Burgundy gradient: rich wine and maroon codes

A burgundy gradient blends deep, slightly purple reds: classic burgundy #800020, wine #7f1d3a and dark oxblood #4a0e1f, usually fading into near black, softening into rose and blush, or lit with a touch of gold. The trick to keeping it rich is to blend burgundy only with its relatives, reds, roses, plums and very dark browns, and to give it a cream or gold partner instead of white. Below you will find the codes, the differences between burgundy, maroon and wine, and the text colours that work.

Burgundy, maroon, wine and oxblood: what is the difference

People use these names loosely, but they lean in different directions, and the direction matters when you build a gradient. Burgundy and wine lean towards purple, so they blend gracefully into plum and rose. Maroon and oxblood lean towards brown, so they sit well with leather, tan and brass. If your gradient looks like rust, you have probably mixed a brown maroon with a cool pink.

Deep burgundy gradient codes

The most useful burgundy gradients are dark: a near black ground with wine light rising through it. They feel expensive because there is very little bright colour, and what there is glows. Keep the lightest red away from where the words will sit.

These live close to the darker end of red gradients, but with less fire and more depth. Dark reds band easily in compressed images, so add a little grain before you export.

Burgundy with gold, blush and plum

Burgundy rarely works alone for long. Its classic partners each change the mood. Gold makes it formal and celebratory. Blush makes it romantic and soft. Plum makes it moody and modern. Navy, placed beside it rather than blended in, makes it collegiate.

The burgundy and gold pairing is the easiest to overdo. Keep gold to a sliver at one edge or to the type, and it reads as fine wine rather than costume. For more on dark gold, see black and gold gradients.

How to keep a burgundy gradient from going brown

1. 1

   Pick a direction: purple or brown

   Decide whether your burgundy leans wine or leans leather, and keep every colour in the gradient leaning the same way.

2. 2

   Darken towards near black, not grey

   A burgundy fading into a warm grey looks dusty. Fade into a red tinted black like #14050a and it stays rich.

3. 3

   Never blend into green or olive

   Green is opposite red on the colour wheel, so the middle of the blend goes grey brown. Muddy gradients shows the effect.

4. 4

   Lift with rose, not orange

   To make burgundy lighter, step through garnet and dusty rose. Orange pulls it towards rust.

5. 5

   Add fine grain

   Deep reds compress badly and band in steps. A light noise layer keeps the surface smooth, and makes it feel like velvet or paper.

Text colours on a burgundy gradient

Burgundy is dark enough that light text reads easily on almost all of it. Pure white can feel stark, though; a warm cream keeps the whole design soft. Gold reads well on the darkest reds and is lovely for a name or a date, but use it in large sizes. Ratios below use the WCAG formula, where 4.5:1 is the usual minimum for small text.

Both designs keep their words on one end of the blend. Text on a gradient explains how to handle a line that has to cross from dark to light.

A burgundy gradient background in CSS

.section--wine {
  background-color: #2a0a12;
  background-image:
    radial-gradient(circle at 75% 20%, #9f1239 0%, transparent 45%),
    radial-gradient(circle at 10% 95%, #4a0e1f 0%, transparent 55%),
    linear-gradient(160deg, #2a0a12 0%, #800020 100%);
  color: #fdf2e9;
}

.section--wine .accent {
  color: #d4a24c;
}

Layered radial gradients over a linear base give burgundy the depth of fabric rather than the flatness of a fill. The same idea in more detail is in CSS radial gradients.

Where burgundy works

Burgundy carries red's warmth without its urgency, which is why it rarely appears on sale banners and often appears on menus, invitations and labels. It suits wine bars and restaurants, beauty and fragrance, bookshops, universities, winter and festive campaigns, and autumn collections. It also pairs naturally with the earth tone colour palettes many lifestyle brands use, as the deep accent among tans and olives.

If you want a deep red look that is genuinely yours rather than a hex code anyone can copy, browse burgundy and wine Marks in Gradiently's Market by typing a colour word like "wine". Each Mark is unique, renders at every size you need and keeps your words readable on its darkest and lightest parts.