5)
rgb(220 161 175 / 50%)
#dca1af80
hsl(346 46% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dca1af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dca1af1a#FCF6F7
20%#dca1af33#F8ECEF
40%#dca1af66#F1D9DF
60%#dca1af99#EAC7CF
80%#dca1afcc#E3B4BF

Gradients from #dca1af

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, #EDCED5, #dca1af 45%, #5D2330);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dca1af, #D4B08B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dca1af, #A1DCCE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5E4E8 0%, #dca1af 45%, #5D2330 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%, #EAC6E3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E4C7B7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5D2330 0%, transparent 65%), #dca1af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dca1af

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.

#dca1af 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 9.76:1.

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.

#dca1af, answered

What color is #dca1af?

#dca1af is a light vivid red, closest to Light Pink (ΔE2000 7.1). It sits at 346° on the hue wheel with 46% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dca1af?

rgb(220, 161, 175) — 220 red, 161 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 63.1% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #dca1af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(346, 46%, 75%) and hsv(346, 27%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dca1af a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4380 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 9.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dca1af?

Black. It scores 9.76:1 against #dca1af, versus 2.15:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dca1af accessible on a white background?

#dca1af on white scores 2.15:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #BE4F69 to reach 4.5:1, or #97384F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dca1af?

#A1DCCE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A1DCB1 and #A1CCDC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dca1af?

For interface work: #FAF4F6 as the surface, #E9C4CC for borders, #9B4B5E for secondary text, #339967 as an accent and #5D2330 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DCA1CC and #DCB1A1 stays calm, while #A1DCCE is the loudest partner.

What is #dca1af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 21%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dca1af 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 #DCA9A1; nudged cooler, #DDA0C5.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dca1af?

The pink family — its 500 step is #ec4899, ΔE2000 19.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dca1af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dca1af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dca1af] or text-[#dca1af], 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 #dca1af with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 161, 175, 0.5), or #dca1af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EED0D7; over black, #6E5158.

Is #dca1af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 6.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dca1af 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 #dca1af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EDCED5, #dca1af 45%, #5D2330). For more colour, a short hue run to #D4B08B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dca1af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dca1af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.