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orange · warm

#cba48f

a light, soft orange · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Meadow Apricot

RGB
203, 164, 143
HSL
21°, 37%, 68%
CMYK
0, 19, 30, 20
Luminance
0.4123

#cba48f is a light soft orange, 21° on the wheel and 5/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.25:1). As text it scores 2.27:1 on white — use #A0684A instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(21 37% 68%)rgb(203 164 143)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cba48f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cba48f
Hue
21°
orange
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4123
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
5/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.25:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 9.5
Chroma
19.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.749
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 19.7
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue21° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness68%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cba48f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool5% 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
Red31%
Green64%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#cba48f
HEX (8-digit)#cba48fff
RGBrgb(203, 164, 143)
RGBArgba(203, 164, 143, 1)
HSLhsl(21, 37%, 68%)
HSV / HSBhsv(21, 30%, 80%)
HWBhwb(21 56% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 19%, 30%, 20%)
LABlab(70.3 11.3 16.3)
LCHlch(70.3 19.9 55.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.749 0.055 49.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.86, 41.23, 31.68)
Decimal13345935
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.643 0.561)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cba48f;
background-color: #cba48f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cba48f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba48f] bg-[#cba48f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba48f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.643, blue: 0.561)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.643, blue: 0.561, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBA48F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBA48F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA48F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(143, 164, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 164, 143)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 164, 143)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 164, 143)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6431f, 0.5608f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,164,143}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cba48f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cba48f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#573928, #ECDDD5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cba48f 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: #FAF7F5;
  --brand-100: #F4EEEB;
  --brand-200: #E9DBD3;
  --brand-300: #DBC1B2;
  --brand-400: #cba48f;
  --brand-500: #B88266;
  --brand-600: #A76D4E;
  --brand-700: #8B5B41;
  --brand-800: #6F4934;
  --brand-900: #523729;
  --brand-950: #332219;
  --brand: #cba48f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F5;
  --brand-border: #E5D2C7;
  --brand-hover: #C09076;
  --brand-pressed: #B47C5E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241A14;
    --brand-ink: #ECDDD5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF7F5',
        100: '#F4EEEB',
        200: '#E9DBD3',
        300: '#DBC1B2',
        400: '#cba48f',
        500: '#B88266',
        600: '#A76D4E',
        700: '#8B5B41',
        800: '#6F4934',
        900: '#523729',
        950: '#332219',
        DEFAULT: '#cba48f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF7F5,
  '100': #F4EEEB,
  '200': #E9DBD3,
  '300': #DBC1B2,
  '400': #cba48f,
  '500': #B88266,
  '600': #A76D4E,
  '700': #8B5B41,
  '800': #6F4934,
  '900': #523729,
  '950': #332219,
);
$brand-base: #cba48f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4EEEB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E9DBD3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBC1B2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cba48f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B88266", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A76D4E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8B5B41", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6F4934", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#523729", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#332219", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cba48f · 9.25:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.27:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.25:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cba48f as text scores 2.27:1 on white and 9.25:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #573928 at 4.57:1.

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
#A0684A · 4.59:1
AA on white−22% L
#A0684A
The quick fox
#794F38 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−33% L
#794F38
The quick fox
#cba48f · 9.25:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cba48f
The quick fox
#cba48f · 9.25:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cba48f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BC8A6F 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
#cba48f on white: 2.27:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cba48f on black: 9.25:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cba48f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cba48f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.27:1AaAa
Slate 502.17:1AaAa
Slate 1002.07:1AaAa
Slate 2001.84:1AaAa
Slate 3001.53:1AaAa
Slate 4001.13:1AaAa
Slate 5002.10:1AaAa
Slate 6003.34:1AaAa
Slate 7004.56:1AaAa
Slate 8006.44:1AaAa
Slate 9007.86:1AaAa
Black9.25:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AEA78E
deuteranopia · #B7AF8F
tritanopia · #D69D9E

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. #cba48f is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF7F5
#F4EEEB
#E9DBD3
#DBC1B2
#cba48f
#B88266
#A76D4E
#8B5B41
#6F4934
#523729
#332219
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF7F5Darkest = 950 · #332219Text 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 49.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 49.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 49.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 49.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.050 49.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.055 49.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.055 49.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 49.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.046 49.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.038 49.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.030 49.8);
}

Colors that work with #cba48f

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#FAF7F5
Tinted page background
Border#E5D2C7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B674B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3D878F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#573928
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F1EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241A14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C09076
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B47C5E
Two steps down
Disabled#EBE3DF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9AD96
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 #cba48f

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #573928
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BC8A6F

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight32/100
  • 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#8FB6CB
Analogous left#CB8F98
Analogous right#CBC28F
Split-complement 1#8FCBC2
Split-complement 2#8F98CB
Triadic 1#8FCBA4
Triadic 2#A48FCB
Tetradic#98CB8F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°21°

#cba48f sits at 21°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green64.3%
Blue56.1%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
164
0xa4
B · 0–255
143
0x8f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta19.2%
Yellow29.6%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 69%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cba48f text on a black background

contrast 9.25:1

Card sample

#cba48f text on a white background

contrast 2.27:1

Card sample

#cba48f on grey

2.07:1

#cba48f on its own surface

2.13:1

#cba48f on its dark surface

7.50:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cba48f;
Background color
Panel with #cba48f background
background-color: #cba48f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba48f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 164, 143, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 164, 143, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cba48f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba48f, #CACB8F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba48f, #BBCB8F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cba48f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cba48f;
caret-color: #cba48f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cba48f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F1EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cba48f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cba48f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cba48f 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, 164, 143, 0.5)
rgb(203 164 143 / 50%)
#cba48f80
hsl(21 37% 68% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cba48f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cba48f1a#FAF6F4
20%#cba48f33#F5EDE9
40%#cba48f66#EADBD2
60%#cba48f99#E0C8BC
80%#cba48fcc#D5B6A5

Gradients from #cba48f

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, #DEC6B9, #cba48f 45%, #573928);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cba48f, #BAC17A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba48f, #8FB6CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E8D7CE 0%, #cba48f 45%, #573928 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF7F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DBB2BB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D5D1A4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #573928 0%, transparent 65%), #cba48f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cba48f

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.

#cba48f 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 9.25:1.

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.

#cba48f, answered

What color is #cba48f?

#cba48f is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 9.5). It sits at 21° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cba48f?

rgb(203, 164, 143) — 203 red, 164 green and 143 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 64.3% / 56.1% by channel.

What is #cba48f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(21, 37%, 68%) and hsv(21, 30%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cba48f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4123 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.25:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cba48f?

Black. It scores 9.25:1 against #cba48f, versus 2.27:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cba48f accessible on a white background?

#cba48f on white scores 2.27:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A0684A to reach 4.5:1, or #794F38 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cba48f?

#8FB6CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8FCBC2 and #8F98CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cba48f?

For interface work: #FAF7F5 as the surface, #E5D2C7 for borders, #9B674B for secondary text, #3D878F as an accent and #573928 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB8F98 and #CBC28F stays calm, while #8FB6CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cba48f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 19%, 30%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cba48f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 5 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D3B5A0; nudged cooler, #CD8D8E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cba48f?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 19.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cba48f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cba48f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cba48f] or text-[#cba48f], 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 #cba48f with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 164, 143, 0.5), or #cba48f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D2C7; over black, #665248.

Is #cba48f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 10.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cba48f 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 #cba48f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DEC6B9, #cba48f 45%, #573928). For more colour, a short hue run to #BAC17A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cba48f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cba48f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.