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Princely Carmesí

#a4174d
Notes

Princely Carmesí (#A4174D) is a true magenta 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 (337°, 75%, 37%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a4174d
RGB
rgb(164, 23, 77)
HSL
hsl(337, 75%, 37%)
HWB
hwb(337 9% 36%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.2% 0.175 5.5)
HSV
hsv(337, 86%, 64%)
LAB
lab(36.07% 57.05 6.45)
LCH
lch(36.07% 57.41 6.45)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 86%, 53%, 36%)

Etymology

Princely
adjective

Latin prīnceps, first / chief — adjectival suffix -ly. As a color modifier, princely implies a saturated-and-royal-secondary quality, the deep-rich color of European crown-prince coronet-and-livery vestment. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to lordly and regal in usage.

Carmesí
noun

The Spanish word for crimson — borrowed via Arabic qirmiz (the kermes scale insect) and used in the deep red textiles of medieval Castilian and Valencian silk. The color refers to a carmesí-dyed Castilian silk: a saturated, slightly cool deep red with the satin finish of plant-and-insect dye. The Spanish cousin of crimson, slightly more formal in register.

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

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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.

#a4174d
Original
#3f434e
Protanopia
#645f4a
Deuteranopia
#b30031
Tritanopia
#393939
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
7.48:1
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
2.81:1

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