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orange · warm

#ad8972

a balanced, soft orange · warm · closest name: Rosy Brown

Token name suggestion: Signal Amber

RGB
173, 137, 114
HSL
23°, 27%, 56%
CMYK
0, 21, 34, 32
Luminance
0.2799

#ad8972 is a balanced soft orange, 23° on the wheel and 15/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.60:1). As text it scores 3.18:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Rosy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(23 27% 56%)rgb(173 137 114)Base step 500AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ad8972 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ad8972
Hue
23°
orange
Saturation
27%
soft
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
68%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2799
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.60:1
Closest name
Rosy Brown
ΔE2000 11.5
Chroma
20.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.658
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 16.2
Web-safe
#999966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue23° of 360°
Saturation27%
Lightness56%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ad8972.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool15% 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
Red32%
Green64%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#ad8972
HEX (8-digit)#ad8972ff
RGBrgb(173, 137, 114)
RGBArgba(173, 137, 114, 1)
HSLhsl(23, 27%, 56%)
HSV / HSBhsv(23, 34%, 68%)
HWBhwb(23 45% 32%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 21%, 34%, 32%)
LABlab(59.9 10.4 17.6)
LCHlch(59.9 20.4 59.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.658 0.055 54.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.22, 27.99, 19.78)
Decimal11372914
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.537 0.447)
Web-safe#999966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ad8972;
background-color: #ad8972;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ad8972;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ad8972] bg-[#ad8972]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ad8972;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.537, blue: 0.447)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.537, blue: 0.447, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AD8972</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAD8972)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAD8972)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(114, 137, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 137, 114)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 137, 114)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 137, 114)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.5373f, 0.4471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,137,114}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ad8972 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ad8972 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#513C2F, #E9DFD8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ad8972 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: #F9F7F6;
  --brand-100: #F3EFED;
  --brand-200: #E6DCD6;
  --brand-300: #D6C4B8;
  --brand-400: #C1A695;
  --brand-500: #ad8972;
  --brand-600: #9B735A;
  --brand-700: #81604B;
  --brand-800: #674D3C;
  --brand-900: #4C3A2E;
  --brand-950: #30241D;
  --brand: #ad8972;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F7F5;
  --brand-border: #E1D4CB;
  --brand-hover: #9F765C;
  --brand-pressed: #88664F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #231A15;
    --brand-ink: #E9DFD8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F7F6',
        100: '#F3EFED',
        200: '#E6DCD6',
        300: '#D6C4B8',
        400: '#C1A695',
        500: '#ad8972',
        600: '#9B735A',
        700: '#81604B',
        800: '#674D3C',
        900: '#4C3A2E',
        950: '#30241D',
        DEFAULT: '#ad8972',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F7F6,
  '100': #F3EFED,
  '200': #E6DCD6,
  '300': #D6C4B8,
  '400': #C1A695,
  '500': #ad8972,
  '600': #9B735A,
  '700': #81604B,
  '800': #674D3C,
  '900': #4C3A2E,
  '950': #30241D,
);
$brand-base: #ad8972;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F7F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EFED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E6DCD6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D6C4B8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C1A695", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#ad8972", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9B735A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#81604B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#674D3C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C3A2E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#30241D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ad8972 · 6.60:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.18:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.60:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ad8972 as text scores 3.18:1 on white and 6.60:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #513C2F at 3.24:1.

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
#926D55 · 4.62:1
AA on white−11% L
#926D55
The quick fox
#6F5240 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−22% L
#6F5240
The quick fox
#ad8972 · 6.60:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ad8972
The quick fox
#B18E78 · 7.01:1
AAA on black+2% L
#B18E78

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AD8972 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
#ad8972 on white: 3.18:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ad8972 on black: 6.60:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ad8972 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ad8972.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.18:1AaAa
Slate 503.04:1AaAa
Slate 1002.91:1AaAa
Slate 2002.58:1AaAa
Slate 3002.14:1AaAa
Slate 4001.24:1AaAa
Slate 5001.50:1AaAa
Slate 6002.38:1AaAa
Slate 7003.25:1AaAa
Slate 8004.60:1AaAa
Slate 9005.61:1AaAa
Black6.60:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #938C70
deuteranopia · #9C9372
tritanopia · #B78283

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. #ad8972 is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F7F6
#F3EFED
#E6DCD6
#D6C4B8
#C1A695
#ad8972
#9B735A
#81604B
#674D3C
#4C3A2E
#30241D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F7F6Darkest = 950 · #30241DText step on white = 700
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 0.014 54.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 54.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 54.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 54.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.051 54.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.055 54.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.055 54.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 54.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.046 54.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 54.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.030 54.1);
}

Colors that work with #ad8972

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#F9F7F5
Tinted page background
Border#E1D4CB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#916C54
Captions on the surface
Accent#477C85
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#513C2F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F2EF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#231A15
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F765C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#88664F
Two steps down
Disabled#D4C5BB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BF9275
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 #ad8972

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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 #513C2F
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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#7296AD
Analogous left#AD7279
Analogous right#ADA772
Split-complement 1#72ADA7
Split-complement 2#7279AD
Triadic 1#72AD89
Triadic 2#8972AD
Tetradic#79AD72
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°23°

#ad8972 sits at 23°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green53.7%
Blue44.7%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
137
0x89
B · 0–255
114
0x72

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta20.8%
Yellow34.1%
Key (black)32.2%

Total ink coverage is 87%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ad8972 text on a black background

contrast 6.60:1

Card sample

#ad8972 text on a white background

contrast 3.18:1

Card sample

#ad8972 on grey

2.91:1

#ad8972 on its own surface

2.98:1

#ad8972 on its dark surface

5.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ad8972;
Background color
Panel with #ad8972 background
background-color: #ad8972;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ad8972;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 137, 114, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 137, 114, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ad8972;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ad8972, #AAAD72);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ad8972, #9BAD72);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ad8972;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ad8972;
caret-color: #ad8972;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ad8972;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F2EF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ad8972;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ad8972 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ad8972 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(173, 137, 114, 0.5)
rgb(173 137 114 / 50%)
#ad897280
hsl(23 27% 56% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ad8972 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ad89721a#F7F3F1
20%#ad897233#EFE7E3
40%#ad897266#DED0C7
60%#ad897299#CEB8AA
80%#ad8972cc#BDA18E

Gradients from #ad8972

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, #C4A999, #ad8972 45%, #513C2F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ad8972, #98A25F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ad8972, #7296AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CFBAAC 0%, #ad8972 45%, #513C2F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F7F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C0929B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B8B785 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #513C2F 0%, transparent 65%), #ad8972;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ad8972

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.

#ad8972 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 6.60:1.

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.

#ad8972, answered

What color is #ad8972?

#ad8972 is a balanced soft orange, closest to Rosy Brown (ΔE2000 11.5). It sits at 23° on the hue wheel with 27% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ad8972?

rgb(173, 137, 114) — 173 red, 137 green and 114 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 53.7% / 44.7% by channel.

What is #ad8972 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(23, 27%, 56%) and hsv(23, 34%, 68%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ad8972 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2799 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 6.60:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ad8972?

Black. It scores 6.60:1 against #ad8972, versus 3.18:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #ad8972 accessible on a white background?

#ad8972 on white scores 3.18:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #926D55 to reach 4.5:1, or #6F5240 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ad8972?

#7296AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #72ADA7 and #7279AD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ad8972?

For interface work: #F9F7F5 as the surface, #E1D4CB for borders, #916C54 for secondary text, #477C85 as an accent and #513C2F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AD7279 and #ADA772 stays calm, while #7296AD is the loudest partner.

What is #ad8972 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 21%, 34%, 32%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ad8972 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 15 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B69882; nudged cooler, #AF7170.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ad8972?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 16.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ad8972 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ad8972 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ad8972] or text-[#ad8972], 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 #ad8972 with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 137, 114, 0.5), or #ad897280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6C4B9; over black, #574539.

Is #ad8972 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999966, ΔE2000 18.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ad8972 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 #ad8972?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C4A999, #ad8972 45%, #513C2F). For more colour, a short hue run to #98A25F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ad8972 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ad8972 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.