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orange · warm

#9b7542

a dark, soft orange · warm · closest name: Dark Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Forest Amber

RGB
155, 117, 66
HSL
34°, 40%, 43%
CMYK
0, 25, 57, 39
Luminance
0.2008

#9b7542 is a dark soft orange, 34° on the wheel and 4/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.02:1). As text it scores 4.19:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(34 40% 43%)rgb(155 117 66)Base step 700AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9b7542 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9b7542
Hue
34°
orange
Saturation
40%
soft
Lightness
43%
dark
Brightness
61%
HSV value
Perceived
49%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2008
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
4/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.02:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 11.7
Chroma
34.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.589
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 17
Web-safe
#996633
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue34° of 360°
Saturation40%
Lightness43%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9b7542.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool4% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red35%
Green63%
Blue2%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#9b7542
HEX (8-digit)#9b7542ff
RGBrgb(155, 117, 66)
RGBArgba(155, 117, 66, 1)
HSLhsl(34, 40%, 43%)
HSV / HSBhsv(34, 57%, 61%)
HWBhwb(34 26% 39%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 25%, 57%, 39%)
LABlab(51.9 8.8 33.6)
LCHlch(51.9 34.7 75.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.589 0.083 73.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.86, 20.09, 7.93)
Decimal10188098
Display P3color(display-p3 0.608 0.459 0.259)
Web-safe#996633

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9b7542;
background-color: #9b7542;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9b7542;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9b7542] bg-[#9b7542]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9b7542;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.608, green: 0.459, blue: 0.259)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.608, green: 0.459, blue: 0.259, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9B7542</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9B7542)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9B7542)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(66, 117, 155)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(155, 117, 66)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(155, 117, 66)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 155, 117, 66)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6078f, 0.4588f, 0.2588f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{155,117,66}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9b7542 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9b7542 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#594426, #EDE2D4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9b7542 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F5F0EB;
  --brand-200: #EAE0D2;
  --brand-300: #DECAB0;
  --brand-400: #CDB089;
  --brand-500: #BC9562;
  --brand-600: #AC8249;
  --brand-700: #9b7542;
  --brand-800: #725631;
  --brand-900: #544127;
  --brand-950: #342818;
  --brand: #9b7542;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #E7D9C6;
  --brand-hover: #826237;
  --brand-pressed: #694F2D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EDE2D4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F0EB',
        200: '#EAE0D2',
        300: '#DECAB0',
        400: '#CDB089',
        500: '#BC9562',
        600: '#AC8249',
        700: '#9b7542',
        800: '#725631',
        900: '#544127',
        950: '#342818',
        DEFAULT: '#9b7542',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F0EB,
  '200': #EAE0D2,
  '300': #DECAB0,
  '400': #CDB089,
  '500': #BC9562,
  '600': #AC8249,
  '700': #9b7542,
  '800': #725631,
  '900': #544127,
  '950': #342818,
);
$brand-base: #9b7542;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F0EB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EAE0D2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DECAB0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CDB089", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BC9562", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AC8249", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9b7542", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#725631", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#544127", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#342818", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #9b7542 · 5.02:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.19:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #9b7542 as text scores 4.19:1 on white and 5.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #594426 at 2.20:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#94703F · 4.52:1
AA on white−2% L
#94703F
The quick fox
#6C522E · 7.28:1
AAA on white−13% L
#6C522E
The quick fox
#9b7542 · 5.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9b7542
The quick fox
#B88F58 · 7.11:1
AAA on black+10% L
#B88F58

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9B7542 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#9b7542 on white: 4.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9b7542 on black: 5.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9b7542 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9b7542.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.19:1AaAa
Slate 504.00:1AaAa
Slate 1003.82:1AaAa
Slate 2003.40:1AaAa
Slate 3002.82:1AaAa
Slate 4001.63:1AaAa
Slate 5001.14:1AaAa
Slate 6001.81:1AaAa
Slate 7002.47:1AaAa
Slate 8003.49:1AaAa
Slate 9004.26:1AaAa
Black5.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #83763E
deuteranopia · #8C7F43
tritanopia · #A76B69

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #9b7542 is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF8F5
#F5F0EB
#EAE0D2
#DECAB0
#CDB089
#BC9562
#AC8249
#9b7542
#725631
#544127
#342818
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #342818Text step on white = 800
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.021 73.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 73.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.050 73.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.065 73.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.076 73.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.083 73.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.083 73.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.078 73.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.070 73.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.058 73.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.046 73.1);
}

Colors that work with #9b7542

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#E7D9C6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B794B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3E809F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#594426
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F3ED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#826237
One step down in lightness
Pressed#694F2D
Two steps down
Disabled#BAA993
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B5823C
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #9b7542

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #594426
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

friendlyenergeticaffordablesocial

Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Hard to make feel premium, and it collides with the "caution" band in status systems.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight57/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#42689B
Analogous left#9B4842
Analogous right#949B42
Split-complement 1#42949B
Split-complement 2#48429B
Triadic 1#429B75
Triadic 2#75429B
Tetradic#429B48
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°34°

#9b7542 sits at 34°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red60.8%
Green45.9%
Blue25.9%
R · 0–255
155
0x9b
G · 0–255
117
0x75
B · 0–255
66
0x42

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta24.5%
Yellow57.4%
Key (black)39.2%

Total ink coverage is 121%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9b7542 text on a black background

contrast 5.02:1

Card sample

#9b7542 text on a white background

contrast 4.19:1

Card sample

#9b7542 on grey

3.82:1

#9b7542 on its own surface

3.95:1

#9b7542 on its dark surface

3.98:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9b7542;
Background color
Panel with #9b7542 background
background-color: #9b7542;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9b7542;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(155, 117, 66, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(155, 117, 66, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9b7542;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9b7542, #869B42);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9b7542, #6F9B42);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9b7542;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9b7542;
caret-color: #9b7542;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9b7542;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F3ED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9b7542;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9b7542 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9b7542 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(155, 117, 66, 0.5)
rgb(155 117 66 / 50%)
#9b754280
hsl(34 40% 43% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9b7542 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9b75421a#F5F1EC
20%#9b754233#EBE3D9
40%#9b754266#D7C8B3
60%#9b754299#C3AC8E
80%#9b7542cc#AF9168

Gradients from #9b7542

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #BB945F, #9b7542 45%, #594426);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9b7542, #6D8539);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9b7542, #42689B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C4A275 0%, #9b7542 45%, #594426 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B85859 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A1B04B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #594426 0%, transparent 65%), #9b7542;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9b7542

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#9b7542 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
E-commerceFood deliveryLogisticsCreator tools
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.02:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#9b7542, answered

What color is #9b7542?

#9b7542 is a dark soft orange, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 11.7). It sits at 34° on the hue wheel with 40% saturation and 43% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #9b7542?

rgb(155, 117, 66) — 155 red, 117 green and 66 blue out of 255, or 60.8% / 45.9% / 25.9% by channel.

What is #9b7542 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(34, 40%, 43%) and hsv(34, 57%, 61%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9b7542 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2008 and perceived brightness is 49%, so black text on it reaches 5.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9b7542?

Black. It scores 5.02:1 against #9b7542, versus 4.19:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #9b7542 accessible on a white background?

#9b7542 on white scores 4.19:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #94703F to reach 4.5:1, or #6C522E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9b7542?

#42689B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #42949B and #48429B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9b7542?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #E7D9C6 for borders, #9B794B for secondary text, #3E809F as an accent and #594426 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #9B4842 and #949B42 stays calm, while #42689B is the loudest partner.

What is #9b7542 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 25%, 57%, 39%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9b7542 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 4 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9B6B42; nudged cooler, #9D9840.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9b7542?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 17 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9b7542 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9b7542 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9b7542] or text-[#9b7542], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #9b7542 with 50% opacity?

rgba(155, 117, 66, 0.5), or #9b754280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CDBAA1; over black, #4E3B21.

Is #9b7542 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996633, ΔE2000 6.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9b7542 mean?

As a orange, it reads friendly, energetic, affordable. Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #9b7542?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BB945F, #9b7542 45%, #594426). For more colour, a short hue run to #6D8539 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9b7542 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9b7542 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.