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Senatorial Gloss Ruby

#a21d0c
Notes

Senatorial Gloss Ruby (#A21D0C) is a deep red with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (7°, 86%, 34%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary cyan. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a21d0c
RGB
rgb(162, 29, 12)
HSL
hsl(7, 86%, 34%)
HWB
hwb(7 5% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(46.1% 0.170 30.9)
HSV
hsv(7, 93%, 64%)
LAB
lab(35.18% 52.02 43.80)
LCH
lch(35.18% 68.01 40.10)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 82%, 93%, 36%)

Etymology

Senatorial
adjective

Latin senātōrius, of the senator — adjectival suffix. As a color modifier, senatorial implies a saturated-and-aristocratic-and-Roman-Republic quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Senate toga praetexta purple-bordered ceremonial-citizen-class livery. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to patrician and imperial.

Gloss
modifier

Old Norse glosi, glossy-shine. As a color modifier, gloss implies a polished-and-reflective-shine quality, the visual register of polished-and-glossy-leather-and-lacquer hand-polished-and-glossy lacquer-and-shellac-and-varnish polished-and-glossy-shine surfaces under polished-and-glossy-lacquer workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to sheen and shine in usage.

Ruby
noun

From the Latin ruber — simply, red. The gemstone is a chromium-tinged corundum, harder than anything in nature except diamond, and so saturated that a fine Burmese pigeon's blood ruby at auction outpaces a comparable diamond by weight. The color borrows the gem's confidence: a clear, glassy red without the brown of garnet or the blue of crimson.

Closest matches

The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.

Variations

Click any swatch to explore

Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.

#a21d0c
Original
#494006
Protanopia
#695d00
Deuteranopia
#b3001c
Tritanopia
#383838
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon White
7.73:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.72:1

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Canvas