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Dominant Nadir Crimson

#b22b28
Notes

Dominant Nadir Crimson (#B22B28) 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 (1°, 63%, 43%) 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
#b22b28
RGB
rgb(178, 43, 40)
HSL
hsl(1, 63%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(1 16% 30%)
OKLCH
oklch(50.5% 0.172 26.9)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6425 0.2155 0.1852)
HSV
hsv(1, 78%, 70%)
LAB
lab(40.16% 53.37 35.34)
LCH
lch(40.16% 64.01 33.51)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 76%, 78%, 30%)

Etymology

Dominant
adjective

Latin dominārī, to rule — present-participle of dominate. As a color modifier, dominant implies a saturated-and-leading quality where the hue claims visual precedence over neighboring colors in the surrounding palette. Sits at the bold-and-imperative end of the grid, parallel to commanding and authoritative.

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.

#b22b28
Original
#544c26
Protanopia
#756922
Deuteranopia
#c4002c
Tritanopia
#474747
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
6.42:1
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
3.27:1

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
##B22B28
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6425 0.2155 0.1852)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.172

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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