We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,446 algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesEmbed widgetConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdatesiOS app
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Scarlet Silk Clear
Color detail

Scarlet Silk Clear

Red · Hue 5
Metrics
S 54% · L 68%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white2.7:1Failon black7.8:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Scarlet Silk Clear (#D98981) belongs to the red family — hue 5°, 54% saturation, 68% 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-silk-clear: #D98981;
  --colorarchive-scarlet-silk-clear-hsl: hsl(5, 54%, 68%);
  --colorarchive-scarlet-silk-clear-rgb: rgb(217, 137, 129);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

TenderRomanticGentle
Common in

Beauty · Wedding · Healthcare

Pairs well with

Soft neutrals (warm gray, cream) or muted greens for balance

Design tip

Use as a background for emotional storytelling or as an accent in healthcare and wellness brands to convey warmth without intensity.

Cultural context ▶

In many cultures, light reds and pinks symbolize love, tenderness, and new beginnings. In Japan, sakura pink represents the ephemeral beauty of life.

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 #D98981.

  • Anthropicaccent
    Anthropic Orange · #D97757
    →
  • Bilibili 哔哩哔哩primary
    Bilibili Pink · #FB7299
    →
  • Figmaprimary
    Figma Orange · #FF7262
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #D98981.

  • Italy (Tuscany)Sienese Ochre
    #C68F58 · Iron oxide earth, Siena region
    →
  • MexicoBarragán Earth Pink
    #D77176 · Casa Gilardi, Mexico City (1976)
    →
  • Turkey (Istanbul)Apple Tea Amber
    #C77D4D · Çay glass tea, ubiquitous Istanbul tradition
    →

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 Architecture for Color: Building Scalable, Maintainable Systems

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 Bloom Clear
#E3A6A1 · hsl(5, 54%, 76%)
Darker companion
Scarlet Tone Clear
#D06B62 · hsl(5, 54%, 60%)
Complementary counterpoint
Aqua Silk Clear
#81D9D9 · hsl(180, 54%, 68%)
Analogous lead
Coral Silk Clear
#D9AD81 · hsl(30, 54%, 68%)
Analogous echo
Garnet Silk Clear
#D9819F · hsl(340, 54%, 68%)
Triadic +120°
Emerald Silk Clear
#81D981 · hsl(120, 54%, 68%)
Triadic +240°
Amethyst Silk Clear
#8981D9 · hsl(245, 54%, 68%)
Split-comp +150°
Jade Silk Clear
#81D9AD · hsl(150, 54%, 68%)
Split-comp +210°
Sapphire Silk Clear
#81ADD9 · hsl(210, 54%, 68%)
Export preview
Base: Scarlet Silk Clear #D98981
Lighter companion: Scarlet Bloom Clear #E3A6A1
Darker companion: Scarlet Tone Clear #D06B62
Complementary counterpoint: Aqua Silk Clear #81D9D9
Analogous lead: Coral Silk Clear #D9AD81
Analogous echo: Garnet Silk Clear #D9819F
Triadic +120°: Emerald Silk Clear #81D981
Triadic +240°: Amethyst Silk Clear #8981D9
Split-comp +150°: Jade Silk Clear #81D9AD
Split-comp +210°: Sapphire Silk Clear #81ADD9

Compare

See how Scarlet Silk Clear compares side by side with related colors.

vsScarlet Bloom ClearvsScarlet Tone ClearvsAqua Silk ClearvsCoral Silk ClearvsGarnet Silk ClearvsEmerald Silk Clear

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Crimson Silk Clear
#D98181 · hsl(0, 54%, 68%)
Nearby match
Ruby Silk Clear
#D99081 · hsl(10, 54%, 68%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Tone Clear
#D06B62 · hsl(5, 54%, 60%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Bloom Clear
#E3A6A1 · hsl(5, 54%, 76%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Silk Soft
#C99692 · hsl(5, 34%, 68%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Silk Vivid
#EA7B71 · hsl(5, 74%, 68%)

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
AAA7:1
Iris Ink Vivid
#09093E
AAA7.1:1
Iris Ink Bright
#060642
AAA7.1:1
Iris Ink Pure
#030345
AAA7:1
Amethyst Ink Vivid
#0E093E
AAA7:1
Amethyst Ink Bright
#0B0642
AAA7.1:1
Amethyst Ink Pure
#080345

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#C0C583
Protanopia
#BCBB83
Tritanopia
#D68585
Color of the Day

Like Scarlet Silk Clear? Get one like it every morning.

One hand-picked color a day — with its hex, family, and the story behind it.

Get a color every morning

One email per day. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

Copy the CSS variables and the Tailwind class free, right here. ColorArchive Pro lifts the daily export limit — 10 a day signed in, 3 without an account.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Scarlet Silk Faint#B6A7A5 · hsl(5, 10%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Muted#BCA19F · hsl(5, 18%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Dust#C39C98 · hsl(5, 26%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Soft#C99692 · hsl(5, 34%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Clear#D98981 · hsl(5, 54%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Vivid#EA7B71 · hsl(5, 74%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Bright#F27469 · hsl(5, 84%, 68%)Scarlet Silk Pure#F86F62 · hsl(5, 92%, 68%)
More from Red →