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red · warm

#eb3539

a balanced, electric red · warm · closest name: Crimson

Token name suggestion: Studio Cardinal

RGB
235, 53, 57
HSL
359°, 82%, 57%
CMYK
0, 77, 76, 8
Luminance
0.2050

#eb3539 is a balanced electric red, 359° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.10:1). As text it scores 4.12:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Crimson, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(359 82% 57%)rgb(235 53 57)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #eb3539 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#eb3539
Hue
359°
red
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2050
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.10:1
Closest name
Crimson
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
79.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.616
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 2.7
Web-safe
#FF3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue359° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #eb3539.

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
Red86%
Green12%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#eb3539
HEX (8-digit)#eb3539ff
RGBrgb(235, 53, 57)
RGBArgba(235, 53, 57, 1)
HSLhsl(359, 82%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(359, 77%, 92%)
HWBhwb(359 21% 8%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 77%, 76%, 8%)
LABlab(52.4 67.8 42.2)
LCHlch(52.4 79.9 31.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.616 0.217 25.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.28, 20.51, 5.92)
Decimal15414585
Display P3color(display-p3 0.922 0.208 0.224)
Web-safe#FF3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #eb3539;
background-color: #eb3539;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #eb3539;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#eb3539] bg-[#eb3539]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #eb3539;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.922, green: 0.208, blue: 0.224)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.922, green: 0.208, blue: 0.224, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#EB3539</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFEB3539)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEB3539)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 53, 235)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(235, 53, 57)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(235, 53, 57)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 235, 53, 57)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9216f, 0.2078f, 0.2235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{235,53,57}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #eb3539 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #eb3539 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#740B0E, #EED3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #eb3539 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: #FCF2F3;
  --brand-100: #F9E6E6;
  --brand-200: #F6C6C7;
  --brand-300: #F5999B;
  --brand-400: #F06669;
  --brand-500: #eb3539;
  --brand-600: #DF161A;
  --brand-700: #BA1216;
  --brand-800: #950F12;
  --brand-900: #6B0F11;
  --brand-950: #43090B;
  --brand: #eb3539;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C1;
  --brand-hover: #E6171B;
  --brand-pressed: #C51417;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF2F3',
        100: '#F9E6E6',
        200: '#F6C6C7',
        300: '#F5999B',
        400: '#F06669',
        500: '#eb3539',
        600: '#DF161A',
        700: '#BA1216',
        800: '#950F12',
        900: '#6B0F11',
        950: '#43090B',
        DEFAULT: '#eb3539',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF2F3,
  '100': #F9E6E6,
  '200': #F6C6C7,
  '300': #F5999B,
  '400': #F06669,
  '500': #eb3539,
  '600': #DF161A,
  '700': #BA1216,
  '800': #950F12,
  '900': #6B0F11,
  '950': #43090B,
);
$brand-base: #eb3539;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF2F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9E6E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F6C6C7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F5999B", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F06669", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#eb3539", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DF161A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#BA1216", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#950F12", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6B0F11", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#43090B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #eb3539 · 5.10:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.12:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #eb3539 as text scores 4.12:1 on white and 5.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #740B0E at 2.84:1.

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
#E8191E · 4.58:1
AA on white−6% L
#E8191E
The quick fox
#AE1115 · 7.26:1
AAA on white−19% L
#AE1115
The quick fox
#eb3539 · 5.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#eb3539
The quick fox
#F16D70 · 7.16:1
AAA on black+12% L
#F16D70

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #EB3539 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
#eb3539 on white: 4.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#eb3539 on black: 5.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #eb3539 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #eb3539.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.12:1AaAa
Slate 503.93:1AaAa
Slate 1003.76:1AaAa
Slate 2003.34:1AaAa
Slate 3002.77:1AaAa
Slate 4001.61:1AaAa
Slate 5001.16:1AaAa
Slate 6001.84:1AaAa
Slate 7002.52:1AaAa
Slate 8003.55:1AaAa
Slate 9004.34:1AaAa
Black5.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6E6437
deuteranopia · #9B8B32
tritanopia · #FF0039

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. #eb3539 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.

#FCF2F3
#F9E6E6
#F6C6C7
#F5999B
#F06669
#eb3539
#DF161A
#BA1216
#950F12
#6B0F11
#43090B
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCF2F3Darkest = 950 · #43090BText 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 0.054 25.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.087 25.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.130 25.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.169 25.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.200 25.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.217 25.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.217 25.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.204 25.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.182 25.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.152 25.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.119 25.5);
}

Colors that work with #eb3539

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#FAF4F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0C1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4C
Captions on the surface
Accent#0FBD8E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#740B0E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDE8E8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#E6171B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C51417
Two steps down
Disabled#D4BCBD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F73E42
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 #eb3539

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
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #740B0E
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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • 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#35EBE7
Analogous left#EB3594
Analogous right#EB8C35
Split-complement 1#35EB8C
Split-complement 2#3594EB
Triadic 1#39EB35
Triadic 2#3539EB
Tetradic#94EB35
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°359°

#eb3539 sits at 359°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.2%
Green20.8%
Blue22.4%
R · 0–255
235
0xeb
G · 0–255
53
0x35
B · 0–255
57
0x39

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta77.4%
Yellow75.7%
Key (black)7.8%

Total ink coverage is 161%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#eb3539 text on a black background

contrast 5.10:1

Card sample

#eb3539 text on a white background

contrast 4.12:1

Card sample

#eb3539 on grey

3.76:1

#eb3539 on its own surface

3.79:1

#eb3539 on its dark surface

4.30:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #eb3539;
Background color
Panel with #eb3539 background
background-color: #eb3539;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #eb3539;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(235, 53, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(235, 53, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #eb3539;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #eb3539, #EBAA35);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #eb3539, #EBD835);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #eb3539;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #eb3539;
caret-color: #eb3539;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #eb3539;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDE8E8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #eb3539;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#eb3539 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #eb3539 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(235, 53, 57, 0.5)
rgb(235 53 57 / 50%)
#eb353980
hsl(359 82% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #eb3539 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#eb35391a#FDEBEB
20%#eb353933#FBD7D7
40%#eb353966#F7AEB0
60%#eb353999#F38688
80%#eb3539cc#EF5D61

Gradients from #eb3539

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, #F16D70, #eb3539 45%, #740B0E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #eb3539, #E8B019);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #eb3539, #35EBE7);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3898B 0%, #eb3539 45%, #740B0E 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%, #F064B8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #EEA951 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #740B0E 0%, transparent 65%), #eb3539;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #eb3539

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.

#eb3539 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 5.10:1.

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.

#eb3539, answered

What color is #eb3539?

#eb3539 is a balanced electric red, closest to Crimson (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 359° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #eb3539?

rgb(235, 53, 57) — 235 red, 53 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 92.2% / 20.8% / 22.4% by channel.

What is #eb3539 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(359, 82%, 57%) and hsv(359, 77%, 92%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #eb3539 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2050 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 5.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #eb3539?

Black. It scores 5.10:1 against #eb3539, versus 4.12:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #eb3539 accessible on a white background?

#eb3539 on white scores 4.12:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #E8191E to reach 4.5:1, or #AE1115 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #eb3539?

#35EBE7 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #35EB8C and #3594EB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #eb3539?

For interface work: #FAF4F4 as the surface, #EDC0C1 for borders, #9B4B4C for secondary text, #0FBD8E as an accent and #740B0E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EB3594 and #EB8C35 stays calm, while #35EBE7 is the loudest partner.

What is #eb3539 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 77%, 76%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #eb3539 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 #EB5F35; nudged cooler, #ED337B.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #eb3539?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 2.7 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #eb3539 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#eb3539] or text-[#eb3539], 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 #eb3539 with 50% opacity?

rgba(235, 53, 57, 0.5), or #eb353980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F59A9C; over black, #761B1D.

Is #eb3539 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF3333, ΔE2000 4.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #eb3539 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 #eb3539?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F16D70, #eb3539 45%, #740B0E). For more colour, a short hue run to #E8B019 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #eb3539 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #eb3539 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.