We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,000+ algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdates
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Vermillion Ink Muted
Color detail

Vermillion Ink Muted

Orange · Hue 15
Hex
#2A201D
RGB
rgb(42, 32, 29)
HSL
hsl(15, 18%, 14%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 24%, 31%, 84%)
Metrics
S 18% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
15.9:1AA
on black
1.3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Vermillion Ink Muted (#2A201D) belongs to the orange family — hue 15°, 18% saturation, 14% 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-vermillion-ink-muted: #2A201D;
  --colorarchive-vermillion-ink-muted-hsl: hsl(15, 18%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-vermillion-ink-muted-rgb: rgb(42, 32, 29);
}

AI Color Names

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

Design Context

EarthyArtisanalGrounded
Common in

Coffee & Bakery · Craft & Handmade · Outdoor Gear

Pairs well with

Olive green, warm cream, or slate gray for organic, natural palettes

Design tip

Great for artisanal brands and rustic interfaces. Combines well with textured backgrounds and serif typography.

Cultural context ▶

Burnt orange and terra cotta evoke earthiness, autumn, and craftsmanship. Popular in Southwestern and Mediterranean design.

Color Origins

Orange family

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

Heritage

Orange is unusual: in English the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around — before the fruit reached Europe in 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 that didn't fade or poison.

Across cultures

In Hindu and Buddhist tradition saffron orange marks renunciation — the robe of monks across Theravada and Tibetan lineages. 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 used orange-and-white spines as a class signal — fiction was always orange. Nickelodeon, Fanta, and easyJet all chose orange for the same reason: it reads playful and consumer-friendly while staying outside the more crowded red and yellow lanes. NASA flight suits use International Orange specifically because nothing in nature matches it, making astronauts maximally visible against any background.

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 the most common modern film-grade pairing; the contrast between warm skin tones and cool shadows is engineered for it.

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

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 low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #2A201D.

  • Netflixneutral
    Netflix Black · #221F1F
    →
  • Meituan 美团neutral
    Slate Black · #222222
    →
  • Supabaseneutral
    Background Black · #1F1F1F
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #2A201D.

  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • MexicoVolcanic Black
    #1F1A17 · Obsidian + Popocatépetl basalt
    →
  • China (Traditional)Ink Wash Black (墨)
    #1C1C1C · Pine-soot ink stick (mò)
    →

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
Vermillion Nocturne Muted
#3C2E2A · hsl(15, 18%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Cerulean Ink Muted
#1D282A · hsl(190, 18%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Apricot Ink Muted
#2A261D · hsl(40, 18%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Merlot Ink Muted
#2A1D1F · hsl(350, 18%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Mint Ink Muted
#1D2A1F · hsl(130, 18%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Violet Ink Muted
#1F1D2A · hsl(250, 18%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Teal Ink Muted
#1D2A26 · hsl(160, 18%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Cobalt Ink Muted
#1D222A · hsl(220, 18%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Vermillion Ink Muted #2A201D
Lighter companion: Vermillion Nocturne Muted #3C2E2A
Complementary counterpoint: Cerulean Ink Muted #1D282A
Analogous lead: Apricot Ink Muted #2A261D
Analogous echo: Merlot Ink Muted #2A1D1F
Triadic +120°: Mint Ink Muted #1D2A1F
Triadic +240°: Violet Ink Muted #1F1D2A
Split-comp +150°: Teal Ink Muted #1D2A26
Split-comp +210°: Cobalt Ink Muted #1D222A

Compare

See how Vermillion Ink Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsVermillion Nocturne MutedvsCerulean Ink MutedvsApricot Ink MutedvsMerlot Ink MutedvsMint Ink MutedvsViolet Ink Muted

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Vermillion Ink Faint
#272220 · hsl(15, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Ink Dust
#2D1F1A · hsl(15, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Nocturne Muted
#3C2E2A · hsl(15, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Ruby Ink Muted
#2A1F1D · hsl(10, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Ember Ink Muted
#2A221D · hsl(20, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Ink Soft
#301E18 · hsl(15, 34%, 14%)

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
AAA15.2:1
Cerulean Veil Faint
#F9FAFA
AAA15.3:1
Cerulean Veil Muted
#F9FBFB
AAA15.3:1
Cerulean Veil Dust
#F9FBFB
AAA15.3:1
Cerulean Veil Soft
#F8FBFC
AAA15.3:1
Cerulean Veil Clear
#F7FCFD
AAA15.3:1
Cerulean Veil Vivid
#F6FCFE

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#27271E
Protanopia
#26261E
Tritanopia
#2A1E1E
Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

ColorArchive Pro includes CSS variables, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, and Procreate swatches — ready to drop into any project.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Related colors

More from Orange

Search
Vermillion Ink Faint#272220 · hsl(15, 10%, 14%)Vermillion Nocturne Faint#38302E · hsl(15, 10%, 20%)Vermillion Shadow Faint#4F4440 · hsl(15, 10%, 28%)Vermillion Dusk Faint#5F524E · hsl(15, 10%, 34%)Vermillion Velvet Faint#766660 · hsl(15, 10%, 42%)Vermillion Core Faint#87746E · hsl(15, 10%, 48%)Vermillion Radiant Faint#95847E · hsl(15, 10%, 54%)Vermillion Tone Faint#A3948F · hsl(15, 10%, 60%)