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Knightly Charm Crimson

#e90404
Notes

Knightly Charm Crimson (#E90404) is a true red with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (0°, 97%, 46%) 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 cyan. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#e90404
RGB
rgb(233, 4, 4)
HSL
hsl(0, 97%, 46%)
HWB
hwb(0 2% 9%)
OKLCH
oklch(58.7% 0.240 29.1)
P3
color(display-p3 0.8381 0.1836 0.1289)
HSV
hsv(0, 98%, 91%)
LAB
lab(48.79% 74.53 61.67)
LCH
lch(48.79% 96.73 39.61)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 98%, 98%, 9%)

Etymology

Knightly
adjective

Old English cniht, young man / knight — adjectival suffix -ly. As a color modifier, knightly implies a saturated-and-chivalrous-and-medieval quality, the deep-rich color of medieval-English-and-French knight-and-squire armorial-bearings-and-livery tradition. Sits at the bold-and-chivalrous end of the grid, parallel to gallant and cavalier.

Charm
modifier

Latin carmen, song-or-spell. As a color modifier, charm implies a beguiling-and-enchanted-and-disarming quality, the visual register of Provençal-troubadour-and-Renaissance-courtly-charm hand-beguiling-and-enchanted-and-disarming Provençal-troubadour-and-Renaissance-courtly-and-Belle-Époque-salon charmed-and-beguiling-and-enchanted-and-disarming surfaces under Provençal-troubadour-and-Renaissance-courtly-and-Belle-Époque-salon candlelit-and-rose-scented-and-disarming drawing-room-light. Sits at the modifier-and-mood end of the grid, parallel to grace 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.

#e90404
Original
#635700
Protanopia
#958400
Deuteranopia
#ff0010
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
4.68:1
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
4.48:1

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
##E90404
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.8381 0.1836 0.1289)
P3 has visible headroomOKLCH chroma 0.240

This color is chromatic enough that authoring it as P3 native (instead of clamping to sRGB) gives a perceptibly more saturated render on wide-gamut displays — modern Macs, iPhones, iPads, and most recent OLED laptops.

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