Nearest-color comparison

Crimson vs Poppy Red

Crimson and Poppy Red are different red colors with HEX values #DC143C and #DC343B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 32, their contrast ratio is 1.09:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Crimson and Poppy Red are visually related colors. Poppy Red is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.09:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Crimson#DC143C

Poppy Red#DC343B

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance32

Pair contrast1.09:1

Luminance delta0.0195

Hue delta10 deg

Lighter colorPoppy Red

More saturatedCrimson

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

red color

Crimson

Crimson is #DC143C, a warm red color with vibrant character. Compared with Poppy Red, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#DC143C RGB220, 20, 60 HSL348, 83, 47 CMYK0, 91, 73, 14 Luminance0.1604 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

red color

Poppy Red

Poppy Red is #DC343B, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for botanical palettes, natural product design, and seasonal editorial palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#DC343B RGB220, 52, 59 HSL358, 71, 53 CMYK0, 76, 73, 14 Luminance0.1799 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Crimson or Poppy Red

Choose CrimsonCrimson is better when the design needs vibrant red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC143C.

Choose Poppy RedPoppy Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC343B.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyCrimsonPoppy Red

HEX#DC143C#DC343B

RGB220, 20, 60220, 52, 59

HSL348, 83, 47358, 71, 53

CMYK0, 91, 73, 140, 76, 73, 14

FamilyRedRed

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneVibrantBalanced

Luminance0.16040.1799

Black contrast4.21:14.6:1

White contrast4.99:14.57:1

Shared tonesNone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Crimsonwhite text - 4.99:1

Poppy Redblack text - 4.6:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Crimson#DC143C

Poppy Red#DC343B

#F05C79#F05C79

#EA8184#EA8184

#14DBB4#14DBB4

#32DCD7#32DCD7

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",
    "name": "Crimson",
    "hex": "#DC143C",
    "rgb": [
      220,
      20,
      60
    ],
    "hsl": [
      348,
      83,
      47
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      91,
      73,
      14
    ],
    "family": "red",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1604,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.21,
      "white": 4.99
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.99
    },
    "description": "Crimson is #DC143C, a warm red color with vibrant character. Compared with Poppy Red, it is darker and more saturated. 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/crimson/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "poppy-red",
    "name": "Poppy Red",
    "hex": "#DC343B",
    "rgb": [
      220,
      52,
      59
    ],
    "hsl": [
      358,
      71,
      53
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      76,
      73,
      14
    ],
    "family": "red",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1799,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.6,
      "white": 4.57
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 4.6
    },
    "description": "Poppy Red is #DC343B, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for botanical palettes, natural product design, and seasonal editorial palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/poppy-red/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/poppy-red.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 32,
  "contrastRatio": 1.09,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 10,
    "saturation": 12,
    "lightness": 6
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0195,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [],
  "lighterColor": "Poppy Red",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Crimson"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.09,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Crimson",
      "background": "#DC143C",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.99
    },
    {
      "color": "Poppy Red",
      "background": "#DC343B",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 4.6
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Crimson is better when the design needs vibrant red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC143C.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Poppy Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC343B.",
  "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-vs-poppy-red.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/poppy-red.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "crimson-vs-poppy-red",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Crimson vs Poppy Red",
  "verdict": "Crimson and Poppy Red are visually related colors. Poppy Red is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.09:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Crimson and Poppy Red are different red colors with HEX values #DC143C and #DC343B. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 32, their contrast ratio is 1.09:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 32,
  "contrastRatio": 1.09,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "crimson",
      "name": "Crimson",
      "hex": "#DC143C",
      "rgb": [
        220,
        20,
        60
      ],
      "hsl": [
        348,
        83,
        47
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        91,
        73,
        14
      ],
      "family": "red",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1604,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.21,
        "white": 4.99
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.99
      },
      "description": "Crimson is #DC143C, a warm red color with vibrant character. Compared with Poppy Red, it is darker and more saturated. 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/crimson/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "poppy-red",
      "name": "Poppy Red",
      "hex": "#DC343B",
      "rgb": [
        220,
        52,
        59
      ],
      "hsl": [
        358,
        71,
        53
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        76,
        73,
        14
      ],
      "family": "red",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1799,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.6,
        "white": 4.57
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#FFFFFF"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 4.6
      },
      "description": "Poppy Red is #DC343B, a warm red color with balanced character. Compared with Crimson, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for botanical palettes, natural product design, and seasonal editorial palettes, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/poppy-red/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/poppy-red.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 32,
    "contrastRatio": 1.09,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 10,
      "saturation": 12,
      "lightness": 6
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0195,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [],
    "lighterColor": "Poppy Red",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Crimson"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.09,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Crimson",
        "background": "#DC143C",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.99
      },
      {
        "color": "Poppy Red",
        "background": "#DC343B",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 4.6
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Crimson is better when the design needs vibrant red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC143C.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Poppy Red is better when the design needs balanced red character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #DC343B.",
    "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-vs-poppy-red.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/crimson.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/poppy-red.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/crimson-vs-poppy-red/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/crimson-vs-poppy-red.json"
}