Showa era
English Red & Cerulian Blue
Plate 1 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — English Red, Cerulian Blue.
#d96629
orange · 5 palettes
English Red
About English Red
English Red is a mid-tone, vivid orange tone. Its hex value is #d96629 — that is
RGB 217, 102, 41, or HSL 21°, 70%, 51%.
It holds 5.9:1 contrast against dark, so English Red works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 3.6:1; on black 5.9:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, English Red appears in 5 combinations — most often paired with Cerulian Blue, Raw Sienna and Peacock Blue.
Colours that go with English Red
From a standard colour wheel, English Red anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#d96629 #299CD9
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#d96629 #D92944 #D9BE29
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#d96629 #29D966 #6629D9
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#d96629 #29D9BE #2944D9
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use English Red
English Red is a mid-tone, vivid tone (HSL 21°, 70%, 51%), which makes it a versatile mid-tone for accents, buttons or blocks. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (5.9:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#299CD9) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#D92944 and #D9BE29) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with English Red
English Red appears in 5 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
See what's inside
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.