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Aristocratic Plumed Crimson

#b53b26
Notes

Aristocratic Plumed Crimson (#B53B26) 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 (9°, 65%, 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
#b53b26
RGB
rgb(181, 59, 38)
HSL
hsl(9, 65%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(9 15% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(52.6% 0.162 32.2)
P3
color(display-p3 0.6560 0.2662 0.1853)
HSV
hsv(9, 79%, 71%)
LAB
lab(42.91% 48.23 39.48)
LCH
lch(42.91% 62.33 39.30)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 67%, 79%, 29%)

Etymology

Aristocratic
adjective

Greek aristokratía, rule by the best — adjectival suffix -ic. As a color modifier, aristocratic implies a saturated-and-noble-and-hereditary quality, the deep-rich color of pre-modern European aristocracy hereditary-class livery-and-armorial-bearings. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to patrician and lordly.

Plumed
modifier

Latin plūma, feather. As a color modifier, plumed implies a feathered-and-decorative-feather quality, the visual register of Edwardian-and-Belle-Époque-plumed-hat hand-set-and-decorative ostrich-and-egret-feather Edwardian-and-Belle-Époque plumed-and-feathered-hat surfaces under Edwardian-and-Belle-Époque plumed-hat-and-feather millinery-light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to fluff and down 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.

#b53b26
Original
#5e5423
Protanopia
#7c6f21
Deuteranopia
#c71537
Tritanopia
#535353
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
5.80:1
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
3.62:1

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
##B53B26
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.6560 0.2662 0.1853)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.162

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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