Carmine Red
Madder Brown
Salvia Blue

No. 237

3-color combination

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Colors

Carmine Red

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Madder Brown

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Salvia Blue

HEX
RGB
CMYK

Combination No. 237 in use

The palette applied to simple layouts. Colors are assigned to roles automatically; try other arrangements.

Color study

A dictionary of color

Background, surface, text and accent, taken from one of Wada’s combinations.

ExploreLearn more

Combination No. 237 as a living room

Painted following the 60-30-10 rule: about 60% wall color, 30% for the sofa, 10% for cushions, throw and vase. A fourth color goes to the rug and curtains; otherwise they stay undyed. Floor and ceiling stay neutral; the print shows the whole palette.

Readable text pairs

Harmony in contrastSalvia Blue · 4.2:1

Harmony in contrastMadder Brown · 4.2:1

Analysis

Character

Medium & moderate

Lightness 54 (range 40–74)
Colorfulness 0.104

Average OKLCH lightness (0–100) and chroma (colorfulness).

Harmony

Color wheel with the combination’s hues; distance from the center shows colorfulnessCarmine RedMadder BrownSalvia Blue

Complementary

Includes hues from opposite sides of the color wheel.

A heuristic based on the painter’s color wheel. Wada’s combinations often ignore textbook rules, which is part of their appeal.

Temperature

Warm & cool

  • Carmine RedWarm
  • Madder BrownWarm
  • Salvia BlueCool

Reds, oranges and yellows count as warm; greens, blues and violets as cool.

Distinctness

ΔE 13

Closest pair ΔE 12.6 · average ΔE 37.2

CIEDE2000 color difference. Below about 10 colors look related; above 30 they are clearly distinct.

Contrast

AaBest text pair: Salvia Blue on Madder Brown (4.2:1)

ContrastWCAGAPCA Lc
AaAaCarmine Red · Madder Brown1.4:1Low8 / 0
AaAaCarmine Red · Salvia Blue3.0:1Low35 / 36
AaAaMadder Brown · Salvia Blue4.2:1AA large44 / 45

WCAG 2 contrast ratio for text, and APCA lightness contrast (Lc) for each text/background direction.

Similar combinations

The closest palettes in perceptual color space (OKLab).

Export

Copy the palette as code or download it as an image.

/* Sanzo Wada, combination No. 237 */
:root {
  --carmine-red: #a62c37; /* Carmine Red */
  --madder-brown: #762c19; /* Madder Brown */
  --salvia-blue: #97acc8; /* Salvia Blue */
}

More combinations with Carmine Red

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