Carnelian
#B31B1BBrown family
About Carnelian
Carnelian (#B31B1B) is a dark, vivid brown. Brown is a warm, earthy neutral created by darkening orange or red, so this shade feels grounded, natural and enduring rather than flashy.
Psychology
Brown evokes stability, reliability and comfort. It is the color of wood, earth and leather, so it reads as honest, rustic and warm, though in some contexts it can feel conservative or plain.
Applications
Brown is a staple of organic, coffee, chocolate, outdoor and craft brands. It works as a grounding neutral in palettes, for premium packaging, and in interior or furniture design where warmth and durability matter.
History
Browns have been made from earth pigments like umber, sienna and ochre since prehistoric times, and those same pigments still appear in artists’ palettes today under their traditional names.
Meaning
Brown represents earth, home, simplicity and reliability. It can signal wholesomeness and craftsmanship, and it often appears in brands that want to feel authentic, natural and down-to-earth.
Why use this color
Choose brown for brands and designs that need warmth, authenticity and a natural, grounded feel. It is perfect for coffee, food, outdoor and handmade products and for grounding brighter palettes.
Accessibility
Against white, #B31B1B has a 6.8:1 contrast ratio; against black it is 3.1:1. White text on #B31B1B meets WCAG AA for normal text.
Fun facts
- Artists' browns like umber and sienna are named after the regions in Italy where the earth pigments were mined.
- Brown is essentially a dark, desaturated orange or red.
- Coffee, chocolate and wood all owe their rich, familiar tones to brown compounds.
Shades, tints & tones
Variations
Ten lightness steps plus Carnelian's tints, shades and tones — every swatch copies its hex on click.
Lightness scale
Tints (toward white)
Shades (toward black)
Tones (toward gray)
Color theory
Color harmonies
Proven schemes built around Carnelian. Each swatch is one click from your clipboard.
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split-complementary
Tetradic
Monochromatic
Accessibility
Blindness simulator
See how Carnelian is perceived with common types of color vision deficiency.
Normal vision
Standard trichromatic vision, shown for reference.
Protanopia
Red-blind. Reds look darker and can be confused with greens and browns.
Deuteranopia
Green-blind. Greens look muted and can be confused with reds and browns.
Tritanopia
Blue-blind. Blues look greenish and yellows fade toward pink.
Achromatopsia
Complete color blindness. Everything is seen in shades of gray.
WCAG
Contrast checker
How Carnelian performs against black and white text, with WCAG AA and AAA ratings.
The ratio is identical whether Carnelian is used as the text or the background.
Open the full checkerReady to use
Color palettes
Curated palettes that put Carnelian to work, with copy-all support for each.
Complementary
Roughly 180° across the wheel from #B31B1B (hue 0°) sits #1bb1b1, held together by the #df6d6d tint and the neutrals #f4f4f5 and #18181b.
Analogous
#B31B1B with its two closest neighbours, #b11b66 and #b1661b, for a 74%-saturation run that stays inside one family; #df6d6d and #430a0a add depth without breaking it.
Triadic
#B31B1B plus #1bb11b and #1b1bb1, a triangle that sits 120° apart at every corner, with #f4f4f5 and #18181b doing the quiet work underneath.
Monochromatic
One hue at 5 lightness steps: #fceded through #1b0404, starting from #B31B1B at 40% lightness.
Carnelian (#B31B1B) is a brown-family color. Use its values, variations, harmonies and palettes above to put it to work in your next design.
Frequently asked questions
Carnelian is #B31B1B — rgb(179, 27, 27) / hsl(0, 74%, 40%). Carnelian (#B31B1B) is a dark, vivid brown. Brown is a warm, earthy neutral created by darkening orange or red, so this shade feels grounded, natural and enduring rather than flashy.
Good to know
- Carnelian is one of 609 named colors in the library.
- Its complementary hue sits 180° away on the color wheel: #1bb1b1.
More color tools
Next steps for Carnelian: each of these picks the value up where this page leaves off, so nothing gets retyped or re-uploaded.