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Senatorial Merry Crimson

#d6043b
Notes

Senatorial Merry Crimson (#D6043B) 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 (344°, 96%, 43%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. 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
#d6043b
RGB
rgb(214, 4, 59)
HSL
hsl(344, 96%, 43%)
HWB
hwb(344 2% 16%)
OKLCH
oklch(55.6% 0.222 19.1)
HSV
hsv(344, 98%, 84%)
LAB
lab(45.23% 71.02 31.76)
LCH
lch(45.23% 77.80 24.09)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 98%, 72%, 16%)

Etymology

Senatorial
adjective

Latin senātōrius, of the senator — adjectival suffix. As a color modifier, senatorial implies a saturated-and-aristocratic-and-Roman-Republic quality, the deep-rich color of Roman-Senate toga praetexta purple-bordered ceremonial-citizen-class livery. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to patrician and imperial.

Merry
modifier

Old English myrige, pleasant-and-glad. As a color modifier, merry implies a glad-and-bright-and-festive quality, the visual register of Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-merry hand-glad-and-bright-and-festive Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-and-village-fair merried-and-glad-and-bright-and-festive surfaces under Robin-Hood-Merry-Men-and-Maytime-and-village-fair Sherwood-Forest-and-Mayday-and-Whitsun greenwood-festival-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to jolly and blithe 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.

#d6043b
Original
#57513b
Protanopia
#867934
Deuteranopia
#ec0024
Tritanopia
#353535
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
5.33:1
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
3.94:1

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