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#BD5542 Color

#BD5542 is rgb(189, 85, 66) in RGB, hsl(9, 48%, 50%) in HSL, and about cmyk(0%, 55%, 65%, 26%) in CMYK. It has no registered color name of its own — the closest is Cedar Chest (#C95A49), very hard to tell apart at ΔE 3.85. White text is the more readable choice on this background.

#BD5542
HEX#BD5542
RGBrgb(189, 85, 66)
HSLhsl(9, 48%, 50%)
HSVhsv(9, 65%, 74%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 55%, 65%, 26%)
OKLCHoklch(57.7% 0.138 32.1)
LABlab(49.70% 41.78 32.27)
LCHlch(49.70% 52.79 37.68)

What #BD5542 Is Called

Most hex codes have no name: there are 16.7 million of them and a few thousand registered names. These are the named colors nearest to #BD5542, ordered by CIE76 distance in CIELAB. Anything under about ΔE 2 is a difference most people cannot see.

Browse the full index of named colors A-Z or every red in the library.

#BD5542 Channel Values

How #BD5542 breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

ModelChannelsNotes
RGBR 189 · G 85 · B 668-bit channels as sent to the display
HSLH 9° · S 48% · L 50%Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSVH 9° · S 65% · V 74%Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYKC 0% · M 55% · Y 65% · K 26%Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance4.62:1 vs white · 4.54:1 vs blackWCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a #BD5542 background. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; AAA requires 7:1. Contrast is one check, not a full accessibility review.

TextWhite text4.62:1AA normal AA large AAA normal
TextBlack text4.54:1AA normal AA large AAA normal

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #BD5542 in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With #BD5542

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite #BD5542; analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base
Complementary
Analogous
Analogous
Triadic
Triadic
Split comp.
Split comp.

Tints & Shades of #BD5542

Lighter tints and darker shades built by moving the lightness channel while holding hue and saturation, which is what you want for hover states, backgrounds, and text variants.

Tints

Shades

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #BD5542.

How #BD5542 Looks with Color Vision Deficiency

Simulated with the Viénot, Brettel & Mollon LMS projection model. Anomalous types are rendered as partial versions of the matching dichromacy, which is an approximation rather than a per-person clinical model.

Typical#BD5542
Protanopia#707041
Protanomaly#956641
Deuteranopia#84843A
Deuteranomaly#9E743E
Tritanopia#BE5353
Tritanomaly#BD544D
Achromatopsia#757575

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #BD5542 in Code

Copy-ready declarations for the places this color usually ends up.

CSS custom property--color-bd5542: #BD5542;
CSS backgroundbackground-color: #BD5542;
Tailwind configcolors: { 'color-bd5542': '#BD5542' }
SwiftUIColor(red: 0.741, green: 0.333, blue: 0.259)
Android XML<color name="color_bd5542">#BD5542</color>
SVG fillfill="#BD5542"

More Red Colors

#BD5542 sits in the red family. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

#BD5542 Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #BD5542?

#BD5542 is a mid-tone red — rgb(189, 85, 66) in RGB and hsl(9, 48%, 50%) in HSL. It carries no registered color name of its own; the closest named color is Cedar Chest (#C95A49), which is very hard to tell apart at a CIE76 distance of 3.85.

What is the RGB value of #BD5542?

#BD5542 is rgb(189, 85, 66) — red 189, green 85, and blue 66 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #BD5542?

#BD5542 converts to approximately cmyk(0%, 55%, 65%, 26%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #BD5542 be black or white?

White text is the more readable choice. #BD5542 scores 4.62:1 against white and 4.54:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #BD5542 as a CSS color keyword?

No. #BD5542 is not one of the CSS color keywords, so it has to be written as a hex, rgb() or hsl() value. The closest keyword is indianred (#CD5C5C) at a CIE76 distance of 10.81, which is visibly different.

Open #BD5542 in a Tool

Keep exploring: every red in the color library, the guide to shades of red, or the full color library.