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Hardy Uranus Crimson

#ac0e1e
Notes

Hardy Uranus Crimson (#AC0E1E) is a true 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 (354°, 85%, 36%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#ac0e1e
RGB
rgb(172, 14, 30)
HSL
hsl(354, 85%, 36%)
HWB
hwb(354 5% 33%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.4% 0.185 24.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6181 0.1425 0.1482)
HSV
hsv(354, 92%, 67%)
LAB
lab(36.33% 58.38 36.73)
LCH
lch(36.33% 68.97 32.18)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 92%, 83%, 33%)

Etymology

Hardy
adjective

Old French hardi, bold / brave — past-participle of hardir (to make brave). As a color modifier, hardy implies a saturated-and-cold-resistant quality, the deep-rich color of Scandinavian-and-Russian boreal-forest-and-tundra outdoor-clothing. Sits at the bold-and-resilient end of the grid, parallel to tough and resilient.

Uranus
modifier

Greek Οὐρανός, primeval-sky-god-and-seventh-planet. As a color modifier, uranus implies a primeval-sky-god-and-pale-cyan-seventh-planet quality, the visual register of Greek-Uranus-and-Herschel-discovery hand-primeval-sky-god-and-pale-cyan-seventh-planet Greek-Uranus-and-Herschel-discovery-and-tilted-axis uranus-and-primeval-sky-god surfaces under Greek-Uranus-and-Herschel-discovery-and-tilted-axis 1781-Slough-discovery-and-side-rolling-planet pale-cyan-planet-light. Sits at the modifier-and-zodiac end of the grid, parallel to neptune and saturn in usage.

Crimson
noun

From the Old Spanish cremesin, itself from the Arabic qirmiz — the kermes scale insect, dried and ground into a brilliant carmine dye prized in the medieval Mediterranean. For centuries the most expensive red on a draper's shelf, reserved for cardinals, kings, and the cloth that gave English the word crimson. Cooler than scarlet, deeper than rose; the color of pomegranate seeds and a serious occasion.

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.

#ac0e1e
Original
#48401c
Protanopia
#6d6116
Deuteranopia
#be0018
Tritanopia
#313131
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
7.41:1
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
2.84:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##AC0E1E
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6181 0.1425 0.1482)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.185

This color is chromatic enough that authoring it as P3 native (instead of clamping to sRGB) gives a perceptibly more saturated render on wide-gamut displays — modern Macs, iPhones, iPads, and most recent OLED laptops.

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