Skip to content
red · warm

#fdb9bd

a pale, electric red · warm · closest name: Light Pink

Token name suggestion: Frost Cardinal

RGB
253, 185, 189
HSL
357°, 94%, 86%
CMYK
0, 27, 25, 1
Luminance
0.5925

#fdb9bd is a pale electric red, 357° on the wheel and 19/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.85:1). As text it scores 1.63:1 on white — use #ED0714 instead. Nearest name is Light Pink, nearest Tailwind family is rose.

hsl(357 94% 86%)rgb(253 185 189)Base step 200AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fdb9bd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fdb9bd
Hue
357°
red
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
86%
pale
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
82%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5925
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
19/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.85:1
Closest name
Light Pink
ΔE2000 2.5
Chroma
26.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.850
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
rose
500 · ΔE 25
Web-safe
#FFCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue357° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness86%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fdb9bd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool19% 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%
Green59%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#fdb9bd
HEX (8-digit)#fdb9bdff
RGBrgb(253, 185, 189)
RGBArgba(253, 185, 189, 1)
HSLhsl(357, 94%, 86%)
HSV / HSBhsv(356, 27%, 99%)
HWBhwb(357 73% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 25%, 1%)
LABlab(81.4 25.1 7.7)
LCHlch(81.4 26.3 17.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.850 0.079 15.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(67.04, 59.26, 56.04)
Decimal16628157
Display P3color(display-p3 0.992 0.725 0.741)
Web-safe#FFCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fdb9bd;
background-color: #fdb9bd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fdb9bd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fdb9bd] bg-[#fdb9bd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fdb9bd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.992, green: 0.725, blue: 0.741)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.992, green: 0.725, blue: 0.741, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FDB9BD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFDB9BD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFDB9BD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(189, 185, 253)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(253, 185, 189)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(253, 185, 189)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 253, 185, 189)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9922f, 0.7255f, 0.7412f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{253,185,189}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fdb9bd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fdb9bd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7C040B, #EED3D4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fdb9bd 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: #fdb9bd;
  --brand-300: #FC9298;
  --brand-400: #FA5B65;
  --brand-500: #F92531;
  --brand-600: #EE0714;
  --brand-700: #C60611;
  --brand-800: #9F050E;
  --brand-900: #72080E;
  --brand-950: #470509;
  --brand: #fdb9bd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF4F5;
  --brand-border: #EDC0C2;
  --brand-hover: #FC969C;
  --brand-pressed: #FB747C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241415;
    --brand-ink: #EED3D4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF2F2',
        100: '#FBE4E5',
        200: '#fdb9bd',
        300: '#FC9298',
        400: '#FA5B65',
        500: '#F92531',
        600: '#EE0714',
        700: '#C60611',
        800: '#9F050E',
        900: '#72080E',
        950: '#470509',
        DEFAULT: '#fdb9bd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF2F2,
  '100': #FBE4E5,
  '200': #fdb9bd,
  '300': #FC9298,
  '400': #FA5B65,
  '500': #F92531,
  '600': #EE0714,
  '700': #C60611,
  '800': #9F050E,
  '900': #72080E,
  '950': #470509,
);
$brand-base: #fdb9bd;
$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": "#fdb9bd", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FC9298", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FA5B65", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#F92531", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#EE0714", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C60611", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9F050E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#72080E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#470509", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fdb9bd · 12.85:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.63:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.85:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fdb9bd as text scores 1.63:1 on white and 12.85:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7C040B at 6.84:1.

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
#ED0714 · 4.52:1
AA on white−38% L
#ED0714
The quick fox
#B2050F · 7.19:1
AAA on white−50% L
#B2050F
The quick fox
#fdb9bd · 12.85:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fdb9bd
The quick fox
#fdb9bd · 12.85:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fdb9bd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #FA6069 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
#fdb9bd on white: 1.63:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fdb9bd on black: 12.85:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fdb9bd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fdb9bd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.63:1AaAa
Slate 501.56:1AaAa
Slate 1001.49:1AaAa
Slate 2001.33:1AaAa
Slate 3001.10:1AaAa
Slate 4001.57:1AaAa
Slate 5002.91:1AaAa
Slate 6004.64:1AaAa
Slate 7006.34:1AaAa
Slate 8008.95:1AaAa
Slate 90010.92:1AaAa
Black12.85:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C5C3BD
deuteranopia · #D5CFBC
tritanopia · #FFB3BB

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. #fdb9bd is pinned to step 200; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDF2F2
#FBE4E5
#fdb9bd
#FC9298
#FA5B65
#F92531
#EE0714
#C60611
#9F050E
#72080E
#470509
Base = 200Lightest = 50 · #FDF2F2Darkest = 950 · #470509Text step on white = 700
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 0.020 15.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.032 15.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.047 15.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.062 15.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.073 15.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.079 15.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.079 15.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.074 15.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.066 15.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.055 15.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.044 15.0);
}

Colors that work with #fdb9bd

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#FAF4F5
Tinted page background
Border#EDC0C2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B4B4F
Captions on the surface
Accent#03C98E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7C040B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEE6E8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241415
Dark-mode background
Hover#FC969C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FB747C
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F3F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFCBCE
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 #fdb9bd

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 #7C040B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #FA6069

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 high lightness makes it recede — a surface colour rather than a statement.

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
  • Weight14/100
  • 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#B9FDF9
Analogous left#FDB9DF
Analogous right#FDD7B9
Split-complement 1#B9FDD7
Split-complement 2#B9DFFD
Triadic 1#BDFDB9
Triadic 2#B9BDFD
Tetradic#DFFDB9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°357°

#fdb9bd sits at 357°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.2%
Green72.5%
Blue74.1%
R · 0–255
253
0xfd
G · 0–255
185
0xb9
B · 0–255
189
0xbd

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta26.9%
Yellow25.3%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 53%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fdb9bd text on a black background

contrast 12.85:1

Card sample

#fdb9bd text on a white background

contrast 1.63:1

Card sample

#fdb9bd on grey

1.49:1

#fdb9bd on its own surface

1.50:1

#fdb9bd on its dark surface

10.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fdb9bd;
Background color
Panel with #fdb9bd background
background-color: #fdb9bd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fdb9bd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(253, 185, 189, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(253, 185, 189, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fdb9bd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fdb9bd, #FDE2B9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdb9bd, #FDF3B9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fdb9bd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fdb9bd;
caret-color: #fdb9bd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fdb9bd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEE6E8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fdb9bd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fdb9bd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fdb9bd 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(253, 185, 189, 0.5)
rgb(253 185 189 / 50%)
#fdb9bd80
hsl(357 94% 86% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fdb9bd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fdb9bd1a#FFF8F8
20%#fdb9bd33#FFF1F2
40%#fdb9bd66#FEE3E5
60%#fdb9bd99#FED5D7
80%#fdb9bdcc#FDC7CA

Gradients from #fdb9bd

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, #FEEBEC, #fdb9bd 45%, #7C040B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fdb9bd, #FCDE9B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdb9bd, #B9FDF9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFF0F1 0%, #fdb9bd 45%, #7C040B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF4F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FEEBF7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FEEBD7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7C040B 0%, transparent 65%), #fdb9bd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fdb9bd

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.

#fdb9bd 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

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 12.85:1.

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.

#fdb9bd, answered

What color is #fdb9bd?

#fdb9bd is a pale electric red, closest to Light Pink (ΔE2000 2.5). It sits at 357° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 86% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fdb9bd?

rgb(253, 185, 189) — 253 red, 185 green and 189 blue out of 255, or 99.2% / 72.5% / 74.1% by channel.

What is #fdb9bd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(357, 94%, 86%) and hsv(356, 27%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fdb9bd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5925 and perceived brightness is 82%, so black text on it reaches 12.85:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fdb9bd?

Black. It scores 12.85:1 against #fdb9bd, versus 1.63:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fdb9bd accessible on a white background?

#fdb9bd on white scores 1.63:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #ED0714 to reach 4.5:1, or #B2050F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fdb9bd?

#B9FDF9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B9FDD7 and #B9DFFD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fdb9bd?

For interface work: #FAF4F5 as the surface, #EDC0C2 for borders, #9B4B4F for secondary text, #03C98E as an accent and #7C040B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FDB9DF and #FDD7B9 stays calm, while #B9FDF9 is the loudest partner.

What is #fdb9bd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 25%, 1%). 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 #fdb9bd warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 19 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FDCEB9; nudged cooler, #FEB8D6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fdb9bd?

The rose family — its 500 step is #f43f5e, ΔE2000 25 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fdb9bd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fdb9bd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fdb9bd] or text-[#fdb9bd], 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 #fdb9bd with 50% opacity?

rgba(253, 185, 189, 0.5), or #fdb9bd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FEDCDE; over black, #7F5D5F.

Is #fdb9bd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCCCC, ΔE2000 5.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fdb9bd 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 #fdb9bd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEEBEC, #fdb9bd 45%, #7C040B). For more colour, a short hue run to #FCDE9B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fdb9bd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fdb9bd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.