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Regal Kimono Crimson

#ad231b
Notes

Regal Kimono Crimson (#AD231B) is a true red with a warm character. It leans warm, pulling light toward red, orange, and yellow. Naturally inviting, it suits editorial and hospitality contexts. Its HSL profile (3°, 73%, 39%) 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 cyan. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#ad231b
RGB
rgb(173, 35, 27)
HSL
hsl(3, 73%, 39%)
HWB
hwb(3 11% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.8% 0.175 28.8)
HSV
hsv(3, 84%, 68%)
LAB
lab(38.14% 53.94 40.15)
LCH
lch(38.14% 67.24 36.66)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 80%, 84%, 32%)

Etymology

Regal
adjective

Latin rēgālis, kingly — derived from rēx (king). As a color modifier, regal implies a saturated-and-royal-formality quality, the deep-rich color of British-Coronation-period royal vestment-and-mantle and Imperial-State-Crown regalia. Sits at the bold-and-imperial end of the grid, parallel to sovereign and royal in usage.

Kimono
modifier

Japanese kimono, thing-to-wear. As a color modifier, kimono implies a Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode quality, the visual register of Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode hand-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode-and-tomesode Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin kimono-and-Japanese-kimono-and-furisode surfaces under Edo-and-Heian-kimono-and-furisode-and-Kyoto-Nishijin Heian-Kyoto-and-Edo-Tokugawa Japanese-court-light. Sits at the modifier-and-textile end of the grid, parallel to haori and sari 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.

#ad231b
Original
#4f4718
Protanopia
#716513
Deuteranopia
#bf0023
Tritanopia
#404040
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).
AAon White
6.92:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AA Largeon Black
3.03:1

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