Your roots are showing

Pembroke's come in four main coat colors:

• Red and white
• Red headed tri-color
• Black headed tri-color
• Sable and white

You can see some examples here: Pembroke Welsh Corgi colors.

Both of my corgis are red and white. However, within the red and white category, there is variation. Some may be a lighter red, known as fawn, while others are a deep, dark red.

You can see some examples of the variation here: Red and white variation.

Merida is in the middle range, while Gimli sits in the dark red range.

This is why. He has black roots along his shoulder blades and the top of his back. The black hair makes the surrounding hair much darker than Merida.