Scarlet
A bright red with a touch of orange, long tied to power, sacrifice and sin
Scarlet is a vivid red, sometimes tinged with orange, that sits between red and orange on the colour wheel. Its name comes from a medieval word for a rich red cloth, and it has been linked to luxury, religion, and both virtue and vice for centuries.
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- Scarlet sits between red and orange on the colour wheel
- The finest scarlet dyes once came from the kermes insect
- Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church wear scarlet robes
- Scarlet was the colour of British soldiers' ceremonial coats
- Scarlet symbolises both sacrifice and sin in Christian tradition
What colour is Scarlet?
Scarlet is a strong, bright red that can lean slightly towards orange. On the colour wheel, it falls between red and orange, less orange than vermilion. It stands out for its intensity and brilliance, which made it a symbol of wealth and power. Scarlet is often seen in uniforms, flags, and ceremonial dress, and is distinct from deeper reds or purples by its vivid, fiery quality.
Where does Scarlet come from?
The word 'scarlet' comes from Middle English, Old French, Latin, and Persian roots, originally referring to a luxurious red cloth. The colour was known in ancient Persia and Rome, where it was second only to imperial purple in status. Early scarlet dyes came from the kermes insect, which lived on oak trees in the Middle East and Mediterranean. The term was first used as a colour name in English around 1250.
How is Scarlet made?
Historically, scarlet dye was made from the kermes insect, found on certain oaks in Turkey, Persia, and Armenia. In the 16th century, cochineal insects from Mexico became the main source, producing brighter reds at lower cost. Artists used vermilion pigment (from the mineral cinnabar) and later cadmium red, a synthetic pigment, to create scarlet in painting.
Where Scarlet is used
Scarlet has been worn by royalty, cardinals, and military officers. British soldiers' red coats and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Red Serge are famous examples. It is used in academic dress, especially for doctorates and law, and appears on flags such as China's. Scarlet has also been a key pigment in Western art from ancient times to the present.
What Scarlet means
In Europe and the United States, scarlet is linked to courage, force, passion, and joy. In the Roman Catholic Church, it stands for the blood of Christ, martyrdom, and sacrifice, and is worn by cardinals. Scarlet also carries associations with sin and immorality, especially in Christian tradition, due to biblical references to the 'Great Harlot' dressed in scarlet.
How Scarlet feels
Our sources tie Scarlet to courage, joy. Such links differ from one culture to the next.
Red around the world
What the red family means from country to country.
Armenian scribes painted manuscripts with vordan karmir, a crimson dye made from an insect that lives on the roots of grasses in the Ararat plain.
Sacred and holySource: Armenian cochinealEach November people pin on a red paper poppy to remember those killed in war. The flower grew on the battlefields of Flanders in the First World War.
Protection and healingDanger and warningNostalgiaSource: Remembrance poppyRed is the colour of the Labour Party, whose symbol is a red rose, and blue the colour of the Conservatives. Election maps are drawn in the two.
Politics and protestSource: Political colourPost boxes, telephone kiosks and London buses share a bright red. Post boxes were painted green at first and changed to red from 1874 so that they were easier to find.
Protection and healingPrideSource: Pillar boxIt is a custom to wear new red underwear on New Year's Eve for luck and love in the coming year. Shop windows fill with it in December.
Luck and prosperityLove and desireSource: New Year's EveRosso corsa, racing red, was the colour given to Italian cars in early international motor racing. Ferrari kept it, and it is now the colour people expect of the brand.
Festival and celebrationPrideEnergySource: Rosso corsaShades and relatives of Scarlet
Scarlet is close to vermilion but less orange. Its shade has varied over time, depending on the dye or pigment used. Venetian scarlet and Armenian Red are historical variants. Scarlet is sometimes confused with crimson or bright red, but it is generally more vivid and slightly more orange.
Colours that go with Scarlet
Harmonies are worked out from the value #E25822. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Scarlet
What colour is scarlet?
Scarlet is a bright red, sometimes with a hint of orange. It is more vivid than crimson and less orange than vermilion.
Where does the name 'scarlet' come from?
The name comes from a medieval word for a rich red cloth, with roots in Old French, Latin, and Persian.
What was scarlet dye made from?
Historically, scarlet dye was made from the kermes insect in the Old World and later from cochineal insects from Mexico.
What does scarlet symbolise?
Scarlet is associated with courage, passion, and joy in the West, and with sacrifice and sin in Christian tradition.
Where is scarlet used today?
Scarlet appears in ceremonial uniforms, academic dress, flags, and remains a popular pigment in art.
Good reading and sources
- Scarlet (color) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Scarlet (color)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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