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orange · warm

#cb985f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Apricot

RGB
203, 152, 95
HSL
32°, 51%, 58%
CMYK
0, 25, 53, 20
Luminance
0.3598

#cb985f is a balanced vivid orange, 32° on the wheel and 1/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.20:1). As text it scores 2.56:1 on white — use #9B6A33 instead. Nearest name is Peru, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 51% 58%)rgb(203 152 95)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cb985f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cb985f
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
51%
vivid
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3598
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
1/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.20:1
Closest name
Peru
ΔE2000 6.6
Chroma
39.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.716
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 11.7
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation51%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cb985f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool1% 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%
Green62%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#cb985f
HEX (8-digit)#cb985fff
RGBrgb(203, 152, 95)
RGBArgba(203, 152, 95, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 51%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 53%, 80%)
HWBhwb(32 37% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 25%, 53%, 20%)
LABlab(66.5 12.5 37.2)
LCHlch(66.5 39.3 71.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.716 0.096 68.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.92, 35.98, 15.77)
Decimal13342815
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.596 0.373)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cb985f;
background-color: #cb985f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cb985f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cb985f] bg-[#cb985f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cb985f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.596, blue: 0.373)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.596, blue: 0.373, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CB985F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCB985F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCB985F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(95, 152, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 152, 95)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 152, 95)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 152, 95)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.5961f, 0.3725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,152,95}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cb985f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cb985f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#60421F, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cb985f 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: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-100: #F6F0EA;
  --brand-200: #EDDFCF;
  --brand-300: #E3C9AA;
  --brand-400: #D6AD80;
  --brand-500: #cb985f;
  --brand-600: #B97E3C;
  --brand-700: #9A6932;
  --brand-800: #7B5428;
  --brand-900: #5A3F21;
  --brand-950: #382714;
  --brand: #cb985f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EBD7C1;
  --brand-hover: #C28744;
  --brand-pressed: #AB7438;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F4',
        100: '#F6F0EA',
        200: '#EDDFCF',
        300: '#E3C9AA',
        400: '#D6AD80',
        500: '#cb985f',
        600: '#B97E3C',
        700: '#9A6932',
        800: '#7B5428',
        900: '#5A3F21',
        950: '#382714',
        DEFAULT: '#cb985f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F4,
  '100': #F6F0EA,
  '200': #EDDFCF,
  '300': #E3C9AA,
  '400': #D6AD80,
  '500': #cb985f,
  '600': #B97E3C,
  '700': #9A6932,
  '800': #7B5428,
  '900': #5A3F21,
  '950': #382714,
);
$brand-base: #cb985f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F0EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDDFCF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E3C9AA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D6AD80", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cb985f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B97E3C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9A6932", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7B5428", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5A3F21", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#382714", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cb985f · 8.20:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.56:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.20:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cb985f as text scores 2.56:1 on white and 8.20:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #60421F at 3.57:1.

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
#9B6A33 · 4.66:1
AA on white−18% L
#9B6A33
The quick fox
#755026 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−28% L
#755026
The quick fox
#cb985f · 8.20:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cb985f
The quick fox
#cb985f · 8.20:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cb985f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C38948 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
#cb985f on white: 2.56:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cb985f on black: 8.20:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cb985f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cb985f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.56:1AaAa
Slate 502.45:1AaAa
Slate 1002.34:1AaAa
Slate 2002.08:1AaAa
Slate 3001.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.00:1AaAa
Slate 5001.86:1AaAa
Slate 6002.96:1AaAa
Slate 7004.04:1AaAa
Slate 8005.71:1AaAa
Slate 9006.97:1AaAa
Black8.20:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A99B5A
deuteranopia · #B5A660
tritanopia · #DB8C8A

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. #cb985f 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.

#FAF8F4
#F6F0EA
#EDDFCF
#E3C9AA
#D6AD80
#cb985f
#B97E3C
#9A6932
#7B5428
#5A3F21
#382714
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F4Darkest = 950 · #382714Text 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 0.024 68.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.038 68.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.058 68.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.075 68.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.088 68.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.096 68.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.096 68.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.090 68.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.081 68.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.067 68.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.053 68.4);
}

Colors that work with #cb985f

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#EBD7C1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B754B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2E7F9E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#60421F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F3EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C28744
One step down in lightness
Pressed#AB7438
Two steps down
Disabled#D8CEC2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAA265
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 #cb985f

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #60421F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C38948

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 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-high
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#5F92CB
Analogous left#CB625F
Analogous right#C8CB5F
Split-complement 1#5FC8CB
Split-complement 2#625FCB
Triadic 1#5FCB98
Triadic 2#985FCB
Tetradic#5FCB62
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#cb985f sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green59.6%
Blue37.3%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
152
0x98
B · 0–255
95
0x5f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta25.1%
Yellow53.2%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 99%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cb985f text on a black background

contrast 8.20:1

Card sample

#cb985f text on a white background

contrast 2.56:1

Card sample

#cb985f on grey

2.34:1

#cb985f on its own surface

2.42:1

#cb985f on its dark surface

6.50:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cb985f;
Background color
Panel with #cb985f background
background-color: #cb985f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cb985f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 152, 95, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 152, 95, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cb985f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cb985f, #B6CB5F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cb985f, #9BCB5F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cb985f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cb985f;
caret-color: #cb985f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cb985f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F3EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cb985f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cb985f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cb985f 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(203, 152, 95, 0.5)
rgb(203 152 95 / 50%)
#cb985f80
hsl(32 51% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cb985f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cb985f1a#FAF5EF
20%#cb985f33#F5EADF
40%#cb985f66#EAD6BF
60%#cb985f99#E0C19F
80%#cb985fcc#D5AD7F

Gradients from #cb985f

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, #DAB68D, #cb985f 45%, #60421F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cb985f, #A1C348);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cb985f, #5F92CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E1C5A4 0%, #cb985f 45%, #60421F 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%, #D7858A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8D276 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #60421F 0%, transparent 65%), #cb985f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cb985f

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.

#cb985f 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 8.20:1.

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.

#cb985f, answered

What color is #cb985f?

#cb985f is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Peru (ΔE2000 6.6). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 51% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cb985f?

rgb(203, 152, 95) — 203 red, 152 green and 95 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 59.6% / 37.3% by channel.

What is #cb985f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 51%, 58%) and hsv(32, 53%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cb985f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3598 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 8.20:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cb985f?

Black. It scores 8.20:1 against #cb985f, versus 2.56:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cb985f accessible on a white background?

#cb985f on white scores 2.56:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9B6A33 to reach 4.5:1, or #755026 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cb985f?

#5F92CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5FC8CB and #625FCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cb985f?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EBD7C1 for borders, #9B754B for secondary text, #2E7F9E as an accent and #60421F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB625F and #C8CB5F stays calm, while #5F92CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cb985f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 25%, 53%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cb985f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 1 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D19E72; nudged cooler, #CD6F5D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cb985f?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 11.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cb985f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cb985f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cb985f] or text-[#cb985f], 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 #cb985f with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 152, 95, 0.5), or #cb985f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5CCAF; over black, #664C30.

Is #cb985f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 1.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cb985f 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 #cb985f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DAB68D, #cb985f 45%, #60421F). For more colour, a short hue run to #A1C348 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cb985f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cb985f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.