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Valiant Nadir Crimson

#ae1f26
Notes

Valiant Nadir Crimson (#AE1F26) is a true red with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (357°, 70%, 40%) 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
#ae1f26
RGB
rgb(174, 31, 38)
HSL
hsl(357, 70%, 40%)
HWB
hwb(357 12% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(48.8% 0.177 24.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6267 0.1803 0.1751)
HSV
hsv(357, 82%, 68%)
LAB
lab(38.06% 55.69 34.01)
LCH
lch(38.06% 65.25 31.41)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 82%, 78%, 32%)

Etymology

Valiant
adjective

Latin valēns, strong — present-participle of valēre, sharing root with English value and valor. As a color modifier, valiant implies a saturated-and-courageous-and-firm quality, the deep-rich color of Crusader-and-Knight-Templar military-religious-order vestment. Sits at the bold-and-chivalrous end of the grid, parallel to gallant and heroic in usage.

Nadir
modifier

Arabic naẓīr, opposite-of-zenith. As a color modifier, nadir implies a downward-pointing-and-low-point quality, the visual register of celestial-sphere-and-downward-Nadir hand-downward-pointing-and-low-point celestial-sphere-and-downward-and-Nadir-pole nadir-and-downward-pointing-and-low-point surfaces under celestial-sphere-and-downward-and-Nadir-pole astronomical-and-celestial-mechanics downward-axis-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to zenith and axis 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.

#ae1f26
Original
#4d4625
Protanopia
#706420
Deuteranopia
#c00024
Tritanopia
#3e3e3e
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
6.95:1
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
3.02:1

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
##AE1F26
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6267 0.1803 0.1751)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.177

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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