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orange · warm

#cba694

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Clay

RGB
203, 166, 148
HSL
20°, 35%, 69%
CMYK
0, 18, 27, 20
Luminance
0.4211

#cba694 is a light soft orange, 20° on the wheel and 6/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.42:1). As text it scores 2.23:1 on white — use #A1694E instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(20 35% 69%)rgb(203 166 148)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cba694 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cba694
Hue
20°
orange
Saturation
35%
soft
Lightness
69%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4211
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
6/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.42:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 10.1
Chroma
18.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.754
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 20.6
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue20° of 360°
Saturation35%
Lightness69%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cba694.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool6% 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
Red30%
Green65%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#cba694
HEX (8-digit)#cba694ff
RGBrgb(203, 166, 148)
RGBArgba(203, 166, 148, 1)
HSLhsl(20, 35%, 69%)
HSV / HSBhsv(20, 27%, 80%)
HWBhwb(20 58% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 18%, 27%, 20%)
LABlab(71.0 10.9 14.4)
LCHlch(71.0 18.1 53.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.754 0.051 47.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.61, 42.11, 33.84)
Decimal13346452
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.651 0.580)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cba694;
background-color: #cba694;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cba694;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba694] bg-[#cba694]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba694;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.651, blue: 0.580)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.651, blue: 0.580, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBA694</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBA694)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA694)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(148, 166, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 166, 148)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 166, 148)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 166, 148)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6510f, 0.5804f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,166,148}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cba694 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cba694 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#56382A, #EBDDD6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cba694 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: #F9F7F5;
  --brand-100: #F4EEEC;
  --brand-200: #E8DAD4;
  --brand-300: #DAC0B3;
  --brand-400: #cba694;
  --brand-500: #B68168;
  --brand-600: #A56C50;
  --brand-700: #895A43;
  --brand-800: #6E4835;
  --brand-900: #51362A;
  --brand-950: #32221A;
  --brand: #cba694;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F5;
  --brand-border: #E4D1C8;
  --brand-hover: #BF927C;
  --brand-pressed: #B47E64;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241914;
    --brand-ink: #EBDDD6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F7F5',
        100: '#F4EEEC',
        200: '#E8DAD4',
        300: '#DAC0B3',
        400: '#cba694',
        500: '#B68168',
        600: '#A56C50',
        700: '#895A43',
        800: '#6E4835',
        900: '#51362A',
        950: '#32221A',
        DEFAULT: '#cba694',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F7F5,
  '100': #F4EEEC,
  '200': #E8DAD4,
  '300': #DAC0B3,
  '400': #cba694,
  '500': #B68168,
  '600': #A56C50,
  '700': #895A43,
  '800': #6E4835,
  '900': #51362A,
  '950': #32221A,
);
$brand-base: #cba694;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4EEEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8DAD4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DAC0B3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cba694", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B68168", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A56C50", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#895A43", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6E4835", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#51362A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#32221A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cba694 · 9.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.23:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cba694 as text scores 2.23:1 on white and 9.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #56382A at 4.72:1.

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
#A1694E · 4.52:1
AA on white−22% L
#A1694E
The quick fox
#774E3A · 7.15:1
AAA on white−34% L
#774E3A
The quick fox
#cba694 · 9.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cba694
The quick fox
#cba694 · 9.42:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cba694

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BA8972 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
#cba694 on white: 2.23:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cba694 on black: 9.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cba694 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cba694.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.23:1AaAa
Slate 502.13:1AaAa
Slate 1002.03:1AaAa
Slate 2001.81:1AaAa
Slate 3001.50:1AaAa
Slate 4001.15:1AaAa
Slate 5002.14:1AaAa
Slate 6003.40:1AaAa
Slate 7004.65:1AaAa
Slate 8006.56:1AaAa
Slate 9008.01:1AaAa
Black9.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0A993
deuteranopia · #B8B194
tritanopia · #D5A0A1

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. #cba694 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.

#F9F7F5
#F4EEEC
#E8DAD4
#DAC0B3
#cba694
#B68168
#A56C50
#895A43
#6E4835
#51362A
#32221A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F7F5Darkest = 950 · #32221AText 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 0.013 47.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.020 47.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.030 47.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.039 47.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.047 47.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.051 47.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.051 47.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.048 47.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.043 47.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.035 47.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.028 47.4);
}

Colors that work with #cba694

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#FAF6F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4D1C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9A654B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3F878D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#56382A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F1EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241914
Dark-mode background
Hover#BF927C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B47E64
Two steps down
Disabled#EDE6E2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9AF9B
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 #cba694

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 #56382A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BA8972

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
  • Weight31/100
  • 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#94B9CB
Analogous left#CB949D
Analogous right#CBC194
Split-complement 1#94CBC1
Split-complement 2#949DCB
Triadic 1#94CBA6
Triadic 2#A694CB
Tetradic#9DCB94
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°20°

#cba694 sits at 20°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green65.1%
Blue58.0%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
166
0xa6
B · 0–255
148
0x94

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta18.2%
Yellow27.1%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 66%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cba694 text on a black background

contrast 9.42:1

Card sample

#cba694 text on a white background

contrast 2.23:1

Card sample

#cba694 on grey

2.03:1

#cba694 on its own surface

2.08:1

#cba694 on its dark surface

7.70:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cba694;
Background color
Panel with #cba694 background
background-color: #cba694;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba694;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 166, 148, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 166, 148, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cba694;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba694, #CBCB94);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba694, #BECB94);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cba694;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cba694;
caret-color: #cba694;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cba694;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F1EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cba694;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cba694 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cba694 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, 166, 148, 0.5)
rgb(203 166 148 / 50%)
#cba69480
hsl(20 35% 69% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cba694 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cba6941a#FAF6F4
20%#cba69433#F5EDEA
40%#cba69466#EADBD4
60%#cba69499#E0CABF
80%#cba694cc#D5B8A9

Gradients from #cba694

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, #DFC8BD, #cba694 45%, #56382A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cba694, #BCC17F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba694, #94B9CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E9D9D2 0%, #cba694 45%, #56382A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF6F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DCB6C0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D5D1A9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #56382A 0%, transparent 65%), #cba694;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cba694

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.

#cba694 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 9.42:1.

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.

#cba694, answered

What color is #cba694?

#cba694 is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 10.1). It sits at 20° on the hue wheel with 35% saturation and 69% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cba694?

rgb(203, 166, 148) — 203 red, 166 green and 148 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 65.1% / 58% by channel.

What is #cba694 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(20, 35%, 69%) and hsv(20, 27%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cba694 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4211 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cba694?

Black. It scores 9.42:1 against #cba694, versus 2.23:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cba694 accessible on a white background?

#cba694 on white scores 2.23:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A1694E to reach 4.5:1, or #774E3A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cba694?

#94B9CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #94CBC1 and #949DCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cba694?

For interface work: #FAF6F5 as the surface, #E4D1C8 for borders, #9A654B for secondary text, #3F878D as an accent and #56382A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB949D and #CBC194 stays calm, while #94B9CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cba694 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 18%, 27%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cba694 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 6 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D3B8A5; nudged cooler, #CD9295.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cba694?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 20.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cba694 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cba694 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cba694] or text-[#cba694], 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 #cba694 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 166, 148, 0.5), or #cba69480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D3CA; over black, #66534A.

Is #cba694 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 9.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cba694 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 #cba694?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DFC8BD, #cba694 45%, #56382A). For more colour, a short hue run to #BCC17F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cba694 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cba694 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.