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Praetorian Twill Crimson

#ad0a20
Notes

Praetorian Twill Crimson (#AD0A20) 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 (352°, 89%, 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
#ad0a20
RGB
rgb(173, 10, 32)
HSL
hsl(352, 89%, 36%)
HWB
hwb(352 4% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(47.5% 0.187 24.1)
HSV
hsv(352, 94%, 68%)
LAB
lab(36.38% 59.23 35.70)
LCH
lch(36.38% 69.16 31.08)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 94%, 82%, 32%)

Etymology

Praetorian
adjective

Latin praetōriānus, of the praetor — adjectival suffix, referring to the Roman-Imperial elite guard-cohorts. As a color modifier, praetorian implies a saturated-and-elite-and-imperial-guard quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Praetorian-Guard elite-imperial-bodyguard scarlet-tunic-and-bronze-armor military-formation. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and imperial.

Twill
modifier

Old English twili, twill-weave. As a color modifier, twill implies a diagonal-weave-textile quality, the visual register of Harris-Tweed-and-Italian-gabardine-twill hand-woven-and-diagonal-twill wool-and-cotton-and-silk Harris-Tweed-and-Italian-gabardine-twill-textile surfaces under Harris-Tweed-and-Italian-gabardine hand-woven-twill workshop-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to woven and quilt 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

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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.

#ad0a20
Original
#47401f
Protanopia
#6d6118
Deuteranopia
#bf0017
Tritanopia
#2e2e2e
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
7.39:1
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

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