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Crimson Shadow Clear
Color detail

Crimson Shadow Clear

Red · Hue 0
Hex
#6E2121
RGB
rgb(110, 33, 33)
HSL
hsl(0, 54%, 28%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 70%, 70%, 57%)
Metrics
S 54% · L 28%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
11:1AA
on black
1.9:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Crimson Shadow Clear (#6E2121) belongs to the red family — hue 0°, 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-crimson-shadow-clear: #6E2121;
  --colorarchive-crimson-shadow-clear-hsl: hsl(0, 54%, 28%);
  --colorarchive-crimson-shadow-clear-rgb: rgb(110, 33, 33);
}

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

The first pigment, the loudest signal.

Heritage

Red is the oldest pigment in the human visual record. Ochre reds appear in burial sites from 75,000+ years ago; Roman red lead (minium) lit Pompeian walls; cinnabar drove a millennium of trade across Asia and the Mediterranean. Madder, kermes, and cochineal — the three classical reds — built fortunes and emptied empires before synthetic alizarin arrived in 1869 and collapsed the price 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 essentially the same red since 1886. Netflix and YouTube engineered their reds to pop maximally on dark UI. 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). Nearly every emergency stop button on every machine ever made is red, and the convention is so universal 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 the most 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 #6E2121.

  • 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 #6E2121.

  • 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
    →

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
Crimson Dusk Clear
#862828 · hsl(0, 54%, 34%)
Darker companion
Crimson Nocturne Clear
#4F1717 · hsl(0, 54%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Aqua Shadow Clear
#216E6E · hsl(180, 54%, 28%)
Analogous lead
Tangerine Shadow Clear
#6E4121 · hsl(25, 54%, 28%)
Analogous echo
Garnet Shadow Clear
#6E213B · hsl(340, 54%, 28%)
Triadic +120°
Emerald Shadow Clear
#216E21 · hsl(120, 54%, 28%)
Triadic +240°
Iris Shadow Clear
#21216E · hsl(240, 54%, 28%)
Split-comp +150°
Jade Shadow Clear
#216E47 · hsl(150, 54%, 28%)
Split-comp +210°
Sapphire Shadow Clear
#21476E · hsl(210, 54%, 28%)
Export preview
Base: Crimson Shadow Clear #6E2121
Lighter companion: Crimson Dusk Clear #862828
Darker companion: Crimson Nocturne Clear #4F1717
Complementary counterpoint: Aqua Shadow Clear #216E6E
Analogous lead: Tangerine Shadow Clear #6E4121
Analogous echo: Garnet Shadow Clear #6E213B
Triadic +120°: Emerald Shadow Clear #216E21
Triadic +240°: Iris Shadow Clear #21216E
Split-comp +150°: Jade Shadow Clear #216E47
Split-comp +210°: Sapphire Shadow Clear #21476E

Compare

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

vsCrimson Dusk ClearvsCrimson Nocturne ClearvsAqua Shadow ClearvsTangerine Shadow ClearvsGarnet Shadow ClearvsEmerald Shadow Clear

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Crimson Dusk Clear
#862828 · hsl(0, 54%, 34%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Shadow Clear
#6E2721 · hsl(5, 54%, 28%)
Nearby match
Crimson Nocturne Clear
#4F1717 · hsl(0, 54%, 20%)
Nearby match
Crimson Shadow Soft
#602F2F · hsl(0, 34%, 28%)
Nearby match
Crimson Shadow Vivid
#7C1313 · hsl(0, 74%, 28%)
Nearby match
Scarlet Dusk Clear
#863028 · hsl(5, 54%, 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
AAA10.6:1
Aqua Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA10.6:1
Aqua Veil Muted
#F9FBFB
AAA10.6:1
Aqua Veil Dust
#F9FBFB
AAA10.7:1
Aqua Veil Soft
#F8FCFC
AAA10.7:1
Aqua Veil Clear
#F7FDFD
AAA10.8:1
Aqua Veil Vivid
#F6FEFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#5A5F21
Protanopia
#575621
Tritanopia
#6C2121
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True Gray Ink#242424 · hsl(0, 0%, 14%)True Gray Nocturne#333333 · hsl(0, 0%, 20%)True Gray Shadow#474747 · hsl(0, 0%, 28%)True Gray Dusk#575757 · hsl(0, 0%, 34%)True Gray Velvet#6B6B6B · hsl(0, 0%, 42%)True Gray Core#7A7A7A · hsl(0, 0%, 48%)True Gray Radiant#8A8A8A · hsl(0, 0%, 54%)True Gray Tone#999999 · hsl(0, 0%, 60%)