Short answer
Only a small one, and only in some sources. CSS and the Colourwise catalogue put maroon at a warmer, browner hue than burgundy (ΔE00 9.0 apart), but the crowd survey's burgundy and maroon are just 1.7 apart — for most speakers they name the same dark red. The distinction people teach (burgundy leans purple, maroon leans brown) matches where the words came from more than how they are used.
The lexicon draws burgundy at OKLCH hues 355°–22° (through 0°) and maroon at 8°–35°, with identical lightness and chroma ranges. They share 53% of burgundy's sRGB colours and 40% of maroon's. The catalogue swatches differ mainly in hue — burgundy about 19°, maroon about 29° — which is the purple-versus-brown lean in numbers. The crowd survey does not reproduce it: its burgundy and maroon are ΔE00 1.7 apart and both fall inside both regions, and inside 'wine' too. Nothing in the data supports treating either name as a precise specification.
The words carry their origins. Maroon comes from French marron, the sweet chestnut, and is recorded as an English colour name from 1791, so 'a red with some brown in it' is built into it. Burgundy is the French region, reached through its red wine; the etymology record has the colour sense from 1881, with 'burgundy rose' a little earlier. A wine colour naturally sits nearer purple. Those origins explain the convention that designers and retailers repeat. They do not guarantee that a given burgundy product will be more purple than a given maroon one, because both words have long since spread across the whole dark-red area.
At OKLCH lightness around 0.3 and chroma around 0.13, a shift of ten degrees of hue is a small visible change, and it is easily swamped by screen, fabric and lighting differences. The crowd's two centres, 1.7 ΔE00 apart, are close to the size of difference that needs the two samples side by side to be seen at all. CSS gives a keyword for maroon but none for burgundy, so web colour lists never offer the two as a pair to compare. The result is that the distinction survives as a rule of thumb in style advice rather than as a boundary speakers draw.
The side-by-side comparison of undertone, and when to choose each in a scheme, is on the /compare/burgundy-vs-maroon page; this page is about the words.
If the difference matters — matching team kit, upholstery against an existing rug, a brand's dark red — neither name will carry it. Describe the lean in plain terms ('a dark red leaning towards purple' or 'towards brown'), and attach a value or a physical reference: a HEX or OKLCH value for screen work, a textile or paint reference number for materials, or a cut sample. Dark reds are also the colours whose look depends most on light: warm lamps push them towards brown and cool daylight towards purple, so check a sample in the light it will be used in before deciding it is 'the wrong one'.
| Burgundy | Maroon | Shared by both | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightness (L) | 0.25–0.42 | 0.25–0.42 | 0.25–0.42 |
| Chroma (C) | 0.080–0.170 | 0.080–0.170 | 0.080–0.170 |
| Hue (h) | 355°–22° (through 0°) | 8°–35° | 8°–22° |
| Reference swatch | #800020 (L 0.38, C 0.152, h 19°) | #800000 (L 0.38, C 0.155, h 29°) | ΔE00 9.0 apart |
| sRGB grid colours inside | 36 | 48 | 19 (53% of burgundy, 40% of maroon) |
| How settled the word is | moderate | moderate | — |
| Source of the value | Burgundy | Maroon | ΔE00 between them |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSS Color 4 named colour | no value published | #800000 (L 0.38, C 0.155, h 29°) | — |
| Colourwise catalogue profile | #800020 (L 0.38, C 0.152, h 19°) | #800000 (L 0.38, C 0.155, h 29°) | 9.0 |
| xkcd colour survey | #610023 (L 0.31, C 0.126, h 10°) | #650021 (L 0.32, C 0.129, h 12°) | 1.7 |
Why: The two names overlap across most of the dark-red area, so a label says little about which way the colour leans.
Fix: Order against a physical sample or a measured value, and compare in the room's own light.
Why: A name was treated as a specification.
Fix: Add a HEX or OKLCH value for screen, a print or paint reference for physical output, and a tolerance.
Each statement is labelled by kind — established fact, a standard’s requirement, observed market data, a convention, or Colourwise’s own interpretation or analysis — with the strength of the evidence behind it.
Colourwise analysisModerate evidence
In CIEDE2000 the xkcd survey's burgundy (#610023) and maroon (#650021) are 1.7 apart, while the Colourwise catalogue's burgundy (#800020) and the CSS/catalogue maroon (#800000) are 9.0 apart.
Based on: CIEDE2000 computed by Colourwise from the published sRGB values.
Caveat: The survey gives one centre per name from uncalibrated screens; it shows the centres coincide, not that no speaker distinguishes them.
Source: Color survey results, and the rgb.txt list of the 954 most common colour names; CSS Color Module Level 4
FactModerate evidence
Maroon as a colour name comes from French marron, the sweet chestnut, and is recorded from 1791; burgundy as a colour resembling the wine is recorded from 1881.
Caveat: Dates are first recorded uses and may move.
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary
StandardStrong evidence
CSS Color Level 4 defines a maroon keyword (#800000) and no burgundy keyword.
Source: CSS Color Module Level 4
Colourwise interpretationModerate evidence
The 'burgundy is purpler, maroon is browner' rule reflects the words' origins and a small hue offset in fixed reference values, not a boundary ordinary speakers keep.
Based on: Catalogue and CSS values differ mainly in hue in the stated direction; the crowd survey's centres for the two names almost coincide.
Reviewed 29 September 2026. Colourwise summarises its sources in its own words and does not reproduce standards text or proprietary colour data. Spotted an error? Tell us.