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Saturated Hyssop Crimson

#ae261c
Notes

Saturated Hyssop Crimson (#AE261C) 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 (4°, 72%, 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
#ae261c
RGB
rgb(174, 38, 28)
HSL
hsl(4, 72%, 40%)
HWB
hwb(4 11% 32%)
OKLCH
oklch(49.2% 0.174 29.2)
HSV
hsv(4, 84%, 68%)
LAB
lab(38.68% 53.36 40.19)
LCH
lch(38.68% 66.80 36.98)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 78%, 84%, 32%)

Etymology

Saturated
adjective

From the Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare, to fill. A technical color term in modern usage — saturation is one of the three axes of HSL (with hue and lightness). As a modifier, saturated implies that the hue is at or near its maximum chromatic intensity. Sits at the bold-and-bright top of the grid.

Hyssop
modifier

Hebrew ēzōb, Biblical-purifying-herb. As a color modifier, hyssop implies a Biblical-purifying-herb-and-monastic-physic-garden quality, the visual register of monastic-physic-garden-and-Biblical-hyssop hand-Biblical-purifying-herb-and-monastic-physic-garden monastic-physic-garden-and-Biblical-hyssop-and-Cluniac-cloister hyssop-and-Biblical-purifying-herb surfaces under monastic-physic-garden-and-Biblical-hyssop-and-Cluniac-cloister Cluny-and-Saint-Gall-physic-garden monastic-physic-light. Sits at the modifier-and-flavor end of the grid, parallel to savory and balm 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.

#ae261c
Original
#514819
Protanopia
#726614
Deuteranopia
#c00025
Tritanopia
#424242
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
6.79:1
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
3.09:1

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