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Plentiful Khmer Crimson

#ba252a
Notes

Plentiful Khmer Crimson (#BA252A) 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 (358°, 67%, 44%) 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
#ba252a
RGB
rgb(186, 37, 42)
HSL
hsl(358, 67%, 44%)
HWB
hwb(358 15% 27%)
OKLCH
oklch(51.5% 0.184 25.2)
HSV
hsv(358, 80%, 73%)
LAB
lab(41.11% 57.69 35.67)
LCH
lch(41.11% 67.83 31.73)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 80%, 77%, 27%)

Etymology

Plentiful
adjective

Old French plentif, abundant — adjectival suffix -ful, derived from Latin plēnitās (fullness). As a color modifier, plentiful implies a saturated-and-generous quality where the hue carries rich visual abundance without restraint. Sits at the bold-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to abundant and bountiful.

Khmer
modifier

Sanskrit Khmer, Cambodian. As a color modifier, khmer implies an Angkorian-and-temple-complex quality, the visual register of Angkor-Wat-and-Bayon Khmer-Empire hand-built sandstone-and-laterite temple-and-jungle-overgrown-stonework surfaces under Angkor-Wat-and-Bayon Cambodian-jungle-canopy filtered tropical light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to toltec and median 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.

#ba252a
Original
#544c28
Protanopia
#796c24
Deuteranopia
#cd0029
Tritanopia
#454545
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
6.20:1
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
3.39:1

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