CSS named color

Dark Red #8B0000

The CSS keyword darkred is #8B0000. It is a dark soft red in the red family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.400, chroma 0.164 and hue 29.2°.

Relative luminance: 0.0549
OKLCH L · C · h: 0.400 · 0.164 · 29.2
Best text: White 10.01:1
Hue family: Red

Inspect this color Check contrast

#8B0000 color codes

HEX: #8B0000
RGB: rgb(139, 0, 0)
HSL: hsl(0, 100%, 27%)
OKLCH: oklch(0.400 0.164 29.2)
OKLab: oklab(0.400 0.143 0.080)
CIELAB (D65): L* 28.09, a* 51.00, b* 41.29
XYZ (D65): X 10.65, Y 5.49, Z 0.50
CMYK (naive): cmyk(0%, 100%, 100%, 45%)

CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.

Legibility

Contrast: is #8B0000 accessible?

White text on it reaches 10.01:1, passing AAA. Black text fails at 2.09:1.

WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.

Open the Contrast System

Black text on it

2.09:1
- AA fails
- AA large fails
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc +13
White text on it

10.01:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA passes
- APCA Lc −95
As text on black

2.09:1
- AA fails
- AA large fails
- AAA fails
- APCA Lc −11
As text on white

10.01:1
- AA passes
- AA large passes
- AAA passes
- APCA Lc +90

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

For text on white

#8B0000 10.01:1

It already reaches 10.01:1 on white, so no change is needed.
For text on black

#C94A3C 4.52:1

Lightening its OKLCH lightness from 0.40 to 0.58 reaches 4.52:1 on black, keeping the hue.

Compare both in the Contrast System

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #8B0000 live

Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.

The studio needs JavaScript.

Scale

Shades and tints of #8B0000

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #8B0000 sits at step 800.

50#FFF2EF

White
1.09
Black
19.19
100#FFE4E0

White
1.20
Black
17.42
200#FFC8BF

White
1.47
Black
14.26
300#FFA193

White
1.94
Black
10.77
400#F57564

White
2.75
Black
7.61
500#D75748

White
3.92
Black
5.34
600#BB3E31

White
5.45
Black
3.84
700#9E241B

White
7.71
Black
2.72
800This color#8B0000

White
10.01
Black
2.09
900#540000

White
15.25
Black
1.37
950#330000

White
18.40
Black
1.14

Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.

Gamut

How vivid #8B0000 can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.164; #8B0000 uses 100% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.184 there: 12% more.

sRGB
Display P3
Rec. 2020
Dominant wavelength

OKLCH chroma: 0.164
sRGB edge: 0.164
Display P3 edge: 0.184
Rec. 2020 edge: 0.182
Dominant wavelength: 611 nm
Excitation purity: 92%
Chromaticity: x 0.6400, y 0.3300

This color#8B0000
Most vivid in sRGB#8B0000
Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.400 0.184 29.2)

On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.

Use the wider color where screens show it

.accent {
  color: #8b0000;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.5202 0.0064 0); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #8B0000

Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.

White #FFFFFF

sRGB50%#C58080
OKLab50%#CC8B81
OKLCH50%#CC8B81

Black #000000

sRGB50%#460000
OKLab50%#320000
OKLCH50%#320000

Its complement #00515C

sRGB50%#46292E
OKLab50%#5F3E39
OKLCH50%#52357C

In CSS

/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #8b0000, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #8b0000 50%, white);

In use

#8B0000 in an interface

A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.

Light page

Button labelText, 4.5:110.01:1 Passes
Link and body-size textText, 4.5:110.01:1 Passes
Large headingLarge text, 3:110.01:1 Passes
Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:110.01:1 Passes

Dark page

Button labelText, 4.5:110.01:1 Passes
Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.87:1 Fails
Large headingLarge text, 3:11.87:1 Fails
Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.87:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #D35445 4.57:1

Color vision

How #8B0000 looks with color blindness

Deuteranopia changes it most, ΔE2000 33.8; tritanopia changes it least, 2.9.

Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.

Simulate a whole page What each type sees

Protanopia

No working red (long-wavelength) cones

#383000 ΔE2000 31.4

Distinct

Reads as dark muted brown
Deuteranopia

No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

#574C00 ΔE2000 33.8

Distinct

Reads as dark muted brown
Tritanopia

No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

#9A0004 ΔE2000 2.9

Close match

Reads as dark vivid red
Achromatopsia

No cone color vision; lightness only

#424242 ΔE2000 26.7

Distinct

Reads as dark gray

Pairing check

Checked against its complement, #00515C. Their lightness contrast is only 1.11:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.

Vision	The pair	ΔE2000	Verdict
Normal vision	#8B0000 · #00515C	44.1	Stays distinct
Protanopia	#383000 · #484E5D	28.5	Stays distinct
Deuteranopia	#574C00 · #3D465C	34.6	Stays distinct
Tritanopia	#9A0004 · #005654	48.7	Stays distinct
Achromatopsia	#424242 · #494949	2.3	Easily confused

Harmony

Color harmonies for #8B0000

Its complement is #00515C, a dark muted teal, on the cool side of the wheel.

Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.

Open the Harmony Studio

Base#8B0000
Complement#00515C

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

−30°#850045
Base#8B0000
+30°#6C3900

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio

Base#8B0000
+120°#005722
+240°#27399E

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio

Base#8B0000
+150°#005449
+210°#004D73

Split-complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

Code

Design tokens

Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-darkred: #8b0000;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        darkred: '#8b0000',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  --color-darkred: oklch(0.400 0.164 29.2);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "darkred": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.5451, 0, 0],
        "hex": "#8b0000"
      },
      "$description": "CSS named color darkred"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let darkred = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.545, green: 0.000, blue: 0.000, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Darkred = Color(0xFF8B0000)
}

Matches

The nearest match in each system

The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.

Tools

Open #8B0000 in the tools

Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.

Dark Red #8B0000

#8B0000 color codes

Contrast: is #8B0000 accessible?

Black text on it

White text on it

As text on black

As text on white

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

Adjust #8B0000 live

Shades and tints of #8B0000

How vivid #8B0000 can get

Mixing #8B0000

#8B0000 in an interface

How #8B0000 looks with color blindness

Protanopia

Deuteranopia

Tritanopia

Achromatopsia

Pairing check

Color harmonies for #8B0000

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split-complementary

Design tokens

CSS custom property

Tailwind config

Tailwind v4 theme

Design token (W3C DTCG)

SwiftUI color

Jetpack Compose color

The nearest match in each system

Similar colors

Open #8B0000 in the tools