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red · warm

#f61b21

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Cherry

RGB
246, 27, 33
HSL
358°, 92%, 54%
CMYK
0, 89, 87, 4
Luminance
0.2049

#f61b21 is a balanced electric red, 358° on the wheel and 18/100 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 Red, nearest Tailwind family is red.

hsl(358 92% 54%)rgb(246 27 33)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f61b21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f61b21
Hue
358°
red
Saturation
92%
electric
Lightness
54%
balanced
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
54%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2049
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.10:1
Closest name
Red
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
93.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.619
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
red
500 · ΔE 5.8
Web-safe
#FF3333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue358° of 360°
Saturation92%
Lightness54%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #f61b21.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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
Red96%
Green4%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#f61b21
HEX (8-digit)#f61b21ff
RGBrgb(246, 27, 33)
RGBArgba(246, 27, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(358, 92%, 54%)
HSV / HSBhsv(358, 89%, 96%)
HWBhwb(358 11% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 89%, 87%, 4%)
LABlab(52.4 75.7 55.2)
LCHlch(52.4 93.7 36.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.619 0.243 27.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.68, 20.49, 3.36)
Decimal16128801
Display P3color(display-p3 0.965 0.106 0.129)
Web-safe#FF3333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #f61b21;
background-color: #f61b21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #f61b21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f61b21] bg-[#f61b21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f61b21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.965, green: 0.106, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.965, green: 0.106, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#F61B21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFF61B21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF61B21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 27, 246)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(246, 27, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(246, 27, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 246, 27, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9647f, 0.1059f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{246,27,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #f61b21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #f61b21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7B0508, #EED3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #f61b21 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: #FDF2F2;
  --brand-100: #FBE4E5;
  --brand-200: #F9C3C4;
  --brand-300: #FB9396;
  --brand-400: #F95D61;
  --brand-500: #f61b21;
  --brand-600: #EB090F;
  --brand-700: #C4080D;
  --brand-800: #9D060A;
  --brand-900: #71090C;
  --brand-950: #470607;
  --brand: #f61b21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F4;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C1;
  --brand-hover: #E4090F;
  --brand-pressed: #C2080D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241414;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF2F2',
        100: '#FBE4E5',
        200: '#F9C3C4',
        300: '#FB9396',
        400: '#F95D61',
        500: '#f61b21',
        600: '#EB090F',
        700: '#C4080D',
        800: '#9D060A',
        900: '#71090C',
        950: '#470607',
        DEFAULT: '#f61b21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF2F2,
  '100': #FBE4E5,
  '200': #F9C3C4,
  '300': #FB9396,
  '400': #F95D61,
  '500': #f61b21,
  '600': #EB090F,
  '700': #C4080D,
  '800': #9D060A,
  '900': #71090C,
  '950': #470607,
);
$brand-base: #f61b21;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF2F2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FBE4E5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F9C3C4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FB9396", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F95D61", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#f61b21", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#EB090F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C4080D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9D060A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#71090C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#470607", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #f61b21 · 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: #f61b21 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: #7B0508 at 2.73:1.

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
#E9090F · 4.66:1
AA on white−6% L
#E9090F
The quick fox
#B3070C · 7.11:1
AAA on white−17% L
#B3070C
The quick fox
#f61b21 · 5.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#f61b21
The quick fox
#F96468 · 7.05:1
AAA on black+15% L
#F96468

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #F61B21 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
#f61b21 on white: 4.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f61b21 on black: 5.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #f61b21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #f61b21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.12:1AaAa
Slate 503.94:1AaAa
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 7002.51:1AaAa
Slate 8003.55:1AaAa
Slate 9004.33:1AaAa
Black5.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6C5F1C
deuteranopia · #9F8D0E
tritanopia · #FF0023

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. #f61b21 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.

#FDF2F2
#FBE4E5
#F9C3C4
#FB9396
#F95D61
#f61b21
#EB090F
#C4080D
#9D060A
#71090C
#470607
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDF2F2Darkest = 950 · #470607Text 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 0.061 27.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.097 27.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.146 27.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.189 27.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.223 27.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.243 27.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.243 27.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.228 27.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.204 27.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.170 27.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.133 27.5);
}

Colors that work with #f61b21

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#9B4B4D
Captions on the surface
Accent#03C991
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7B0508
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEE6E7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241414
Dark-mode background
Hover#E4090F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C2080D
Two steps down
Disabled#CEB3B4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FF262C
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 #f61b21

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 #7B0508
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#1BF6F0
Analogous left#F61B8E
Analogous right#F6831B
Split-complement 1#1BF683
Split-complement 2#1B8EF6
Triadic 1#21F61B
Triadic 2#1B21F6
Tetradic#8EF61B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°358°

#f61b21 sits at 358°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red96.5%
Green10.6%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
246
0xf6
G · 0–255
27
0x1b
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta89.0%
Yellow86.6%
Key (black)3.5%

Total ink coverage is 179%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#f61b21 text on a black background

contrast 5.10:1

Card sample

#f61b21 text on a white background

contrast 4.12:1

Card sample

#f61b21 on grey

3.76:1

#f61b21 on its own surface

3.79:1

#f61b21 on its dark surface

4.30:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f61b21;
Background color
Panel with #f61b21 background
background-color: #f61b21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f61b21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(246, 27, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(246, 27, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f61b21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f61b21, #F6A71B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f61b21, #F6DE1B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #f61b21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #f61b21;
caret-color: #f61b21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #f61b21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEE6E7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #f61b21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#f61b21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #f61b21 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(246, 27, 33, 0.5)
rgb(246 27 33 / 50%)
#f61b2180
hsl(358 92% 54% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #f61b21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#f61b211a#FEE8E9
20%#f61b2133#FDD1D3
40%#f61b2166#FBA4A6
60%#f61b2199#FA767A
80%#f61b21cc#F8494D

Gradients from #f61b21

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, #F8565A, #f61b21 45%, #7B0508);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #f61b21, #E9AB09);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f61b21, #1BF6F0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F97377 0%, #f61b21 45%, #7B0508 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%, #F84CB5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F7A338 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7B0508 0%, transparent 65%), #f61b21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f61b21

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.

#f61b21 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.

#f61b21, answered

What color is #f61b21?

#f61b21 is a balanced electric red, closest to Red (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 358° on the hue wheel with 92% saturation and 54% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #f61b21?

rgb(246, 27, 33) — 246 red, 27 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 96.5% / 10.6% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #f61b21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(358, 92%, 54%) and hsv(358, 89%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #f61b21 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2049 and perceived brightness is 54%, so black text on it reaches 5.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f61b21?

Black. It scores 5.10:1 against #f61b21, versus 4.12:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #f61b21 accessible on a white background?

#f61b21 on white scores 4.12:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #E9090F to reach 4.5:1, or #B3070C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #f61b21?

#1BF6F0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1BF683 and #1B8EF6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f61b21?

For interface work: #FAF4F4 as the surface, #EDC0C1 for borders, #9B4B4D for secondary text, #03C991 as an accent and #7B0508 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F61B8E and #F6831B stays calm, while #1BF6F0 is the loudest partner.

What is #f61b21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 89%, 87%, 4%). 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 #f61b21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F6481B; nudged cooler, #F81871.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #f61b21?

The red family — its 500 step is #ef4444, ΔE2000 5.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #f61b21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #f61b21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#f61b21] or text-[#f61b21], 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 #f61b21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(246, 27, 33, 0.5), or #f61b2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FB8D90; over black, #7B0E11.

Is #f61b21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF3333, ΔE2000 3.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #f61b21 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 #f61b21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F8565A, #f61b21 45%, #7B0508). For more colour, a short hue run to #E9AB09 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #f61b21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #f61b21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.