#800000At hue 0° with 100% saturation, maroon lands firmly in the red family — a warm color through and through. Colors in this range are commonly associated with energy, urgency and appetite, which makes maroon a natural fit for call-to-action buttons, sale badges and anywhere you need immediate attention.
With a 10.95:1 contrast ratio against white, maroon is dark enough to carry white text at any size — use it confidently for buttons, headers and filled UI elements. It is also dark enough to serve as a background in a dark theme, where lighter tints of maroon can act as hover and border states.
For pairings, the complement of maroon sits at 180° — #007F80, close to teal — and delivers the strongest possible hue contrast; use it sparingly, in roughly a 90/10 split, so the two don't fight. For calmer schemes, the analogous colors 30° to either side keep the same warm temperature, while the triadic pair gives you a balanced three-color palette. All of these are computed for maroon in the palettes below, with copy-ready codes.
Every palette below is computed from maroon's position on the color wheel (hue 0°). Hover any swatch to see its code; click to copy.
Tints mix maroon toward white; shades mix it toward black. Use the scale for hover states, borders and depth without leaving the hue.
WCAG 2.1 requires 4.5:1 for normal text (AA) and 3:1 for large text. Here's how maroon performs, plus how it appears under the three main types of dichromatic color blindness (simulated approximation).
| Pairing | Ratio | Normal text | Large text |
|---|---|---|---|
| White text on Maroon | 10.95:1 | AAA | AAA |
| Black text on Maroon | 1.92:1 | Fail | Fail |
#494700#505A00#7A0000Copy-ready snippets. In CSS you can also use the keyword maroon directly.
:root {
--maroon: #800000;
--maroon-rgb: 128, 0, 0;
--maroon-tint: #B97373;
--maroon-shade: #460000;
}
.btn-maroon {
background: var(--maroon);
color: #ffffff;
}// tailwind.config.js
colors: {
'maroon': {
DEFAULT: '#800000',
light: '#B97373',
dark: '#460000',
},
}The closest CSS named colors by perceptual (Lab) distance.