DC143C (crimson) — RGB, HSL, CMYK and Contrast

Q: What text colour should sit on DC143C?

Black gives 4.21:1 and white gives 4.99:1, so white wins at 4.99:1. That clears the 4.5:1 AA threshold for normal text, but not the 7:1 AAA threshold.

Every value recomputed from the hex code · WCAG 2.1 contrast ratios

A red at 47% lightness and 83% saturation, which puts it at 4.99:1 against white and 4.21:1 against black. The tables below give the notation conversions, the tints and shades that keep the hue intact, and the harmonies that pair with it.

DC143C

Notation conversions

Notation	Value
HEX	`DC143C`
RGB	rgb(220, 20, 60)
HSL	hsl(348, 83%, 47%)
CMYK	cmyk(0%, 91%, 73%, 14%)
Relative luminance	0.1604
Perceived brightness	33.1 / 100

R=220 G=20 B=60 · hue 348.0° · saturation 83.3% · lightness 47.1%

Contrast against pure white and pure black

Pair this colour with the two extremes to see which is the safer text partner. AA needs 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text; AAA raises that to 7:1 and 4.5:1.

Against	Hex	Ratio	AA text	AA large	AAA text
#FFFFFF	`white`	4.99:1	pass	pass	fail
#000000	`black`	4.21:1	fail	pass	fail

Tints and shades

Lightness moves in ten-point steps while hue and saturation stay fixed, which keeps the colour recognisable in a scale. The last column is the ratio against white text, useful for deciding where a scale stops working as a background.

Step	Hex	HSL	vs white text
shade -30	`#500716`	hsl(348, 83%, 17%)	15.18:1
shade -20	`#7f0b23`	hsl(348, 83%, 27%)	10.64:1
shade -10	`#ad102f`	hsl(348, 83%, 37%)	7.26:1
tint +10	`#ed365b`	hsl(348, 83%, 57%)	3.98:1
tint +20	`#f16581`	hsl(348, 83%, 67%)	3.04:1
tint +30	`#f594a7`	hsl(348, 83%, 77%)	2.17:1

Harmonies

Scheme	Hex
Complementary	`#14dcb4`
Analogous −30	`#dc14a0`
Analogous +30	`#dc5014`
Triadic −120	`#143cdc`
Triadic +120	`#3cdc14`

Measured rather than eyeballed: hue 348.0°, saturation 83.3%, lightness 47.1%, relative luminance 0.1604 — four decimals is the precision the WCAG formula actually needs — and perceived brightness 33.1 out of 100. Entry 2 of 69 in this library, it scores 4.99:1 on white and 4.21:1 on black, a 0.78 spread. The complementary #14dcb4 sits 180° away on the wheel, and the scale brackets it with #500716 below and #f594a7 above.

Nearby colours

800000 maroon FF0000 red FF5722 Deep Orange 500 F44336 Red 500

Frequently asked questions

What text colour should sit on DC143C?
Black gives 4.21:1 and white gives 4.99:1, so white wins at 4.99:1. That clears the 4.5:1 AA threshold for normal text, but not the 7:1 AAA threshold.

Do the CMYK numbers match a print workflow?
They are the naive conversion from RGB, which assumes no ink limit, no colour profile and no black generation strategy. Real print work needs a profile-aware conversion; the values here are the ones the converter reports and are best used as a starting point for a designer rather than a press-ready separations file.

Convert any other colour, or test a pair against each other, in the ColrShift colour converter and contrast checker. The colour library groups every entry on this site by hue family.