Crimson#FF004A, a warm vivid red
Crimson in RGB, HSL, OKLCH & more
Ready to ship: every line pastes straight into your codebase, and the whole file copies at once.
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Why is it called Crimson?
Crimson's meaning, origin, and pronunciation, with sources.
Anchor: A03 · one of the 72 anchor hues of ART
Origin: Arabic (qirmiz), by way of Medieval Latin; before that a Persian word, built on an ancient Indo-European root meaning "worm"
Meaning: The kermes insect; kermes-red
KRIM-zun · /ˈkrɪmzən/
An ancient Indo-European root for "worm" → Persian kirm → Arabic qirmiz, the kermes insect → Medieval Latin cremesinus → English cremesin, in the early 1400s. (Sources differ on that last step: some route it through Italian silk merchants, others through Spanish.)
The "worm" in question was the dried body of the female kermes scale insect, gathered by hand from Mediterranean oaks. It gave the ancient world its finest red: kermes-dyed wool survives from around 1800 BCE, and the Hebrew Bible calls the creature tola'at shani, "scarlet worm."
English admired this red enough to name it twice after the same bug. Crimson is the Arabic name for it; Vermilion, two anchors away, is the Latin one. Crimson's quieter relatives, carmine and kermes itself, are the same word again, arriving by other roads.
etymonline s.v. crimson, kermes, carmine; Wiktionary s.v. crimson; Wikipedia s.v. Kermes (dye). Etymological dictionaries + scholarly sources. Audio: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Shades of Crimson, lighter and darker
For hover states, washed backgrounds, and dark surfaces that still read as #FF004A. 13 steps, spaced evenly by eye, with the color itself sitting at its natural depth, crimson-600.
Tints (light surfaces; dark text passes on every one)
Midtones (the color at full strength, for brand & accent work)
Shades (dark surfaces; light text passes on every one)
Most tools mix. Rhapsody measures.
Paste any color. The whole system comes back, contrast-checked before you see it.
The window on the right was generated from #FF004A, like this whole page.
Is Crimson accessible? Contrast with white & black
Strong contrast makes your work readable by everyone, and meets the WCAG standard accessibility law points at. AA is the floor; AAA is the tier worth aiming for in body text. Black text on #FF004A passes AA. For AAA, use its scale. Every strip below is one surface, and the marks are the steps that reach AAA on it.
Rows are text, columns are background · 64 of 210 pairings reach WCAG 2.2 AAA, shown here.
Ship the audit, not screenshots.
Run #FF004A against the colors you actually ship, every pairing and any target, and export it: exact ratios, the AA tier, APCA, in one file.
The audit on the right was calibrated from #FF004A, like this whole page.
Crimson in CMYK: one value for files, one per press
This color shifts further than a press run can hold, so expect a visible difference. The pairs below show where each standard lands.
In CMYK, #FF004A is . That is the value design tools and file formats use when no press is involved.
On press (what each standard prints)
shifts ΔE00 12.0, 4.8× the 2.5 a run varies by
shifts ΔE00 6.8, 2.7× the 2.5 a run varies by
shifts ΔE00 4.2, 1.7× the 2.5 a run varies by
shifts ΔE00 4.3, 1.7× the 2.5 a run varies by
shifts ΔE00 4.3, 1.7× the 2.5 a run varies by
Press values computed through the ICC characterization data each standard proofs against. Each CMYK above is the closest that standard can get.
No surprises at the printer.
Run any color through the major press standards: FOGRA51, GRACoL, Japan Color, FOGRA39. It's coming soon. Create a free account and you'll get a note the moment it's live.
The strip shows this page's tints and shades on screen, then through a standard GRACoL 2013 conversion.
Colors similar to Crimson
The kermes insect; kermes-red
Here are other colors similar to Crimson along with accessible text pairings and whether or not they're print-safe. Explore The Reds
| Neon Red | Neon Red | #FF073A | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Pinky Red | Pinky Red | #FC2647 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Red Pink | Red Pink | #FA2A55 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Pink Red | Pink Red | #F5054F | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Reddish Pink | Reddish Pink | #FE2C54 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Strawberry | Strawberry | #FB2943 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Torch Red | Torch Red | #FD0E35 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Lightish Red | Lightish Red | #FE2F4A | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Pinkish Red | Pinkish Red | #F10C45 | black text · AA | ! within tolerance |
| Ruby | Ruby | #FF0062 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Cardinal | Cardinal | #FF002A | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Radical Red | Radical Red | #FF355E | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Cherry Red | Cherry Red | #F7022A | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Red Ribbon | Red Ribbon | #ED0A3F | black text · AA | ! within tolerance |
| Watermelon | Watermelon | #FD4659 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Amaranth | Amaranth | #E52B50 | black text · AA | ✓ prints exactly |
| Coral Red | Coral Red | #FF4040 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Light Red | Light Red | #FF474C | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Alizarin Crimson | Alizarin Crimson | #E32636 | black text · AA | ✓ prints exactly |
| Razzmatazz | Razzmatazz | #E30B5C | white text · AA | ! within tolerance |
| Grapefruit | Grapefruit | #FD5956 | black text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Lipstick | Lipstick | #D5174E | white text · AA | ! within tolerance |
| Cherry | Cherry | #CF0234 | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Persian Red | Persian Red | #CC3333 | white text · AA | ✓ prints exactly |
| Flush Mahogany | Flush Mahogany | #CA3435 | white text · AA | ✓ prints exactly |
| Maroon Flush | Maroon Flush | #C32148 | white text · AA | ! within tolerance |
| Monza | Monza | #C7031E | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Lipstick Red | Lipstick Red | #C0022F | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Thunderbird | Thunderbird | #C02B18 | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Rose Red | Rose Red | #BE013C | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Guardsman Red | Guardsman Red | #BA0101 | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Milano Red | Milano Red | #B81104 | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Firebrick | Firebrick | #B22222 | white text · AA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Shiraz | Shiraz | #B20931 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Raspberry | Raspberry | #B00149 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Darkish Red | Darkish Red | #A90308 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Cranberry | Cranberry | #9E003A | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Carmine | Carmine | #9D0216 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Tamarillo | Tamarillo | #991613 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Scarlett | Scarlett | #950015 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Sangria | Sangria | #92000A | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Pohutukawa | Pohutukawa | #8F021C | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
| Paprika | Paprika | #8D0226 | white text · AAA | ✕ shifts on press |
Colors that go with Crimson
The complementary color, straight across the wheel, is a cool brilliant turquoise #61BCDF. Rhapsody's pick is the split complement, just to one side of it, a livelier pair.
The accent is for the moments that need attention, the harmony for the ones that need calm; the neutral carries the text and surfaces in between.
Take Crimson with you
The work on this page doesn't stay here. Save a card and the color arrives in your file, your deck or your board already decided.
Your system is already built.
Rhapsody built it before you even asked: the scale, the neutrals, the utilities, every pairing calibrated.
This page's whole theme is built from one color. Palette does the same for yours: every step calibrated, every pairing checked, press included.
Every color on this page was calibrated, not mixed.
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