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orange · warm

#b15e21

a dark, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Sienna

Token name suggestion: Shadow Clay

RGB
177, 94, 33
HSL
25°, 69%, 41%
CMYK
0, 47, 81, 31
Luminance
0.1746

#b15e21 is a dark vivid orange, 25° on the wheel and 3/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (4.67:1). As text it scores 4.67:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Sienna, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(25 69% 41%)rgb(177 94 33)Base step 700AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b15e21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b15e21
Hue
25°
orange
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
48%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1746
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
3/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
4.67:1
Closest name
Sienna
ΔE2000 7.3
Chroma
55.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.570
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 15.4
Web-safe
#996633
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue25° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness41%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b15e21.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool3% 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
Red54%
Green46%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#b15e21
HEX (8-digit)#b15e21ff
RGBrgb(177, 94, 33)
RGBArgba(177, 94, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(25, 69%, 41%)
HSV / HSBhsv(25, 81%, 69%)
HWBhwb(25 13% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 47%, 81%, 31%)
LABlab(48.8 29.4 47.4)
LCHlch(48.8 55.8 58.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.570 0.129 52.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.41, 17.46, 3.63)
Decimal11623969
Display P3color(display-p3 0.694 0.369 0.129)
Web-safe#996633

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b15e21;
background-color: #b15e21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b15e21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b15e21] bg-[#b15e21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b15e21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.694, green: 0.369, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.694, green: 0.369, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B15E21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB15E21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB15E21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 94, 177)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(177, 94, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(177, 94, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 177, 94, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6941f, 0.3686f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{177,94,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b15e21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b15e21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6B3914, #EEDED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b15e21 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: #FBF7F3;
  --brand-100: #F8EEE8;
  --brand-200: #F2DBCA;
  --brand-300: #EDC1A0;
  --brand-400: #E5A271;
  --brand-500: #DC8342;
  --brand-600: #CE6E26;
  --brand-700: #b15e21;
  --brand-800: #8A491A;
  --brand-900: #643717;
  --brand-950: #3E230E;
  --brand: #b15e21;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD3C0;
  --brand-hover: #934E1B;
  --brand-pressed: #753E16;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241B14;
    --brand-ink: #EEDED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF7F3',
        100: '#F8EEE8',
        200: '#F2DBCA',
        300: '#EDC1A0',
        400: '#E5A271',
        500: '#DC8342',
        600: '#CE6E26',
        700: '#b15e21',
        800: '#8A491A',
        900: '#643717',
        950: '#3E230E',
        DEFAULT: '#b15e21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF7F3,
  '100': #F8EEE8,
  '200': #F2DBCA,
  '300': #EDC1A0,
  '400': #E5A271,
  '500': #DC8342,
  '600': #CE6E26,
  '700': #b15e21,
  '800': #8A491A,
  '900': #643717,
  '950': #3E230E,
);
$brand-base: #b15e21;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF7F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8EEE8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F2DBCA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EDC1A0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E5A271", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#DC8342", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CE6E26", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#b15e21", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8A491A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#643717", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3E230E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #b15e21 · 4.67:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.67:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.49:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #b15e21 as text scores 4.67:1 on white and 4.49:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FBF1EA at 4.20:1.

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
#b15e21 · 4.67:1
AA on whitealready passes
#b15e21
The quick fox
#864719 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−10% L
#864719
The quick fox
#B56022 · 4.66:1
AA on black+1% L
#B56022
The quick fox
#DA7E3A · 7.03:1
AAA on black+13% L
#DA7E3A

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B15E21 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
#b15e21 on white: 4.67:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b15e21 on black: 4.49:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b15e21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b15e21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.67:1AaAa
Slate 504.47:1AaAa
Slate 1004.27:1AaAa
Slate 2003.79:1AaAa
Slate 3003.15:1AaAa
Slate 4001.82:1AaAa
Slate 5001.02:1AaAa
Slate 6001.62:1AaAa
Slate 7002.22:1AaAa
Slate 8003.13:1AaAa
Slate 9003.82:1AaAa
Black4.49:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #766918
deuteranopia · #8A7B20
tritanopia · #C24C52

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. #b15e21 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.

#FBF7F3
#F8EEE8
#F2DBCA
#EDC1A0
#E5A271
#DC8342
#CE6E26
#b15e21
#8A491A
#643717
#3E230E
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBF7F3Darkest = 950 · #3E230EText 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 0.032 52.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.052 52.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.077 52.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.101 52.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.119 52.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.129 52.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.129 52.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.121 52.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.108 52.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.090 52.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.071 52.4);
}

Colors that work with #b15e21

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

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF7F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDD3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B6D4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D9BB5
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6B3914
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF1EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241B14
Dark-mode background
Hover#934E1B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#753E16
Two steps down
Disabled#B69E8D
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CE6519
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 #b15e21

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight59/100
  • 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#2174B1
Analogous left#B1212C
Analogous right#B1A621
Split-complement 1#21B1A6
Split-complement 2#212CB1
Triadic 1#21B15E
Triadic 2#5E21B1
Tetradic#2CB121
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°25°

#b15e21 sits at 25°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red69.4%
Green36.9%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
177
0xb1
G · 0–255
94
0x5e
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta46.9%
Yellow81.4%
Key (black)30.6%

Total ink coverage is 159%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b15e21 text on a black background

contrast 4.49:1

Card sample

#b15e21 text on a white background

contrast 4.67:1

Card sample

#b15e21 on grey

4.27:1

#b15e21 on its own surface

4.38:1

#b15e21 on its dark surface

3.62:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b15e21;
Background color
Panel with #b15e21 background
background-color: #b15e21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b15e21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(177, 94, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(177, 94, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b15e21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b15e21, #A4B121);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b15e21, #80B121);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b15e21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b15e21;
caret-color: #b15e21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b15e21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF1EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b15e21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b15e21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b15e21 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(177, 94, 33, 0.5)
rgb(177 94 33 / 50%)
#b15e2180
hsl(25 69% 41% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b15e21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b15e211a#F7EFE9
20%#b15e2133#EFDFD3
40%#b15e2166#E0BFA6
60%#b15e2199#D09E7A
80%#b15e21cc#C17E4D

Gradients from #b15e21

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, #DA7B36, #b15e21 45%, #6B3914);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b15e21, #82971C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b15e21, #2174B1);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DE8C50 0%, #b15e21 45%, #6B3914 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF7F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D82D49 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CACB26 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6B3914 0%, transparent 65%), #b15e21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b15e21

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.

#b15e21 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

Too dim on dark surfaces at 4.49:1 — lift it to #B56022 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#b15e21, answered

What color is #b15e21?

#b15e21 is a dark vivid orange, closest to Sienna (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 25° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b15e21?

rgb(177, 94, 33) — 177 red, 94 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 69.4% / 36.9% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #b15e21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(25, 69%, 41%) and hsv(25, 81%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b15e21 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1746 and perceived brightness is 48%, so white text on it reaches 4.67:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b15e21?

White. It scores 4.67:1 against #b15e21, versus 4.49:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #b15e21 accessible on a white background?

#b15e21 on white scores 4.67:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #b15e21?

#2174B1 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21B1A6 and #212CB1, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b15e21?

For interface work: #FAF7F4 as the surface, #EDD3C0 for borders, #9B6D4B for secondary text, #1D9BB5 as an accent and #6B3914 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B1212C and #B1A621 stays calm, while #2174B1 is the loudest partner.

What is #b15e21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 47%, 81%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b15e21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 3 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C76925; nudged cooler, #B3271F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b15e21?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 15.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b15e21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b15e21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b15e21] or text-[#b15e21], 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 #b15e21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(177, 94, 33, 0.5), or #b15e2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D8AF90; over black, #592F11.

Is #b15e21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996633, ΔE2000 7.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b15e21 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #b15e21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DA7B36, #b15e21 45%, #6B3914). For more colour, a short hue run to #82971C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b15e21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b15e21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.