Dark Red #8B0000

About this color

#8B0000 is a dark, vivid red. In OKLCH its lightness is 40%, its chroma 0.164 and its hue 29°. Its hue sits on the warm side of the wheel. It is the named color Dark Red. White text reads best on it, at 10.01:1.

Colors that go with Dark Red

Matches found by rotating Dark Red around the OKLCH hue wheel, each labelled with the closest name in our list.

Color palettes with Dark Red

Curated color palettes that contain a color within ΔE 0.06 (OKLab) of Dark Red, closest first.

• Jack Feast
• Harvest Orchard
• Mistletoe Feast
• Evergreen Lights
• Candy Cane Garland
• Pinecone and Holly
• Mistletoe Fireside
• Candy Cane Stockings

Similar named colors

The eight named colors closest to Dark Red, with their ΔE distance.

• Brick Red #8F1402 ΔE 0.019
• Maroon #800000 ΔE 0.025
• Blood Red #980002 ΔE 0.029
• Deep Red #9A0200 ΔE 0.034
• Carmine #9D0216 ΔE 0.043
• Blood #770001 ΔE 0.046
• Wine Red #7B0323 ΔE 0.048
• Red Brown #8B2E16 ΔE 0.051

More about Dark Red

• Shades of red
• What red means

How to make Dark Red

A starting recipe from common paint colors, found with a spectral paint model (the color mixer’s paint mode). Real pigments vary, so mix a small test batch and adjust.

• 4 parts red
• 1 part blue

Recipe result: #903235, a difference of ΔE 0.069 from Dark Red. That is close; add a little more of one paint to match.

What colors make red? | Color mixing chart

Codes for Dark Red in every format

Contrast

WCAG 2 contrast ratios are the conformance target: AA needs 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1. APCA Lc values are supplementary guidance from the WCAG 3 drafts.

Shades and tints of Dark Red

A 50–950 scale built in OKLCH: the hue is held, lightness follows a Tailwind v4-like curve, and every step is kept inside the sRGB gamut. This color sits at step 900.

1. Step 50

   50

   #FFF2F0

   oklch(97.1% 0.014 28)

2. Step 100

   100

   #FFE2DD

   oklch(93.5% 0.033 29.4)

3. Step 200

   200

   #FFCBC2

   oklch(88.5% 0.061 29.7)

4. Step 300

   300

   #FFA698

   oklch(81% 0.108 29.4)

5. Step 400

   400

   #FF6A58

   oklch(70.7% 0.185 29.4)

6. Step 500

   500

   #FE170F

   oklch(63.1% 0.252 29.2)

7. Step 600

   600

   #D90000

   oklch(55.6% 0.228 29.2)

8. Step 700

   700

   #B80000

   oklch(49.1% 0.202 29.2)

9. Step 800

   800

   #980000

   oklch(42.7% 0.175 29.2)

10. Step 900

    900 (this color)

    #8B0000

    oklch(40% 0.164 29.2)

11. Step 950

    950

    #4E0503

    oklch(27.1% 0.104 29.1)

Export this scale for Tailwind in the Tailwind colors tool

Dark Red with color blindness

Simulated with the Machado et al. (2009) model. ΔE is how far the color moves: below about 0.02 you would not notice a change.