Tints & Shades
50
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Scale from white (50) through Scarlet (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #FF2400
- RGB
- rgb(255, 36, 0)
- HSL
- hsl(8, 100%, 50%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.638 0.248 31)
- CMYK
- cmyk(0%, 86%, 100%, 0%)
--color-scarletbg-[#FF2400]Accessibility
Score: 39/100On White (#FFF)
3.82:1
On Black (#000)
5.5:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
3.5:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #FF2400
color: #FF2400
bg-[#FF2400] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #FF2400
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Sky Cyan
#80DAEB
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Scarlet is red at its most vivid — a blue-free, pure signal red with maximum visual energy. It is the color of danger signals, fire equipment, and theatrical curtains. Its vividness makes it attention-commanding but difficult to pair subtly.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Scarlet is applied in professional design.
- Emergency alerts and warning systems
- Food and beverage brands (appetite stimulation)
- Sports teams and athletic wear
- Calls-to-action and "Buy Now" buttons
- Pharmaceutical packaging for urgent medications
- Entertainment and gaming brands
- Automotive brands emphasizing power and performance
- Retail sale and clearance signage
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Passes AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Meets 1.4.11
3:1 for non-text UI
Scarlet is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (5.50:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #FF2400;Text
color: #FF2400;Border
border: 2px solid #FF2400;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #FF240040;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #FF2400, #ff6537);Tailwind-style
--color-scarlet: #FF2400;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Scarlet without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#FF2400]Text
text-[#FF2400]Border
border-[#FF2400]Ring
ring-[#FF2400]Fill
fill-[#FF2400]From (gradient)
from-[#FF2400]Via (gradient)
via-[#FF2400]To (gradient)
to-[#FF2400]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Scarlet design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-scarlet: #FF2400;
--color-scarlet-rgb: 255, 36, 0;
--color-scarlet-hsl: 8, 100%, 50%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-scarlet: #FF2400; $color-scarlet-rgb: 255, 36, 0; $color-scarlet-hsl: 8, 100%, 50%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'scarlet': '#FF2400',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-scarlet: #FF2400;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"scarlet": {
"value": "#FF2400",
"type": "color",
"description": "Scarlet — #FF2400"
}
}Related Palettes & Combinations
Color Combinations
More red colors
View all →What Does Scarlet Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
The psychology of Scarlet begins with its spectral address in the red zone, where human perception has never been neutral. Millennia of association with both celebration and danger collapse into the contemporary reading of urgency that makes red-family tones so effective in design.
- Across color psychology research, red consistently tests high for "energy" associations, making Scarlet a reliable vehicle for urgency in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on red-family tones to project excitement and urgency—values that Scarlet communicates in a medium key.
- At 100% saturation, Scarlet reads as vivid—Pure saturated reds are physiologically stimulating, triggering faster heart rate and heightened alertness—among the most attention-commanding tones in human visual perception.
- Scarlet's medium lightness (50%) shifts its psychological register: a balanced mid-tone that embodies energy, passion, urgency, and power at its most direct.
The rule with Scarlet is intent—when it appears, it should carry meaning. Urgency, passion, importance. Never filler.
How to Use Scarlet in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
Scarlet rewards restraint in design. Used at full-surface scale it creates urgency that borders on stress; deployed as a targeted accent—a button, a badge, a border—it creates the focused emphasis that drives conversions.
- Avoid: financial dashboards (loss association), environmental brands (conflicts with green identity), and medical UIs where red exclusively signals critical alerts.
- Color harmonies: Scarlet's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Scarlet's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
- Scarlet creates strong legibility with black text overlays (5.5:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Typography: Scarlet as text requires a dark background; its 50% lightness means it provides 3.8:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
The rule with Scarlet is intent—when it appears, it should carry meaning. Urgency, passion, importance. Never filler.
Scarlet Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Scarlet (#FF2400) reaches 5.50:1 contrast with black text—meeting WCAG 2.1 AA minimum of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. It clears standard production accessibility requirements. Relative luminance: 22.5%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 3.82:1 — AA (large text only)
- As text on black (#000000): 5.50:1 — AA ✓
- Best text color on Scarlet background: Black (#000000) at 5.50:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 22.5% — mid-range luminance—it sits in the transition zone where both dark and light text approaches require testing against the 4.5:1 WCAG threshold
- Scarlet qualifies for normal body text and all larger sizes (AA).
- Color blindness consideration: protanopia and deuteranopia (red-green color blindness, ~8% of males) may affect how red-family colors are distinguished from greens and browns. For critical UI states, supplement color alone with shape, label, or pattern cues.
For production use, test Scarlet against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Scarlet in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Scarlet's brand positioning falls squarely in the territory of energy, passion, urgency, and power. Industry data supports its strongest performance in food & beverage, retail, entertainment categories, where the vivid saturation calibrates the message at a medium, considered level.
- Food & Beverage: Red stimulates appetite and accelerates purchase decisions. Fast food chains, hot sauce brands, and snack packaging use it deliberately because it increases caloric craving and speeds up decision-making at point of sale. (examples: Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Blue Bottle Coffee) Avoid in fine dining or health-food contexts where a slower, more mindful experience is the goal.
- Retail & E-commerce: The "red sale tag" is a globally conditioned retail convention. Red signals scarcity and urgency, making it the universal shorthand for clearance events, limited-time offers, and price callouts. (examples: Shopify merchant sites, ASOS, H&M) Overuse exhausts the urgency signal—reserve it for genuinely time-limited promotions.
- Sports & Entertainment: Red communicates competition, athletic energy, and tribal passion. From team jerseys to arena signage, it energizes crowds and aligns with the visceral intensity sports brands want to project. (examples: Spotify, Netflix, Hulu) Works best paired with black or white for maximum contrast and visual impact.
- Brand positioning: Scarlet is best suited for brands projecting excitement, urgency, importance. Categories outside this positioning—financial dashboards (loss association)—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Scarlet works effectively in error states, notification badges, sports branding—contexts where passion serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
For marketers and brand strategists, Scarlet is a commitment to energy, passion, urgency, and power. Match it with industries that make that promise and it will pay dividends consistently.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Scarlet? ▾
- The hex code for Scarlet is #FF2400. Its RGB values are rgb(255, 36, 0) and its HSL values are hsl(8, 100%, 50%).
- What does Scarlet mean in design? ▾
- Scarlet is red at its most vivid — a blue-free, pure signal red with maximum visual energy. It is the color of danger signals, fire equipment, and theatrical curtains. Its vividness makes it attention-commanding but difficult to pair subtly.
- Is Scarlet WCAG accessible? ▾
- Scarlet (#FF2400) passes WCAG AA-large on white with a 3.82:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 39/100.
- What colors go well with Scarlet? ▾
- Scarlet pairs well with its complementary color Sky Cyan (#80DAEB). Analogous colors like Amaranth Pink and Wine also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Scarlet used for? ▾
- Scarlet is commonly used for: Emergency alerts and warning systems; Food and beverage brands (appetite stimulation); Sports teams and athletic wear; Calls-to-action and "Buy Now" buttons; Pharmaceutical packaging for urgent medications.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Scarlet? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #FF2400` or `background-color: #FF2400`. The CSS custom property is `--color-scarlet: #FF2400`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#FF2400]` for backgrounds or `text-[#FF2400]` for text.