French Puce
French Puce is a highly saturated, near pure red shade with RGB(78, 22, 9) and hex code #4E1609, reading as dark at a glance.
HEX
#4E1609
RGB
78, 22, 9
HSL
11°, 79%, 17%
CMYK
0%, 72%, 88%, 69%
LAB
17, 26, 21
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Description
- •French Puce (#4E1609) is a warm-toned red color defined by RGB values of 78, 22, 9 and HSL values of 11 degrees hue, 79% saturation, and 17% lightness. At 17% lightness it appears dark, and its highly saturated, near pure character makes it suitable as a strong accent or brand color. It pairs naturally with its complementary shade #09414E for high-contrast schemes, or with the analogous tones #4E3909 and #4E091E for a more harmonious palette.
Psychology
As a red shade, French Puce tends to carry the general associations of that hue family: power, passion, danger, and urgency. Red is one of the first colors humans evolved to distinguish and is commonly linked with energy, urgency, and appetite.
Hue family
red
Saturation level
highly saturated, near pure
Lightness level
dark
Temperature
warm
Because French Puce is highly saturated, near pure and dark, it tends to feel calm and unobtrusive in a design context.
Meaning
Within the red family, colors like French Puce are commonly associated with power, passion, danger, and urgency, though exact interpretation depends on cultural context and surrounding design elements.
Hue family
red
Common associations
power, passion, danger, and urgency
Temperature
warm
History
- 1French Puce is a named point in a modern digital color palette rather than a documented historical pigment, but the red family it belongs to has a long design history. Red is one of the first colors humans evolved to distinguish and is commonly linked with energy, urgency, and appetite.
Color info
Quick actions
Visual perception
- At HSL(11, 79%, 17%), French Puce has a relative luminance of about 0.02 on a 0-1 scale, which can make it harder to distinguish for people with red-green color blindness if used alongside similarly saturated greens or reds; pair it with a distinct lightness or add non-color cues such as icons or labels.
Technology specific
- French Puce (#4E1609) renders consistently on standard sRGB displays; on wider-gamut or uncalibrated screens, expect minor shifts in perceived saturation. For print reproduction, convert from RGB to CMYK and proof physically, since highly saturated colors like this can shift noticeably between screen and print.
Guidance
Use French Puce with white text for readability (contrast ratio approximately 14.6:1). Reserve it for smaller accent areas rather than large backgrounds since high saturation can overwhelm at scale.
Examples
web design
call-to-action buttons
branding
logo accent color
UI design
alert or highlight states
spot color for emphasis
Purpose
French Puce works well for backgrounds, body text, or supporting UI surfaces where subtlety matters, given its highly saturated, near pure and dark profile.
Benefits
visual contrast
pairs with white text for a WCAG contrast ratio of about 14.6:1
palette flexibility
combines with #09414E (complementary) and #094E16/#16094E (triadic) for varied schemes
brand consistency
reads as bold and energetic across most screens