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Merlot Shadow Clear
Color detail

Merlot Shadow Clear

Red · Hue 350
Metrics
S 54% · L 28%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white10.9:1AAon black1.9:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Merlot Shadow Clear (#6E212E) belongs to the red family — hue 350°, 54% saturation, 28% 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-merlot-shadow-clear: #6E212E;
  --colorarchive-merlot-shadow-clear-hsl: hsl(350, 54%, 28%);
  --colorarchive-merlot-shadow-clear-rgb: rgb(110, 33, 46);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

PowerfulSophisticatedDramatic
Common in

Wine & Spirits · Luxury Fashion · Fine Dining

Pairs well with

Gold accents, ivory backgrounds, or deep charcoal for editorial elegance

Design tip

Ideal for dark themes and premium product pages. Pair with generous whitespace to let the richness breathe.

Cultural context ▶

Deep reds like burgundy and maroon evoke maturity, wealth, and tradition. Common in academic institutions and heritage brands.

Color Origins

Red family

Among the oldest pigments, and still the loudest signal.

Heritage

Red ochre is among the oldest pigments in the human visual record. Ochre reds lie beside burials at Qafzeh, Israel, about 100,000 years old; red ochre and costly cinnabar lit Pompeian walls; cinnabar was prized from Rome to China. Madder, kermes, and later New World cochineal built fortunes before synthetic alizarin arrived in 1869 and collapsed the madder market almost overnight.

Across cultures

In China red signals fortune and weddings, painted on doors and lanterns and given in money envelopes. In much of South Asia red is the bridal color (saris, sindoor) for the same reason. Western traditions split red between love (Valentine's) and danger (stoplights, balance sheets). Across the Christian liturgy red marks martyrdom and Pentecost; across cinema it has long marked the femme fatale.

In the wild

Coca-Cola has used red since its earliest signage. Netflix and YouTube both build their identities around a single saturated red. Christian Louboutin trademarked a single red — Pantone 18-1663 — on the soles of his shoes. Ferrari's racing red began as the Italian national racing color (Rosso Corsa). Emergency stop buttons are red on a yellow background under international machinery-safety standards, a convention so widespread it functions as international iconography.

How it reads

Red advances. On a page it draws the eye first; in a UI it implies destructive action or urgent state. Increasing saturation pushes it toward warning; reducing saturation moves it toward earthen, terra-cotta, comfort. Pairing red with white reads as energetic and consumer-facing; pairing it with black reads cinematic and luxurious; pairing it with cream reads as heritage or hospitality.

This particular tone

A deep, weighted version of the hue — formal, considered, and pairs especially well with off-white and warm metallic accents.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The clear, mid-saturation register is a common identity sweet spot — saturated enough to register as a 'real' color, restrained enough not to fight typography or photography placed over it.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #6E212E.

  • Aesopprimary
    Aesop Amber · #5C2E1F
    →
  • Slackprimary
    Aubergine · #4A154B
    →
  • Coca-Colaneutral
    Pantone 484 (depth) · #9C2A2C
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #6E212E.

  • Italy (Tuscany)Chianti Wine
    #722F37 · Sangiovese grape
    →
  • France (Paris)Bordeaux Wine
    #5C2E2A · Bordeaux region red wine
    →
  • VietnamPho Broth Brown
    #5C3A21 · Anise-and-cinnamon star, slow simmer
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using red and color in design.

Color TheoryWarm Color Palette Guide: Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Their NeutralsUI DesignColor in Financial UI: Trust, Data Visualization, and the Red/Green ConventionDesign SystemsDesign Token Color Architecture: Beyond Named Variables

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
Merlot Dusk Clear
#862837 · hsl(350, 54%, 34%)
Darker companion
Merlot Nocturne Clear
#4F1721 · hsl(350, 54%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Lagoon Shadow Clear
#216E61 · hsl(170, 54%, 28%)
Analogous lead
Vermillion Shadow Clear
#6E3421 · hsl(15, 54%, 28%)
Analogous echo
Blush Shadow Clear
#6E2147 · hsl(330, 54%, 28%)
Triadic +120°
Leaf Shadow Clear
#2E6E21 · hsl(110, 54%, 28%)
Triadic +240°
Indigo Shadow Clear
#212E6E · hsl(230, 54%, 28%)
Split-comp +150°
Seafoam Shadow Clear
#216E3B · hsl(140, 54%, 28%)
Split-comp +210°
Azure Shadow Clear
#21546E · hsl(200, 54%, 28%)
Export preview
Base: Merlot Shadow Clear #6E212E
Lighter companion: Merlot Dusk Clear #862837
Darker companion: Merlot Nocturne Clear #4F1721
Complementary counterpoint: Lagoon Shadow Clear #216E61
Analogous lead: Vermillion Shadow Clear #6E3421
Analogous echo: Blush Shadow Clear #6E2147
Triadic +120°: Leaf Shadow Clear #2E6E21
Triadic +240°: Indigo Shadow Clear #212E6E
Split-comp +150°: Seafoam Shadow Clear #216E3B
Split-comp +210°: Azure Shadow Clear #21546E

Compare

See how Merlot Shadow Clear compares side by side with related colors.

vsMerlot Dusk ClearvsMerlot Nocturne ClearvsLagoon Shadow ClearvsVermillion Shadow ClearvsBlush Shadow ClearvsLeaf Shadow Clear

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Merlot Dusk Clear
#862837 · hsl(350, 54%, 34%)
Nearby match
Merlot Nocturne Clear
#4F1721 · hsl(350, 54%, 20%)
Nearby match
Merlot Shadow Soft
#602F37 · hsl(350, 34%, 28%)
Nearby match
Merlot Shadow Vivid
#7C1324 · hsl(350, 74%, 28%)
Nearby match
Merlot Ink Clear
#371017 · hsl(350, 54%, 14%)
Nearby match
Merlot Velvet Clear
#A53145 · hsl(350, 54%, 42%)

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
AAA10.5:1
Lagoon Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA10.5:1
Lagoon Veil Muted
#F9FBFB
AAA10.5:1
Lagoon Veil Dust
#F9FBFB
AAA10.6:1
Lagoon Veil Soft
#F8FCFB
AAA10.6:1
Lagoon Veil Clear
#F7FDFC
AAA10.7:1
Lagoon Veil Vivid
#F6FEFC

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#5A5F2B
Protanopia
#57562B
Tritanopia
#6C2928
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Merlot Shadow Faint#4F4043 · hsl(350, 10%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Muted#543B3F · hsl(350, 18%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Dust#5A353B · hsl(350, 26%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Soft#602F37 · hsl(350, 34%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Clear#6E212E · hsl(350, 54%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Vivid#7C1324 · hsl(350, 74%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Bright#830B1F · hsl(350, 84%, 28%)Merlot Shadow Pure#89061C · hsl(350, 92%, 28%)
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