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Ember Velvet Bright
Color detail

Ember Velvet Bright

Orange · Hue 20
Metrics
S 84% · L 42%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white4.7:1AAon black4.4:1AA Large
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Ember Velvet Bright (#C54D11) belongs to the orange family — hue 20°, 84% saturation, 42% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-ember-velvet-bright: #C54D11;
  --colorarchive-ember-velvet-bright-hsl: hsl(20, 84%, 42%);
  --colorarchive-ember-velvet-bright-rgb: rgb(197, 77, 17);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

CreativeAdventurousConfident
Common in

Technology · Sports · Travel

Pairs well with

Deep blue for trust + energy balance, dark gray for modern tech aesthetics

Design tip

Use for creative tool brands and action-oriented interfaces. Orange buttons consistently outperform other colors in A/B tests for engagement.

Cultural context ▶

Orange represents creativity and adventure. In the Netherlands, it's the national color. In Hinduism, it symbolizes purity.

Color Origins

Orange family

Citrus, fire, and a color named after a fruit.

Heritage

Orange is unusual: in English the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around — the fruit's name arrived in the 14th century, but until the 16th century this hue was simply 'yellow-red'. Earlier pigments included realgar (toxic), saffron (priceless), and orpiment. Cadmium orange, introduced in the 19th century, gave painters from the Impressionists onward a stable, brilliant orange — though cadmium is itself toxic.

Across cultures

In Hindu and Buddhist tradition saffron orange marks renunciation — the robe of Hindu sannyasis and of Theravada monks. The Dutch House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a national identity color, still worn at football matches and on King's Day. In Ireland, orange is the Protestant counterpart to green's Catholic association — the country's flag literally encodes the divide. Halloween's orange-and-black is a 20th-century American invention that has since gone global.

In the wild

Hermès orange is a brand asset traceable to a 1942 wartime cardboard shortage. Penguin Books color-coded its early paperbacks by genre — orange meant general fiction. Nickelodeon, Fanta, and easyJet all use orange, which reads playful and consumer-friendly while staying outside the more crowded red and yellow lanes. NASA's shuttle-era launch-and-entry suits were International Orange so rescue crews could spot astronauts after a bailout over the ocean.

How it reads

Orange is warm without the urgency of red. It signals appetite (used heavily in fast food), creativity, and approachability. At low saturation it becomes terracotta, rust, or apricot — earthy palettes for hospitality and craft. At high saturation it reads as a sport, energy drink, or warning hazard. Orange and teal is a familiar modern film-grade pairing; the contrast between warm skin tones and cool shadows is engineered for it.

This particular tone

A vivid mid-tone — distinctive enough to anchor an identity, saturated enough to demand a quiet supporting palette.

Lightness band: At mid-lightness the hue carries its full character. This is the band where many identity colors live: bright enough to be distinctive at small sizes, deep enough to sit cleanly on a white canvas.

Saturation band: At this saturation the color is doing work. It reads as a brand statement, a sport accessory, or a UI signal. It should be used in small, deliberate doses against quieter neighbors; large fields at this saturation will exhaust the eye.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #C54D11.

  • Patagoniasecondary
    Mountain Orange · #E94E1B
    →
  • Anthropicaccent
    claude.ai Accent (2024) · #C96442
    →
  • Googleprimary
    Google Red · #EA4335
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #C54D11.

  • AustraliaUluru Ochre
    #C9472B · Iron-oxide weathering, Uluru sandstone
    →
  • JapanPersimmon (kaki 柿)
    #D44A2C · Diospyros kaki fruit dye
    →
  • China (Traditional)Cinnabar Red (朱砂)
    #C0392B · Mercury sulfide pigment, classical seals
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using orange and color in design.

Color History1970s Earth Tone Colors: Harvest Gold, Avocado Green & Burnt Orange PalettesColor TheoryWarm Color Palette Guide: Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Their NeutralsAccessibilityAccessible Color Design: Beyond WCAG Contrast Ratios

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Ember Core Bright
#E15814 · hsl(20, 84%, 48%)
Darker companion
Ember Dusk Bright
#A03E0E · hsl(20, 84%, 34%)
Complementary counterpoint
Azure Velvet Bright
#1189C5 · hsl(200, 84%, 42%)
Analogous lead
Saffron Velvet Bright
#C59811 · hsl(45, 84%, 42%)
Analogous echo
Crimson Velvet Bright
#C51111 · hsl(0, 84%, 42%)
Triadic +120°
Seafoam Velvet Bright
#11C54D · hsl(140, 84%, 42%)
Triadic +240°
Orchid Velvet Bright
#4D11C5 · hsl(260, 84%, 42%)
Split-comp +150°
Lagoon Velvet Bright
#11C5A7 · hsl(170, 84%, 42%)
Split-comp +210°
Indigo Velvet Bright
#112FC5 · hsl(230, 84%, 42%)
Export preview
Base: Ember Velvet Bright #C54D11
Lighter companion: Ember Core Bright #E15814
Darker companion: Ember Dusk Bright #A03E0E
Complementary counterpoint: Azure Velvet Bright #1189C5
Analogous lead: Saffron Velvet Bright #C59811
Analogous echo: Crimson Velvet Bright #C51111
Triadic +120°: Seafoam Velvet Bright #11C54D
Triadic +240°: Orchid Velvet Bright #4D11C5
Split-comp +150°: Lagoon Velvet Bright #11C5A7
Split-comp +210°: Indigo Velvet Bright #112FC5

Compare

See how Ember Velvet Bright compares side by side with related colors.

vsEmber Core BrightvsEmber Dusk BrightvsAzure Velvet BrightvsSaffron Velvet BrightvsCrimson Velvet BrightvsSeafoam Velvet Bright

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Ember Velvet Pure
#CE4A09 · hsl(20, 92%, 42%)
Nearby match
Ember Core Bright
#E15814 · hsl(20, 84%, 48%)
Nearby match
Ember Velvet Vivid
#BA511C · hsl(20, 74%, 42%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Velvet Bright
#C53E11 · hsl(15, 84%, 42%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Velvet Bright
#C55C11 · hsl(25, 84%, 42%)
Nearby match
Ember Dusk Bright
#A03E0E · hsl(20, 84%, 34%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Muted
#F9FAFB
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Dust
#F9FAFB
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Soft
#F8FAFC
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Clear
#F7FBFD
AA4.5:1
Azure Veil Vivid
#F6FBFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#A5AC2D
Protanopia
#9F9F29
Tritanopia
#C13537
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Ember Velvet Faint#766860 · hsl(20, 10%, 42%)Ember Velvet Muted#7E6558 · hsl(20, 18%, 42%)Ember Velvet Dust#87624F · hsl(20, 26%, 42%)Ember Velvet Soft#905F47 · hsl(20, 34%, 42%)Ember Velvet Clear#A55831 · hsl(20, 54%, 42%)Ember Velvet Vivid#BA511C · hsl(20, 74%, 42%)Ember Velvet Bright#C54D11 · hsl(20, 84%, 42%)Ember Velvet Pure#CE4A09 · hsl(20, 92%, 42%)
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