Skip to content

#fe3f21

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

RGB
254, 63, 33
HSL
8°, 99%, 56%
CMYK
0, 75, 87, 0
Luminance
0.2474

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fe3f21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fe3f21
Hue
red
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
58%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2474
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Red
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.95:1
Closest name
Red
ΔE2000 4.2
Where it sits
Hue8° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness56%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool12% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#fe3f21
RGBrgb(254, 63, 33)
HSLhsl(8, 99%, 56%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 75%, 87%, 0%)
LABlab(56.8 69.7 59.3)
LCHlch(56.8 91.6 40.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.654 0.230 31.7)
Decimal16662305
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.247 0.129)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fe3f21;
background-color: #fe3f21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fe3f21] bg-[#fe3f21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fe3f21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.247, blue: 0.129)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fe3f21")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFE3F21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 63, 254)

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 #fe3f21 · 5.95:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
White text · 3.53:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #fe3f21 as text scores 3.53:1 on white and 5.95:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fe3f21 on white: 3.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fe3f21 on black: 5.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #7C6D19
deuteranopia · #AA9810
tritanopia · #FF003B

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fe3f21 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.

#FEF3F1
#FCE7E3
#FBC8C0
#FE9E8F
#FE6E57
#fe3f21
#F42201
#CB1C01
#A21701
#751405
#490D03
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FEF3F1Darkest = 950 · #490D03
:root {
  --brand-50: #FEF3F1;
  --brand-100: #FCE7E3;
  --brand-200: #FBC8C0;
  --brand-300: #FE9E8F;
  --brand-400: #FE6E57;
  --brand-500: #fe3f21;
  --brand-600: #F42201;
  --brand-700: #CB1C01;
  --brand-800: #A21701;
  --brand-900: #751405;
  --brand-950: #490D03;
  --brand: #fe3f21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fe3f21

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#EDC6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B554B
Captions on the surface
Accent#00CCB4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7F1201
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFE9E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241614
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #fe3f21

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
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#21E0FE
Analogous left#FE2172
Analogous right#FEAD21
Split-complement 1#21FEAD
Split-complement 2#2172FE
Triadic 1#21FE3F
Triadic 2#3F21FE
Tetradic#72FE21

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green24.7%
Blue12.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta75.2%
Yellow87.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Color previews

#fe3f21 text on a black background

contrast 5.95:1

Card sample

#fe3f21 text on a white background

contrast 3.53:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fe3f21;
Background color
Panel with #fe3f21 background
background-color: #fe3f21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fe3f21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 63, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 63, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fe3f21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fe3f21, #FED221);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fe3f21

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#fe3f21 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.

#fe3f21, answered

What color is #fe3f21?

#fe3f21 is a balanced electric red, closest to Red (ΔE2000 4.2). It sits at 8° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fe3f21?

rgb(254, 63, 33) — 254 red, 63 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 24.7% / 12.9% by channel.

Is #fe3f21 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2474 and perceived brightness is 58%, so black text on it reaches 5.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fe3f21?

Black. It scores 5.95:1 against #fe3f21, versus 3.53:1 for white — AA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fe3f21?

#21E0FE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21FEAD and #2172FE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fe3f21?

For interface work: #FAF5F4 as the surface, #EDC6C0 for borders, #9B554B for secondary text, #00CCB4 as an accent and #7F1201 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FE2172 and #FEAD21 stays calm, while #21E0FE is the loudest partner.

What is #fe3f21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 75%, 87%, 0%). 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 #fe3f21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 12 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FE6021; nudged cooler, #FF2054.

Work with #fe3f21 in the Color Lab