In Western cultures, Dark Red is often associated with power, love, and sacrifice, frequently seen in contexts like marriage and celebration. In contrast, some Eastern traditions view it as a color of prosperity and good fortune, symbolizing joy and happiness.
The term 'dark red' emerged in the late 19th century as artists sought to describe deeper shades of red used in paintings and textiles. Historically, pigments like venetian red, derived from iron oxide, were highly valued for their vibrant hue and stability.
Ranked by CIE76 ΔE — the perceptual distance from Dark Red. Lower ΔE means a closer match (below ~2 is barely distinguishable).
All 33 Reds →Nine steps of Dark Red by lightness — from #480000 (darkest) to #C37A7A (lightest). Click any to copy.
Sitting opposite Dark Red at 180° on the color wheel, these give the highest-contrast pairings.
Curated 5-color combinations featuring Dark Red.
A 50–900 tonal scale with Dark Red anchored at 500 — ready to drop into a design system. Click any step to copy.
Works well as text on light backgrounds; fails on dark.
Thresholds: AA needs 4.5:1 (normal text) / 3:1 (large); AAA needs 7:1 / 4.5:1. Large = 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold.
Copy-ready values for CSS, screen and print, plus the extra conversions designers reach for.
color: darkred; color-mix(in srgb, darkred 70%, white) 0°, 100%, 55% 0, 100, 100, 45 9109504 #990000 How Dark Red appears to viewers with the three main types of color blindness (~1 in 12 men, 1 in 200 women). Simulated approximations.