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Mighty Column Crimson

#bf2f28
Notes

Mighty Column Crimson (#BF2F28) 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 (3°, 65%, 45%) 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
#bf2f28
RGB
rgb(191, 47, 40)
HSL
hsl(3, 65%, 45%)
HWB
hwb(3 16% 25%)
OKLCH
oklch(53.2% 0.182 28.0)
HSV
hsv(3, 79%, 75%)
LAB
lab(43.16% 56.06 39.25)
LCH
lch(43.16% 68.44 35.00)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 75%, 79%, 25%)

Etymology

Mighty
adjective

Old English mihtig, strong — adjectival suffix -y, sharing root with German mächtig. As a color modifier, mighty implies a saturated-and-strong-presence quality, where the hue commands visual attention through pure pigmentation strength. Sits at the bold-and-saturated end of the grid, parallel to forceful and commanding in tone.

Column
modifier

Latin columna, column. As a color modifier, column implies a vertical-Doric-and-Ionic-and-Corinthian quality, the visual register of Greek-and-Roman-Column hand-cut Doric-Ionic-Corinthian fluted-and-capital classical-column architectural surfaces under Greek-and-Roman classical-column architectural light. Sits at the modifier-and-architecture end of the grid, parallel to pillar and plinth 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.

#bf2f28
Original
#5b5225
Protanopia
#7f7122
Deuteranopia
#d3002f
Tritanopia
#4d4d4d
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
5.75:1
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
3.65:1

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