Christmas Color Palette

The classic Christmas palette is red and green — near-complements, so they vibrate — calmed by gold, cream and a deep evergreen. Modern versions swap bright red for cranberry or burgundy and add frosty blue-greys.

Colors

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Lightest color becomes the background, darkest the text, the most saturated one the button.

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Body text in your darkest color on your lightest: 12.49:1 AA pass

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Surface card with a secondary accent

Export

CSS custom properties, Tailwind v4 @theme (in OKLCH), Tailwind v3 config, JSON or SCSS.

:root {
  --color-dark-slate-gray: #14352A;
  --color-dark-olive-green: #2F6B4F;
  --color-sea-shell: #FBF7EF;
  --color-gold-enrod: #D4A72C;
  --color-firebrick: #B3202A;
}

Contrast between every pair

WCAG 2.2: 4.5:1 for body text (AA), 3:1 for large text and UI parts, 7:1 for AAA.

Contrast ratio of every text color (rows) on every background (columns)
Text / background	#14352A	#2F6B4F	#FBF7EF	#D4A72C	#B3202A
#14352A		Aa2.12:1Fail	Aa12.49:1AAA	Aa5.95:1AA	Aa2.00:1Fail
#2F6B4F	Aa2.12:1Fail		Aa5.88:1AA	Aa2.80:1Fail	Aa1.05:1Fail
#FBF7EF	Aa12.49:1AAA	Aa5.88:1AA		Aa2.09:1Fail	Aa6.22:1AA
#D4A72C	Aa5.95:1AA	Aa2.80:1Fail	Aa2.09:1Fail		Aa2.96:1Fail
#B3202A	Aa2.00:1Fail	Aa1.05:1Fail	Aa6.22:1AA	Aa2.96:1Fail

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The contrast numbers are calculated exactly in your browser and passed to the AI, so its advice starts from real ratios.

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Hand-picked christmas palettes

Classic

12.49:1 text contrast · Edit in generator

Nordic

14.56:1 text contrast · Edit in generator

Cranberry & cream

13.85:1 text contrast · Edit in generator

Tips for christmas palettes

Use red and green in unequal amounts: let evergreen dominate and red accent.
Red text on green (or the reverse) is hard to read and invisible to many people with red–green color blindness; separate them by lightness.
Gold reads better as a warm mustard (#C9A227) than as a bright yellow.

Want one written for your project? Describe it on the AI palette generator, then check it with the accessible palette checker.

Frequently asked questions

What are the traditional Christmas colors?

Red, green and gold, with white. Red and green come from holly and evergreens; gold from candlelight and gifts.

What are the hex codes for Christmas red and green?

There is no official value. Common choices are a holly red around #B3202A and an evergreen around #14352A to #2F6B4F; the sets on this page give tested combinations with a light background.

Are red and green accessible together?

Not as text on each other: they are often close in lightness and are the pair most affected by red–green color vision deficiency. Use a dark green with a light cream, and add icons or labels where color carries meaning.