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Gladiatorial Vega Crimson

#b12f22
Notes

Gladiatorial Vega Crimson (#B12F22) 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 (5°, 68%, 41%) 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
#b12f22
RGB
rgb(177, 47, 34)
HSL
hsl(5, 68%, 41%)
HWB
hwb(5 13% 31%)
OKLCH
oklch(50.6% 0.169 29.8)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6395 0.2268 0.1685)
HSV
hsv(5, 81%, 69%)
LAB
lab(40.41% 51.45 38.87)
LCH
lch(40.41% 64.48 37.07)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 73%, 81%, 31%)

Etymology

Gladiatorial
adjective

Latin gladiātōrius, of the gladiator — adjectival suffix, derived from gladius (short-sword). As a color modifier, gladiatorial implies a saturated-and-combative-and-bloody quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Colosseum gladiator-arena bloody-tunic-and-shield combat-attire. Sits at the bold-and-formal end of the grid, parallel to spartan and valiant.

Vega
modifier

Arabic al-nasr-al-wāqi', the-falling-eagle. As a color modifier, vega implies a brilliant-blue-white-and-summer-zenith quality, the visual register of Lyra-constellation-and-northern-summer-Vega hand-brilliant-blue-white-and-summer-zenith Lyra-constellation-and-northern-summer-and-Bortle-1-sky vega-and-brilliant-blue-white-and-summer-zenith surfaces under Lyra-constellation-and-northern-summer-and-Bortle-1-sky July-and-August-northern-zenith deep-sky-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to deneb and altair 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.

#b12f22
Original
#564d1f
Protanopia
#766a1c
Deuteranopia
#c3002d
Tritanopia
#4a4a4a
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
6.37:1
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
3.30:1

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
##B12F22
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6395 0.2268 0.1685)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.169

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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