Scarlet
In production2004-present · Color No. 326
Introducing Scarlet, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 2004 to current production. It's a bold and vibrant shade of red, reminiscent of rich scarlet blooms. Scarlet adds a touch of passion and drama to any tablescape. Mix and match Scarlet with colors like White and Sunflower for a classic and striking table setting, or pair it with Plum and Slate for a more sophisticated and dramatic combination.
Production
Scarlet is in production right now. Fiesta Factory Direct is the factory's own store, in Newell, West Virginia - the same plant that made the piece.
Buy Fiesta (opens in a new tab)Notes on Scarlet
Scarlet arrived in 2004 and is still in production, which puts it among the longest runs in the modern line. It's the closest thing current Fiesta has to the famous vintage Red - only about ΔE 6 apart, near enough that the two mix on a table without looking like a mistake, which is genuinely useful if you're supplementing vintage pieces. It's a lead color and behaves like one: two or three settings go a long way, and it wants quieter pieces around it. If you want one red that will still be buyable in five years, this is the safe bet.
Using Scarlet on a table
Scarlet carries enough color to lead a table on its own. Use it for the plates and let quieter pieces do the rest; two or three settings of it go a long way. Its mid lightness (L* 46) means most food reads against it without either washing out or vanishing. It separates strongly from a white cloth (5.2:1) and less so from dark wood.
Below, 5 combinations built only from colors Fiesta has actually produced. Each says which rule it follows, and which pieces you can still buy today.
The pairing in its own description
Named in the descriptionThese colors are named alongside Scarlet in this guide's description of it.
All still in production
Every color in this set is being made right now, so you can complete the whole table today.
Opposite on the wheel
Turquoise sits roughly opposite Scarlet in hue, which is the highest-contrast pairing the palette offers. The neutrals keep it from shouting.
- White
- Turquoise, 1937-1969
-
Your color Scarlet
- Black
All red
Every color here is from the red family, arranged light to dark. A single-family table reads calm and deliberate rather than busy.
- Rose, 1951-1959
-
Your color Scarlet
- Claret
Three-way split
Medium Green and Lavender sit about a third of the way around the color wheel from Scarlet in each direction. Evenly spaced hues stay lively without any one taking over.
- Lavender
-
Your color Scarlet
- Medium Green
- Black
Where Scarlet sits in the line
Scarlet arrived while Cinnabar was still in production, and is lighter and more vivid than it - a clearly different glaze rather than a reformulation (ΔE 23.5). It has been in production 22 years against a median of 7 for its era - one of the colors the company kept. What else happened at the company in 2004 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Scarlet. Under about ΔE 5 two colors are hard to tell apart side by side - useful when you are identifying an unmarked piece.
On the table alongside Scarlet
38 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: