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orange · warm

#b98549

a balanced, soft orange · warm · closest name: Peru

Token name suggestion: Studio Amber

RGB
185, 133, 73
HSL
32°, 44%, 51%
CMYK
0, 28, 61, 28
Luminance
0.2757

#b98549 is a balanced soft orange, 32° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.51:1). As text it scores 3.22:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Peru, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 44% 51%)rgb(185 133 73)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b98549 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b98549
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
44%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2757
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.51:1
Closest name
Peru
ΔE2000 5
Chroma
42.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.656
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 14.3
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation44%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b98549.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool2% 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
Red37%
Green61%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#b98549
HEX (8-digit)#b98549ff
RGBrgb(185, 133, 73)
RGBArgba(185, 133, 73, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 44%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 61%, 73%)
HWBhwb(32 29% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 28%, 61%, 28%)
LABlab(59.5 13.5 39.7)
LCHlch(59.5 42.0 71.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.656 0.100 68.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.60, 27.57, 10.07)
Decimal12158281
Display P3color(display-p3 0.725 0.522 0.286)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b98549;
background-color: #b98549;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b98549;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b98549] bg-[#b98549]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b98549;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.725, green: 0.522, blue: 0.286)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.725, green: 0.522, blue: 0.286, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B98549</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB98549)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB98549)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(73, 133, 185)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(185, 133, 73)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(185, 133, 73)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 185, 133, 73)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7255f, 0.5216f, 0.2863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{185,133,73}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b98549 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b98549 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5C4223, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b98549 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: #F5F0EA;
  --brand-200: #EBDFD1;
  --brand-300: #E0C9AE;
  --brand-400: #D0AD85;
  --brand-500: #C1925D;
  --brand-600: #b98549;
  --brand-700: #936939;
  --brand-800: #76542D;
  --brand-900: #563F24;
  --brand-950: #362717;
  --brand: #b98549;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #E8D7C4;
  --brand-hover: #A1733E;
  --brand-pressed: #876034;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F0EA',
        200: '#EBDFD1',
        300: '#E0C9AE',
        400: '#D0AD85',
        500: '#C1925D',
        600: '#b98549',
        700: '#936939',
        800: '#76542D',
        900: '#563F24',
        950: '#362717',
        DEFAULT: '#b98549',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F0EA,
  '200': #EBDFD1,
  '300': #E0C9AE,
  '400': #D0AD85,
  '500': #C1925D,
  '600': #b98549,
  '700': #936939,
  '800': #76542D,
  '900': #563F24,
  '950': #362717,
);
$brand-base: #b98549;
$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": "#F5F0EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBDFD1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E0C9AE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D0AD85", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C1925D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#b98549", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#936939", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#76542D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#563F24", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#362717", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b98549 · 6.51:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.22:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.51:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #b98549 as text scores 3.22:1 on white and 6.51:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5C4223 at 2.88:1.

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
#996D3B · 4.56:1
AA on white−9% L
#996D3B
The quick fox
#71502B · 7.28:1
AAA on white−20% L
#71502B
The quick fox
#b98549 · 6.51:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b98549
The quick fox
#BD8C54 · 7.04:1
AAA on black+3% L
#BD8C54

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B98549 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
#b98549 on white: 3.22:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b98549 on black: 6.51:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b98549 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b98549.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.22:1AaAa
Slate 503.08:1AaAa
Slate 1002.94:1AaAa
Slate 2002.62:1AaAa
Slate 3002.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.26:1AaAa
Slate 5001.48:1AaAa
Slate 6002.35:1AaAa
Slate 7003.21:1AaAa
Slate 8004.54:1AaAa
Slate 9005.54:1AaAa
Black6.51:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #968843
deuteranopia · #A3944A
tritanopia · #C87977

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. #b98549 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF8F5
#F5F0EA
#EBDFD1
#E0C9AE
#D0AD85
#C1925D
#b98549
#936939
#76542D
#563F24
#362717
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #362717Text 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 0.025 68.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.040 68.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.060 68.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.078 68.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.092 68.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.100 68.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.100 68.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.094 68.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.084 68.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.070 68.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.055 68.5);
}

Colors that work with #b98549

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#E8D7C4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B764B
Captions on the surface
Accent#357B97
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5C4223
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F3ED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#A1733E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#876034
Two steps down
Disabled#C9BAAA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CA904C
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 #b98549

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 #5C4223
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
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#497DB9
Analogous left#B94D49
Analogous right#B5B949
Split-complement 1#49B5B9
Split-complement 2#4D49B9
Triadic 1#49B985
Triadic 2#8549B9
Tetradic#49B94D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#b98549 sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.5%
Green52.2%
Blue28.6%
R · 0–255
185
0xb9
G · 0–255
133
0x85
B · 0–255
73
0x49

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta28.1%
Yellow60.5%
Key (black)27.5%

Total ink coverage is 116%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b98549 text on a black background

contrast 6.51:1

Card sample

#b98549 text on a white background

contrast 3.22:1

Card sample

#b98549 on grey

2.94:1

#b98549 on its own surface

3.04:1

#b98549 on its dark surface

5.17:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b98549;
Background color
Panel with #b98549 background
background-color: #b98549;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b98549;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(185, 133, 73, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(185, 133, 73, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b98549;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b98549, #A2B949);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b98549, #86B949);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b98549;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b98549;
caret-color: #b98549;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b98549;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F3ED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b98549;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b98549 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b98549 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(185, 133, 73, 0.5)
rgb(185 133 73 / 50%)
#b9854980
hsl(32 44% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b98549 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b985491a#F8F3ED
20%#b9854933#F1E7DB
40%#b9854966#E3CEB6
60%#b9854999#D5B692
80%#b98549cc#C79D6D

Gradients from #b98549

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, #CAA375, #b98549 45%, #5C4223);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b98549, #87A43F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b98549, #497DB9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D2B18B 0%, #b98549 45%, #5C4223 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%, #C76E72 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B6C15F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5C4223 0%, transparent 65%), #b98549;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b98549

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.

#b98549 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 6.51:1.

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.

#b98549, answered

What color is #b98549?

#b98549 is a balanced soft orange, closest to Peru (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 44% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b98549?

rgb(185, 133, 73) — 185 red, 133 green and 73 blue out of 255, or 72.5% / 52.2% / 28.6% by channel.

What is #b98549 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 44%, 51%) and hsv(32, 61%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b98549 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2757 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 6.51:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b98549?

Black. It scores 6.51:1 against #b98549, versus 3.22:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #b98549 accessible on a white background?

#b98549 on white scores 3.22:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #996D3B to reach 4.5:1, or #71502B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b98549?

#497DB9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #49B5B9 and #4D49B9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b98549?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #E8D7C4 for borders, #9B764B for secondary text, #357B97 as an accent and #5C4223 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B94D49 and #B5B949 stays calm, while #497DB9 is the loudest partner.

What is #b98549 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 28%, 61%, 28%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b98549 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 2 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C08A5C; nudged cooler, #BBB047.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b98549?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 14.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b98549 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b98549 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b98549] or text-[#b98549], 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 #b98549 with 50% opacity?

rgba(185, 133, 73, 0.5), or #b9854980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DCC2A4; over black, #5D4325.

Is #b98549 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 9.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b98549 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 #b98549?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CAA375, #b98549 45%, #5C4223). For more colour, a short hue run to #87A43F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b98549 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b98549 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.