Nearest-color comparison

Mahogany vs Rust

Mahogany #C04000 vs Rust #B7410E: RGB distance 16.7 and contrast 1.05:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.

Mahogany and Rust are very close, with an RGB distance of 16.7. Mahogany is lighter by 0.0099, and Mahogany is more saturated by 14 percentage points. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Mahogany#C04000

Rust#B7410E

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Mahogany and Rust across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance16.7

Pair contrast1.05:1

Luminance delta0.0099

Hue delta2 deg

Lighter colorMahogany

More saturatedMahogany

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

orange color

Mahogany

Mahogany is #C04000, a warm orange with hue 20°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.1487. Beside Rust, it is lighter and more saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 5.28:1.

HEX#C04000 RGB192, 64, 0 HSL20, 100, 38 CMYK0, 67, 100, 25 Luminance0.1487 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

orange color

Rust

Rust is #B7410E, a warm orange with hue 18°, saturation 86% and luminance 0.1388. Beside Mahogany, it is darker and less saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 5.56:1.

HEX#B7410E RGB183, 65, 14 HSL18, 86, 39 CMYK0, 64, 92, 28 Luminance0.1388 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Mahogany or Rust

Choose MahoganyChoose Mahogany when the design calls for vibrant orange color at #C04000, with warm temperature and 38% HSL lightness.

Choose RustChoose Rust when #B7410E, its vibrant orange character, or its 39% HSL lightness is the closer match.

Use togetherTreat them as tonal alternatives or adjacent palette steps, not as text and background. Their contrast is only 1.05:1. They share vibrant tone characteristics.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyMahoganyRust

HEX#C04000#B7410E

RGB192, 64, 0183, 65, 14

HSL20, 100, 3818, 86, 39

CMYK0, 67, 100, 250, 64, 92, 28

FamilyOrangeOrange

TemperatureWarmWarm

ToneVibrantVibrant

Luminance0.14870.1388

Black contrast3.97:13.78:1

White contrast5.28:15.56:1

Shared tonesVibrant

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Mahoganywhite text - 5.28:1

Rustwhite text - 5.56:1

Downloadable color comparison infographic

Mahogany vs Rust Color Comparison Infographic

Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.

1200 × 800

Mahogany vs Rust color comparison infographic showing both HEX colors, RGB and HSL values, color distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance. — Mahogany vs Rust color comparison infographic generated from the canonical dataset values shown on this page.

Download WebP Download SVG Open full size

Related Palette Strip

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

Mahogany#C04000

Rust#B7410E

#FF691F#FF691F

#F06C33#F06C33

#0081C2#0081C2

#0E86B9#0E86B9

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": "mahogany",
    "name": "Mahogany",
    "hex": "#C04000",
    "rgb": [
      192,
      64,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      20,
      100,
      38
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      67,
      100,
      25
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1487,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 3.97,
      "white": 5.28
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 5.28
    },
    "description": "Mahogany is #C04000, a warm orange color with vibrant character. Compared with Rust, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/mahogany/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mahogany.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "rust",
    "name": "Rust",
    "hex": "#B7410E",
    "rgb": [
      183,
      65,
      14
    ],
    "hsl": [
      18,
      86,
      39
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      64,
      92,
      28
    ],
    "family": "orange",
    "temperature": "warm",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1388,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 3.78,
      "white": 5.56
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 5.56
    },
    "description": "Rust is #B7410E, a warm orange color with vibrant character. Compared with Mahogany, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for warm accents, food branding, and interior palettes, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/rust/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/rust.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 16.7,
  "contrastRatio": 1.05,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 2,
    "saturation": 14,
    "lightness": 1
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0099,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "vibrant"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Mahogany",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Mahogany"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Mahogany",
      "background": "#C04000",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 5.28
    },
    {
      "color": "Rust",
      "background": "#B7410E",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 5.56
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Mahogany is better when the design needs vibrant orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C04000.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Rust is better when the design needs vibrant orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B7410E.",
  "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/mahogany-vs-rust.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mahogany.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/rust.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "mahogany-vs-rust",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Mahogany vs Rust",
  "verdict": "Mahogany and Rust are very close colors. Mahogany is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Mahogany and Rust are different orange colors with HEX values #C04000 and #B7410E. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 16.7, their contrast ratio is 1.05:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 16.7,
  "contrastRatio": 1.05,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "mahogany",
      "name": "Mahogany",
      "hex": "#C04000",
      "rgb": [
        192,
        64,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        20,
        100,
        38
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        67,
        100,
        25
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1487,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 3.97,
        "white": 5.28
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 5.28
      },
      "description": "Mahogany is #C04000, a warm orange color with vibrant character. Compared with Rust, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/mahogany/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mahogany.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "rust",
      "name": "Rust",
      "hex": "#B7410E",
      "rgb": [
        183,
        65,
        14
      ],
      "hsl": [
        18,
        86,
        39
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        64,
        92,
        28
      ],
      "family": "orange",
      "temperature": "warm",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1388,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 3.78,
        "white": 5.56
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 5.56
      },
      "description": "Rust is #B7410E, a warm orange color with vibrant character. Compared with Mahogany, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for warm accents, food branding, and interior palettes, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/rust/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/rust.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 16.7,
    "contrastRatio": 1.05,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 2,
      "saturation": 14,
      "lightness": 1
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0099,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "vibrant"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Mahogany",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Mahogany"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Mahogany",
        "background": "#C04000",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 5.28
      },
      {
        "color": "Rust",
        "background": "#B7410E",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 5.56
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Mahogany is better when the design needs vibrant orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #C04000.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Rust is better when the design needs vibrant orange character, warm temperature, and the specific HEX value #B7410E.",
    "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/mahogany-vs-rust.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mahogany.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/rust.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/mahogany-vs-rust/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/mahogany-vs-rust.json"
}