What Color Is Coral? Hex Code and Color Breakdown

Coral is one of those colors that almost everyone recognizes instantly but almost no one can define precisely. It lives in the warm intersection of orange, pink, and red — vivid enough to be memorable, soft enough to feel approachable. It has deep connections to the natural world, a resurgence in mainstream design driven by Pantone, and a set of close cousins — salmon and peach — that designers regularly confuse with it.

Coral Defined: #FF7F50

The CSS named color coral is:

• Hex: #FF7F50
• RGB: rgb(255, 127, 80)
• HSL: hsl(16, 100%, 66%)
• CMYK: approximately C: 0%, M: 50%, Y: 69%, K: 0%

Breaking this down reveals exactly what coral is made of:

• Red channel: 255 — maximum red. This gives coral its intensity and warmth.
• Green channel: 127 — roughly half. This is what prevents coral from being pure red; it pushes the color toward orange.
• Blue channel: 80 — a smaller amount. Without any blue, this would be a standard orange. The small blue component softens it slightly, giving it a slightly pink quality.

The HSL representation is perhaps the most intuitive: a hue of 16 degrees places coral almost exactly between red (0°) and orange (30°), with a slight lean toward red. At 100% saturation and 66% lightness, it is vivid but not harsh.

You can explore coral in all color formats — including OKLCH, which represents it as a highly saturated warm color in the red-orange region — using the Color Converter.

Coral vs. Salmon: Spotting the Difference

Salmon and coral are the two most commonly confused color names. They are close relatives, but distinct.

Salmon is: - Hex: #FA8072 - RGB: rgb(250, 128, 114) - HSL: hsl(6, 93%, 71%)

The key differences:

Salmon has a higher blue value (114 vs. 80), which desaturates it and pushes it toward a pinkish tone. Coral's lower blue value keeps it more firmly in orange territory, making it appear more vivid and saturated. Placed side by side, coral reads as the brighter, more orange option; salmon reads as the softer, more muted, and slightly more pink option.

In practical terms: coral works better as an accent or brand color where energy is desired. Salmon is frequently used for backgrounds, fashion textiles, and wellness-related aesthetics where a gentler, more romantic feel is appropriate.

Coral vs. Peach: A Softer Sibling

Peach is: - Hex: #FFDAB9 - RGB: rgb(255, 218, 185) - HSL: hsl(28, 100%, 86%)

The differences from coral are more pronounced:

Peach is dramatically lighter — its blue channel is more than double coral's — and leans further toward yellow-orange. Where coral is energetic and assertive, peach is soft, delicate, and close to skin-tone territory. Peach works well for backgrounds, neutral tones in pastel palettes, and contexts requiring warmth without intensity. Coral works better when visibility and vibrancy are the goal.

The three together form a warm progression from assertive to soft:

1. Coral #FF7F50 — vivid, orange-dominant, full saturation
2. Salmon #FA8072 — mid-range, slightly pink, moderate saturation
3. Peach #FFDAB9 — soft, light, cream-adjacent, very gentle

Living Coral: Pantone Color of the Year 2019

In December 2018, the Pantone Color Institute named Living Coral (Pantone 16-1546) as the 2019 Color of the Year — a designation that has an outsized effect on fashion, interior design, packaging, and product design trends worldwide.

Pantone's Living Coral is: - Pantone: 16-1546 TCX - Hex equivalent: approximately #FF6B6B to #FF8C69 (the precise sRGB equivalent varies by rendering environment)

Living Coral is described by Pantone as "an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone" — slightly warmer and less orange than the CSS coral named color, with more of a peachy-pink quality. Pantone described the color as evoking the natural beauty of coral reefs while acknowledging the global conversation around reef bleaching and climate change. The selection was praised for its optimism and gently criticized for romanticizing an ecosystem under threat.

The Color of the Year announcement does not specify a single hex or RGB value — it references a proprietary Pantone chip that printing and physical production facilities match using spectrophotometric measurement. The digital sRGB equivalent is an approximation. The divergence between the Pantone chip and any on-screen rendering is a useful reminder that no digital color space fully captures the range of physical pigments.

Following Living Coral's designation, the color appeared across fashion runways, home goods collections, packaging redesigns, and mobile app interfaces throughout 2019. Its influence persisted for several years afterward, contributing to a broader resurgence of warm, optimistic color palettes in the early 2020s.

The Natural Coral Reef Connection

The color coral takes its name directly from coral reef organisms — specifically the pigment produced by coral polyps and the calcium carbonate skeletons they build. Living corals display a remarkable range of colors through their symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae): bright oranges, vivid pinks, yellows, greens, and purples. The classic "coral color" reflects the most common appearance of bleached or calcified coral skeleton after the algae have been expelled — a warm pinkish-orange.

Coral bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures rise, causing the corals to expel their zooxanthellae and turn white. The stark white of a bleached reef is a distress signal — the coral is alive but barely. Extended bleaching leads to death and the grey-brown of dead coral. The color coral as we use it aesthetically — vivid, warm, optimistic — is in some ways the color of coral at its most threatened.

Working with Coral in Design

Coral in Fashion

Coral has been a recurring presence in fashion for decades. Its warm orange-pink sits flattertingly against a wide range of skin tones — it adds warmth without the severity of pure red and avoids the coldness of pure pink. It appears in spring and summer collections, beachwear, resort wear, and women's business casual contexts.

Coral pairs naturally with: - Navy blue #001F5B — classic nautical contrast, high impact - White #FFFFFF — clean and fresh, the most common pairing - Turquoise #40E0D0 — analogous ocean palette, tropical energy - Terracotta #C04000 — warm-warm combination, earthy and grounded - Gold #FFD700 — luxurious, warm analog combination

Coral in Interior Design

In interior spaces, coral works as an accent wall color, in soft furnishings (cushions, throws, rugs), and in ceramic or decorative objects. It is warm enough to add energy to a neutral space but distinctive enough that it reads as a design choice rather than a neutral.

Coral pairs well with: - Natural materials — linen, rattan, light wood, terracotta tile - Sage green #77A38A — a complementary pairing that feels garden-inspired - Dusty blue #7095B4 — a sophisticated contrast with a slightly vintage quality

In large doses — an entire room — coral can feel overwhelming. The best interior applications tend to use it selectively: one accent wall, a set of cushions, or a statement piece like a sofa or armchair against neutral walls.

Coral in Digital and UI Design

On screen, #FF7F50 is vivid. Its contrast ratio against white is approximately 2.4:1, which fails WCAG AA requirements for standard text — do not use coral for body text on white backgrounds.

For accessible use:

A darkened variant like #D4522A (approximately hsl(16, 67%, 50%)) increases contrast against white to around 4.6:1, meeting AA requirements for normal text while retaining the coral character.

Use the Palette Generator to build complete palettes from coral's hue, including harmonious analogous (salmon → coral → orange) and complementary (teal-blue) combinations.

Key Takeaways

• Coral is defined in CSS as #FF7F50 — rgb(255, 127, 80), a vivid orange-pink at HSL hue 16°, sitting between red and orange on the color wheel.
• Salmon (#FA8072) is redder and slightly softer; peach (#FFDAB9) is much lighter and approaches cream. Coral is the most orange and vivid of the three.
• Living Coral (Pantone 16-1546) was Pantone's 2019 Color of the Year, amplifying coral's cultural presence across fashion, interior design, and branding.
• The name comes from coral reef organisms — the warm pinkish-orange of calcium carbonate coral skeleton.
• Pure CSS coral fails WCAG contrast for text use against white — use a darkened variant like #D4522A for accessible text applications.
• Coral pairs naturally with navy, white, turquoise, and terracotta in fashion and interior contexts.
• Explore coral in all color formats and build harmonious palettes using the Color Converter and Palette Generator.