Nearest-color comparison

Crimson Red vs Dark Red

Crimson Red and Dark Red are different red colors with HEX values #990000 and #8B0000. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 14, their contrast ratio is 1.12:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Crimson Red and Dark Red are very close colors. Crimson Red is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.12:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Crimson Red#990000

Dark Red#8B0000

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Crimson Red and Dark Red across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance14

Pair contrast1.12:1

Luminance delta0.0128

Hue delta0 deg

Lighter colorCrimson Red

More saturatedCrimson Red

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

red color

Crimson Red

Crimson Red is #990000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Dark Red, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#990000 RGB153, 0, 0 HSL0, 100, 30 CMYK0, 100, 100, 40 Luminance0.0677 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

red color

Dark Red

Dark Red is #8B0000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson Red, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#8B0000 RGB139, 0, 0 HSL0, 100, 27 CMYK0, 100, 100, 45 Luminance0.0549 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Crimson Red or Dark Red

Choose Crimson RedCrimson Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #990000.

Choose Dark RedDark Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #8B0000.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyCrimson RedDark Red

HEX#990000#8B0000

RGB153, 0, 0139, 0, 0

HSL0, 100, 300, 100, 27

CMYK0, 100, 100, 400, 100, 100, 45

FamilyRedRed

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneBalancedBalanced

Luminance0.06770.0549

Black contrast2.35:12.1:1

White contrast8.92:110.01:1

Shared tonesBalanced

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Crimson Redwhite text - 8.92:1

Dark Redwhite text - 10.01:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Crimson Red#990000

Dark Red#8B0000

#F50000#F50000

Signal Red#E60000

#009999#009999

#008A8A#008A8A

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "crimson-red",
    "name": "Crimson Red",
    "hex": "#990000",
    "rgb": [
      153,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      100,
      30
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      100,
      100,
      40
    ],
    "family": "red",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0677,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.35,
      "white": 8.92
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 8.92
    },
    "description": "Crimson Red is #990000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Dark Red, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/crimson-red/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson-red.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "dark-red",
    "name": "Dark Red",
    "hex": "#8B0000",
    "rgb": [
      139,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      100,
      27
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      100,
      100,
      45
    ],
    "family": "red",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0549,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.1,
      "white": 10.01
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 10.01
    },
    "description": "Dark Red is #8B0000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson Red, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/dark-red/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-red.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 14,
  "contrastRatio": 1.12,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 0,
    "saturation": 0,
    "lightness": 3
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0128,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "balanced"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Crimson Red",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Crimson Red"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.12,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Crimson Red",
      "background": "#990000",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 8.92
    },
    {
      "color": "Dark Red",
      "background": "#8B0000",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 10.01
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Crimson Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #990000.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Dark Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #8B0000.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/crimson-red-vs-dark-red.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson-red.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-red.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "crimson-red-vs-dark-red",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Crimson Red vs Dark Red",
  "verdict": "Crimson Red and Dark Red are very close colors. Crimson Red is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.12:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Crimson Red and Dark Red are different red colors with HEX values #990000 and #8B0000. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 14, their contrast ratio is 1.12:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 14,
  "contrastRatio": 1.12,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "crimson-red",
      "name": "Crimson Red",
      "hex": "#990000",
      "rgb": [
        153,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        100,
        30
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        100,
        100,
        40
      ],
      "family": "red",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0677,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.35,
        "white": 8.92
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 8.92
      },
      "description": "Crimson Red is #990000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Dark Red, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for branding accents, editorial palettes, and product design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/crimson-red/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson-red.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "dark-red",
      "name": "Dark Red",
      "hex": "#8B0000",
      "rgb": [
        139,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        100,
        27
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        100,
        100,
        45
      ],
      "family": "red",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0549,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.1,
        "white": 10.01
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 10.01
      },
      "description": "Dark Red is #8B0000, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson Red, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/dark-red/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-red.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 14,
    "contrastRatio": 1.12,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 0,
      "saturation": 0,
      "lightness": 3
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0128,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Crimson Red",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Crimson Red"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.12,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Crimson Red",
        "background": "#990000",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 8.92
      },
      {
        "color": "Dark Red",
        "background": "#8B0000",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 10.01
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Crimson Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #990000.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Dark Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #8B0000.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/crimson-red-vs-dark-red.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson-red.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-red.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/crimson-red-vs-dark-red/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/crimson-red-vs-dark-red.json"
}