Crayola crayon color

Crayola Orange #FF7538

Crayola Orange is shown here as #FF7538, the commonly published value for the crayon. It is a light vivid red in the red family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.718, chroma 0.184 and hue 42.3°. The nearest CSS named color is coral (#FF7F50), ΔE2000 3.5 away.

Relative luminance
0.3427
OKLCH L · C · h
0.718 · 0.184 · 42.3
Best text
Black 7.85:1
Hue family
Red
Inspect this color Check contrast

#FF7538 color codes

HEX
#FF7538
RGB
rgb(255, 117, 56)
HSL
hsl(18, 100%, 61%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.718 0.184 42.3)
OKLab
oklab(0.718 0.136 0.124)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 65.18, a* 49.14, b* 56.86
XYZ (D65)
X 48.32, Y 34.27, Z 7.81
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(0%, 54%, 78%, 0%)

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.

Crayola is a trademark of Crayola LLC, which this site is not affiliated with. The value is the commonly published sRGB rendering of the crayon, not a Crayola specification.

Legibility

Contrast: is #FF7538 accessible?

Black text on it reaches 7.85:1, passing AAA. White text fails at 2.67:1.

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

    7.85:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +52

  • White text on it

    2.67:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc −56

  • As text on black

    7.85:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −50

  • As text on white

    2.67:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc +51

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #CC4D00 4.53:1

    Darkening its OKLCH lightness from 0.72 to 0.58 reaches 4.53:1 on white, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

  • For text on black

    #FF7538 7.85:1

    It already reaches 7.85:1 on black, so no change is needed.

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #FF7538 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 #FF7538

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #FF7538 sits at step 400.

  1. 50#FFF2ED
    White
    1.09
    Black
    19.17
  2. 100#FFE5DB
    White
    1.20
    Black
    17.48
  3. 200#FFCAB5
    White
    1.46
    Black
    14.36
  4. 300#FFA37F
    White
    1.94
    Black
    10.79
  5. 400This color#FF7538
    White
    2.67
    Black
    7.85
  6. 500#DC5508
    White
    3.92
    Black
    5.34
  7. 600#B84400
    White
    5.43
    Black
    3.86
  8. 700#943500
    White
    7.58
    Black
    2.76
  9. 800#6D2500
    White
    10.96
    Black
    1.91
  10. 900#491600
    White
    15.02
    Black
    1.39
  11. 950#2B0900
    White
    18.39
    Black
    1.14

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

Gamut

How vivid #FF7538 can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.184; #FF7538 uses 100% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.232 there: 27% more.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.184
sRGB edge
0.184
Display P3 edge
0.232
Rec. 2020 edge
0.245
Dominant wavelength
595 nm
Excitation purity
76%
Chromaticity
x 0.5345, y 0.3791
  • This color#FF7538
  • Most vivid in sRGB#FF7538
  • Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.718 0.232 42.3)

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

Use the wider color where screens show it
.accent {
  color: #ff7538;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 1 0.4247 0.1095); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #FF7538

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%#FFBA9C
  • OKLab50%#FFBDA1
  • OKLCH50%#FFC0A8

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#803B1C
  • OKLab50%#63290F
  • OKLCH50%#63290F

Its complement #00B5E0

  • sRGB50%#80958C
  • OKLab50%#B39F98
  • OKLCH50%#C684EA
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #ff7538, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #ff7538 50%, white);

In use

#FF7538 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, 4.5:17.85:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:12.67:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:12.67:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:12.67:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #CC4D00 4.53:1

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:17.85:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:17.00:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:17.00:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:17.00:1 Passes

Color vision

How #FF7538 looks with color blindness

Deuteranopia changes it most, ΔE2000 33.9; tritanopia changes it least, 19.2.

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

    #9C8B30 ΔE2000 32.1

    Distinct

    Reads as soft amber

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #BDAA34 ΔE2000 33.9

    Distinct

    Reads as light soft amber

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #FF5668 ΔE2000 19.2

    Distinct

    Reads as light vivid red

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #9E9E9E ΔE2000 28.0

    Distinct

    Reads as gray

Pairing check

Checked against its complement, #00B5E0. Their lightness contrast is only 1.10:1, so where hue collapses, add a label, icon or pattern.

VisionThe pairΔE2000Verdict
Normal vision#FF7538 · #00B5E057.9Stays distinct
Protanopia#9C8B30 · #9CB1E245.7Stays distinct
Deuteranopia#BDAA34 · #839FE051.3Stays distinct
Tritanopia#FF5668 · #00C2C362.8Stays distinct
Achromatopsia#9E9E9E · #A7A7A72.7Easily confused

Harmony

Color harmonies for #FF7538

Its complement is #00B5E0, a light soft blue, 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#FF7538
  • Complement#00B5E0

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio
  • −30°#FF6C85
  • Base#FF7538
  • +30°#DE9200

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#FF7538
  • +120°#00C286
  • +240°#9796FF

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#FF7538
  • +150°#00BCB8
  • +210°#57A8FF

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-crayola-orange: #ff7538;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'crayola-orange': '#ff7538',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

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

@theme {
  --color-crayola-orange: oklch(0.718 0.184 42.3);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "crayola-orange": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [1, 0.4588, 0.2196],
        "hex": "#ff7538"
      },
      "$description": "Crayola Orange"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let crayolaOrange = Color(.sRGB, red: 1.000, green: 0.459, blue: 0.220, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val CrayolaOrange = Color(0xFFFF7538)
}

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.

Neighbors

The eight nearest colors on this site by ΔE2000, closest first. Under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side.

Tools

Open #FF7538 in the tools

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