Cinnabar
An intense, sophisticated deep red shade
Cinnabar is a dark, intense red that carries a heavy, serious mood. Because of its deep saturation, this shade works best as an accent color in a 10% role rather than a full background. It pairs exceptionally well with muted gold or cool slate grays to soften its aggressive nature. The hex code for this powerful tone is #730113.
About Cinnabar
Ember banked under a layer of gray ash
What does cinnabar mean?
Cinnabar often calls to mind deep red lacquer, dried flowers, heavy velvet curtains, and old wine. Its very low lightness and steady saturation give it a dense, mellow feel, more shadowed than bright.
Where you see cinnabar
- oxblood leather
- dried hibiscus
- theater velvet
- aged brick
- pomegranate seeds
- red wine
What it works for
It works for moody interiors, wine labels, leather goods, and accents on light backgrounds.
What colors go with cinnabar?
Questions about Cinnabar
What is the hex code for Cinnabar?
Cinnabar is #730113. In RGB that is rgb(115, 1, 19), in HSL hsl(351, 98%, 23%) and in CMYK 0%, 99%, 83%, 55%.
Is #730113 a good choice for text or large backgrounds?
Cinnabar #730113 is generally too dark and saturated for full backgrounds or long-form body text due to readability concerns. It excels as a 10% accent color, providing visual interest in buttons, borders, or highlights without overwhelming the viewer.
Is Cinnabar readable on white or black?
Cinnabar has a 12.05:1 contrast ratio on white and 1.74:1 on black. WCAG asks for 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text, so on white it works for body text and on black it is too faint for text. Try other pairs in the contrast checker.