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Substantial Squire Crimson

#b52847
Notes

Substantial Squire Crimson (#B52847) 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 (347°, 64%, 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 teal. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#b52847
RGB
rgb(181, 40, 71)
HSL
hsl(347, 64%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(347 16% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(51.3% 0.176 14.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6529 0.2086 0.2866)
HSV
hsv(347, 78%, 71%)
LAB
lab(40.90% 56.81 17.47)
LCH
lch(40.90% 59.44 17.09)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 78%, 61%, 29%)

Etymology

Substantial
adjective

Latin substantia, substance — adjectival suffix -al, derived from sub-stāre (to stand under). As a color modifier, substantial implies a saturated-and-weighty-and-material quality where the hue carries visual mass and presence. Sits at the bold-and-weighty end of the grid, parallel to weighty and hefty in usage.

Squire
modifier

Old French escuyer, shield-bearer. As a color modifier, squire implies a knight's-attendant-and-page-of-arms quality, the visual register of English-and-French-Squire hand-forged shield-and-stirrup-and-tabard knight's-attendant-and-page-of-arms surfaces under English-and-French-Squire hand-forged shield-and-stirrup ceremonial-court light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to knight and page 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.

#b52847
Original
#504e47
Protanopia
#746b43
Deuteranopia
#c60035
Tritanopia
#484848
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
6.25:1
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
3.36:1

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
##B52847
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6529 0.2086 0.2866)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.176

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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