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red · warm

#ee3321

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Cherry

RGB
238, 51, 33
HSL
5°, 86%, 53%
CMYK
0, 79, 86, 7
Luminance
0.2065

#ee3321 is a balanced electric red, 5° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.13:1). As text it scores 4.09:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Red, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(5 86% 53%)rgb(238 51 33)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ee3321 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ee3321
Hue
red
Saturation
86%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
53%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2065
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.13:1
Closest name
Red
ΔE2000 3.4
Chroma
87.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.618
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 6.5
Web-safe
#FF3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue5° of 360°
Saturation86%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ee3321.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red88%
Green11%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ee3321
HEX (8-digit)#ee3321ff
RGBrgb(238, 51, 33)
RGBArgba(238, 51, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(5, 86%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(5, 86%, 93%)
HWBhwb(5 13% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 79%, 86%, 7%)
LABlab(52.6 68.6 54.7)
LCHlch(52.6 87.7 38.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.618 0.224 30.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.72, 20.66, 3.49)
Decimal15610657
Display P3color(display-p3 0.933 0.200 0.129)
Web-safe#FF3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ee3321;
background-color: #ee3321;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ee3321;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ee3321] bg-[#ee3321]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ee3321;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.933, green: 0.200, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.933, green: 0.200, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#EE3321</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFEE3321)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEE3321)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 51, 238)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(238, 51, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(238, 51, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 238, 51, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9333f, 0.2000f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{238,51,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ee3321 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ee3321 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#761309, #EED5D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ee3321 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: #FDF3F2;
  --brand-100: #FAE7E5;
  --brand-200: #F7C9C5;
  --brand-300: #F79F97;
  --brand-400: #F36F63;
  --brand-500: #ee3321;
  --brand-600: #E32411;
  --brand-700: #BE1E0E;
  --brand-800: #98180C;
  --brand-900: #6E150D;
  --brand-950: #440D08;
  --brand: #ee3321;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF5F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC4C0;
  --brand-hover: #DA2311;
  --brand-pressed: #B91D0E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241514;
    --brand-ink: #EED5D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF3F2',
        100: '#FAE7E5',
        200: '#F7C9C5',
        300: '#F79F97',
        400: '#F36F63',
        500: '#ee3321',
        600: '#E32411',
        700: '#BE1E0E',
        800: '#98180C',
        900: '#6E150D',
        950: '#440D08',
        DEFAULT: '#ee3321',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF3F2,
  '100': #FAE7E5,
  '200': #F7C9C5,
  '300': #F79F97,
  '400': #F36F63,
  '500': #ee3321,
  '600': #E32411,
  '700': #BE1E0E,
  '800': #98180C,
  '900': #6E150D,
  '950': #440D08,
);
$brand-base: #ee3321;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF3F2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FAE7E5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F7C9C5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F79F97", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F36F63", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#ee3321", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#E32411", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#BE1E0E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#98180C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6E150D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#440D08", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ee3321 · 5.13:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.09:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.13:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ee3321 as text scores 4.09:1 on white and 5.13:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #761309 at 2.75:1.

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
#E42411 · 4.61:1
AA on white−5% L
#E42411
The quick fox
#AB1B0D · 7.26:1
AAA on white−17% L
#AB1B0D
The quick fox
#ee3321 · 5.13:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ee3321
The quick fox
#F36B5E · 7.08:1
AAA on black+13% L
#F36B5E

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #EE3321 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
#ee3321 on white: 4.09:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ee3321 on black: 5.13:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ee3321 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ee3321.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.09:1AaAa
Slate 503.91:1AaAa
Slate 1003.74:1AaAa
Slate 2003.32:1AaAa
Slate 3002.76:1AaAa
Slate 4001.60:1AaAa
Slate 5001.16:1AaAa
Slate 6001.85:1AaAa
Slate 7002.53:1AaAa
Slate 8003.57:1AaAa
Slate 9004.36:1AaAa
Black5.13:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #70631B
deuteranopia · #9D8C12
tritanopia · #FF0032

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. #ee3321 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.

#FDF3F2
#FAE7E5
#F7C9C5
#F79F97
#F36F63
#ee3321
#E32411
#BE1E0E
#98180C
#6E150D
#440D08
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDF3F2Darkest = 950 · #440D08Text 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 0.056 30.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.090 30.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.134 30.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.175 30.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.206 30.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.224 30.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.224 30.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.210 30.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.188 30.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.157 30.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.123 30.1);
}

Colors that work with #ee3321

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#FAF5F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDC4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B524B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0AC2A4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#761309
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDE9E7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241514
Dark-mode background
Hover#DA2311
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B91D0E
Two steps down
Disabled#CDB4B2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FA3B29
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 #ee3321

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 #761309
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
  • Weight47/100
  • 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#21DCEE
Analogous left#EE2175
Analogous right#EE9A21
Split-complement 1#21EE9A
Split-complement 2#2175EE
Triadic 1#21EE33
Triadic 2#3321EE
Tetradic#75EE21
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°5°

#ee3321 sits at 5°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red93.3%
Green20.0%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
238
0xee
G · 0–255
51
0x33
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta78.6%
Yellow86.1%
Key (black)6.7%

Total ink coverage is 171%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ee3321 text on a black background

contrast 5.13:1

Card sample

#ee3321 text on a white background

contrast 4.09:1

Card sample

#ee3321 on grey

3.74:1

#ee3321 on its own surface

3.79:1

#ee3321 on its dark surface

4.30:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ee3321;
Background color
Panel with #ee3321 background
background-color: #ee3321;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ee3321;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(238, 51, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(238, 51, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ee3321;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ee3321, #EEBC21);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ee3321, #EDEE21);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ee3321;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ee3321;
caret-color: #ee3321;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ee3321;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDE9E7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ee3321;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ee3321 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ee3321 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(238, 51, 33, 0.5)
rgb(238 51 33 / 50%)
#ee332180
hsl(5 86% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ee3321 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ee33211a#FDEBE9
20%#ee332133#FCD6D3
40%#ee332166#F8ADA6
60%#ee332199#F5857A
80%#ee3321cc#F15C4D

Gradients from #ee3321

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, #F2675A, #ee3321 45%, #761309);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ee3321, #DFBE11);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ee3321, #21DCEE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F58176 0%, #ee3321 45%, #761309 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF5F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F250A0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F0B53D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #761309 0%, transparent 65%), #ee3321;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ee3321

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.

#ee3321 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 5.13:1.

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.

#ee3321, answered

What color is #ee3321?

#ee3321 is a balanced electric red, closest to Red (ΔE2000 3.4). It sits at 5° on the hue wheel with 86% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ee3321?

rgb(238, 51, 33) — 238 red, 51 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 93.3% / 20% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #ee3321 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(5, 86%, 53%) and hsv(5, 86%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ee3321 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2065 and perceived brightness is 53%, so black text on it reaches 5.13:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ee3321?

Black. It scores 5.13:1 against #ee3321, versus 4.09:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #ee3321 accessible on a white background?

#ee3321 on white scores 4.09:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #E42411 to reach 4.5:1, or #AB1B0D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ee3321?

#21DCEE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21EE9A and #2175EE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ee3321?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC4C0 for borders, #9B524B for secondary text, #0AC2A4 as an accent and #761309 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EE2175 and #EE9A21 stays calm, while #21DCEE is the loudest partner.

What is #ee3321 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 79%, 86%, 7%). 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 #ee3321 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EE5821; nudged cooler, #F01E59.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ee3321?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 6.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ee3321 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ee3321 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ee3321] or text-[#ee3321], 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 #ee3321 with 50% opacity?

rgba(238, 51, 33, 0.5), or #ee332180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F79990; over black, #771A11.

Is #ee3321 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF3333, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ee3321 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 #ee3321?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2675A, #ee3321 45%, #761309). For more colour, a short hue run to #DFBE11 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ee3321 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ee3321 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.