Tints & Shades
50
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Scale from white (50) through Tomato (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #FF6347
- RGB
- rgb(255, 99, 71)
- HSL
- hsl(9, 100%, 64%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.696 0.196 32)
- CMYK
- cmyk(0%, 61%, 72%, 0%)
--color-tomatobg-[#FF6347]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
2.95:1
On Black (#000)
7.13:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
2.7:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #FF6347
color: #FF6347
bg-[#FF6347] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #FF6347
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Sky Cyan
#80DAEB
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Red is the most emotionally intense color in the spectrum. It stimulates the nervous system, accelerates respiration, and increases heart rate. Red commands attention through associations with blood, fire, danger, and passion — making it the dominant choice for warnings, calls-to-action, and brand identities that must stand out instantly. In food culture, red stimulates appetite. In romance, it signals desire. In sport, studies show red-clad competitors win more often. However, overuse creates aggression. The most effective red designs use it sparingly as a focal accent. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Tomato 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
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Tomato is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (7.13:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #FF6347;Text
color: #FF6347;Border
border: 2px solid #FF6347;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #FF634740;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #FF6347, #ff9574);Tailwind-style
--color-tomato: #FF6347;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Tomato without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#FF6347]Text
text-[#FF6347]Border
border-[#FF6347]Ring
ring-[#FF6347]Fill
fill-[#FF6347]From (gradient)
from-[#FF6347]Via (gradient)
via-[#FF6347]To (gradient)
to-[#FF6347]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Tomato design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-tomato: #FF6347;
--color-tomato-rgb: 255, 99, 71;
--color-tomato-hsl: 9, 100%, 64%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-tomato: #FF6347; $color-tomato-rgb: 255, 99, 71; $color-tomato-hsl: 9, 100%, 64%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'tomato': '#FF6347',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-tomato: #FF6347;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"tomato": {
"value": "#FF6347",
"type": "color",
"description": "Tomato — #FF6347"
}
}Related Palettes & Combinations
Color Combinations
More red colors
View all →What Does Tomato Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
The psychology of Tomato 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.
- In Western cultures red denotes importance (red carpets), danger (stop signs), love (Valentine's Day), and financial loss ("in the red")—a dual symbolism of celebration and warning that designers leverage depending on context.
- Across China, India, and much of Southeast Asia, red is the color of luck, prosperity, and celebration. It dominates weddings, Lunar New Year, and auspicious occasions, carrying exactly the opposite of its Western "danger" connotation.
- Tomato's mid-tone lightness (64%) shifts its psychological register: a balanced mid-tone that embodies energy, passion, urgency, and power at its most direct.
- At 100% saturation, Tomato 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.
The rule with Tomato is intent—when it appears, it should carry meaning. Urgency, passion, importance. Never filler.
How to Use Tomato in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
Tomato 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.
- UI components: primary action buttons, error and destructive states, delete confirmations—Tomato performs reliably in all these roles with its mid-tone tonal character.
- Brand & identity: call-to-action buttons, promotional banners, food packaging—contexts where Tomato's vivid quality creates the right register.
- Typography: Tomato as text requires a dark background; its 64% lightness means it provides 3.0:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
- Tomato creates strong legibility with black text overlays (7.1:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Proportional use: Tomato's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
The rule with Tomato is intent—when it appears, it should carry meaning. Urgency, passion, importance. Never filler.
Tomato Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Tomato (#FF6347) achieves a 7.13:1 contrast ratio with black text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 30.6%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 2.95:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 7.13:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Tomato background: Black (#000000) at 7.13:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 30.6% — 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
- Tomato qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- 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 Tomato against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Tomato in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Tomato'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 mid-tone, 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: Disney+, Hulu, Netflix) Works best paired with black or white for maximum contrast and visual impact.
- Brand positioning: Tomato is best suited for brands projecting energy, passion, importance. Categories outside this positioning—financial dashboards (loss association)—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Tomato works effectively in call-to-action buttons, promotional banners, food packaging—contexts where passion serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
For marketers and brand strategists, Tomato 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 Tomato? ▾
- The hex code for Tomato is #FF6347. Its RGB values are rgb(255, 99, 71) and its HSL values are hsl(9, 100%, 64%).
- What does Tomato mean in design? ▾
- Red is the most emotionally intense color in the spectrum. It stimulates the nervous system, accelerates respiration, and increases heart rate. Red commands attention through associations with blood, fire, danger, and passion — making it the dominant choice for warnings, calls-to-action, and brand identities that must stand out instantly. In food culture, red stimulates appetite. In romance, it signals desire. In sport, studies show red-clad competitors win more often. However, overuse creates aggression. The most effective red designs use it sparingly as a focal accent. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
- Is Tomato WCAG accessible? ▾
- Tomato (#FF6347) does not pass WCAG AA on white (2.95:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 7.13:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Tomato? ▾
- Tomato pairs well with its complementary color Sky Cyan (#80DAEB). Analogous colors like French Pink and Ruby also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Tomato used for? ▾
- Tomato 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 Tomato? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #FF6347` or `background-color: #FF6347`. The CSS custom property is `--color-tomato: #FF6347`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#FF6347]` for backgrounds or `text-[#FF6347]` for text.