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Scarlet Core Soft
Color detail

Scarlet Core Soft

Red · Hue 5
Metrics
S 34% · L 48%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white5.1:1AAon black4.1:1AA Large
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Scarlet Core Soft (#A45851) belongs to the red family — hue 5°, 34% saturation, 48% 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-scarlet-core-soft: #A45851;
  --colorarchive-scarlet-core-soft-hsl: hsl(5, 34%, 48%);
  --colorarchive-scarlet-core-soft-rgb: rgb(164, 88, 81);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

PassionateEnergeticUrgent
Common in

Food & Beverage · Entertainment · Retail

Pairs well with

White for high contrast CTAs, dark navy for sophistication, or gold for luxury

Design tip

Best for call-to-action buttons and sale banners. Use sparingly — red as a primary color can feel aggressive; as an accent, it commands attention.

Cultural context ▶

Red is universally associated with energy and action. In China, it signifies luck and prosperity. In Western markets, it drives urgency in sales.

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 confident mid-tone — this is the workhorse register of the hue, and the band where many brand colors live.

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: 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 #A45851.

  • Notionaccent
    Default Brown · #9F6B53
    →
  • Anthropicaccent
    claude.ai Accent (2024) · #C96442
    →
  • GitHubaccent
    Attention Yellow · #9A6700
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #A45851.

  • Greece (Aegean)Terracotta Tile
    #B85B40 · Fired earthenware roof tiles
    →
  • BrazilSalvador Terracotta
    #B85B40 · Colonial Pelourinho district
    →
  • England (London)Garden Brick
    #9F4A3C · Victorian red-brick terraces and mansion blocks
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using red and color in design.

UI DesignColor in Financial UI: Trust, Data Visualization, and the Red/Green ConventionColor TheoryWarm Color Palette Guide: Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Their NeutralsUI DesignDark Mode Color Design: Beyond Inverting Your Palette

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
Scarlet Radiant Soft
#B26862 · hsl(5, 34%, 54%)
Darker companion
Scarlet Velvet Soft
#904D47 · hsl(5, 34%, 42%)
Complementary counterpoint
Aqua Core Soft
#51A4A4 · hsl(180, 34%, 48%)
Analogous lead
Coral Core Soft
#A47A51 · hsl(30, 34%, 48%)
Analogous echo
Garnet Core Soft
#A4516D · hsl(340, 34%, 48%)
Triadic +120°
Emerald Core Soft
#51A451 · hsl(120, 34%, 48%)
Triadic +240°
Amethyst Core Soft
#5851A4 · hsl(245, 34%, 48%)
Split-comp +150°
Jade Core Soft
#51A47A · hsl(150, 34%, 48%)
Split-comp +210°
Sapphire Core Soft
#517AA4 · hsl(210, 34%, 48%)
Export preview
Base: Scarlet Core Soft #A45851
Lighter companion: Scarlet Radiant Soft #B26862
Darker companion: Scarlet Velvet Soft #904D47
Complementary counterpoint: Aqua Core Soft #51A4A4
Analogous lead: Coral Core Soft #A47A51
Analogous echo: Garnet Core Soft #A4516D
Triadic +120°: Emerald Core Soft #51A451
Triadic +240°: Amethyst Core Soft #5851A4
Split-comp +150°: Jade Core Soft #51A47A
Split-comp +210°: Sapphire Core Soft #517AA4

Compare

See how Scarlet Core Soft compares side by side with related colors.

vsScarlet Radiant SoftvsScarlet Velvet SoftvsAqua Core SoftvsCoral Core SoftvsGarnet Core SoftvsEmerald Core Soft

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Scarlet Core Dust
#9A605B · hsl(5, 26%, 48%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Velvet Soft
#904D47 · hsl(5, 34%, 42%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Radiant Soft
#B26862 · hsl(5, 34%, 54%)
Nearby match
Crimson Core Soft
#A45151 · hsl(0, 34%, 48%)
Nearby match
Ruby Core Soft
#A45F51 · hsl(10, 34%, 48%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Core Muted
#906864 · hsl(5, 18%, 48%)

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
AA4.9:1
Aqua Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AA4.9:1
Aqua Veil Muted
#F9FBFB
AA4.9:1
Aqua Veil Dust
#F9FBFB
AA5:1
Aqua Veil Soft
#F8FCFC
AA5:1
Aqua Veil Clear
#F7FDFD
AA5:1
Aqua Veil Vivid
#F6FEFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#8E9253
Protanopia
#8A8953
Tritanopia
#A15454
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Scarlet Core Faint#87706E · hsl(5, 10%, 48%)Scarlet Core Muted#906864 · hsl(5, 18%, 48%)Scarlet Core Dust#9A605B · hsl(5, 26%, 48%)Scarlet Core Soft#A45851 · hsl(5, 34%, 48%)Scarlet Core Clear#BC4338 · hsl(5, 54%, 48%)Scarlet Core Vivid#D52F20 · hsl(5, 74%, 48%)Scarlet Core Bright#E12514 · hsl(5, 84%, 48%)Scarlet Core Pure#EB1D0A · hsl(5, 92%, 48%)
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