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orange · warm

#ccba97

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Clay

RGB
204, 186, 151
HSL
40°, 34%, 70%
CMYK
0, 9, 26, 20
Luminance
0.5019

#ccba97 is a light soft orange, 40° on the wheel and 9/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.04:1). As text it scores 1.90:1 on white — use #8B7344 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(40 34% 70%)rgb(204 186 151)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ccba97 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ccba97
Hue
40°
orange
Saturation
34%
soft
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5019
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.04:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
20.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.795
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 18.1
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue40° of 360°
Saturation34%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ccba97.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool9% 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
Red26%
Green70%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#ccba97
HEX (8-digit)#ccba97ff
RGBrgb(204, 186, 151)
RGBArgba(204, 186, 151, 1)
HSLhsl(40, 34%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(40, 26%, 80%)
HWBhwb(40 59% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 9%, 26%, 20%)
LABlab(76.2 0.9 20.1)
LCHlch(76.2 20.1 87.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.795 0.051 83.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.05, 50.19, 36.43)
Decimal13417111
Display P3color(display-p3 0.800 0.729 0.592)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ccba97;
background-color: #ccba97;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ccba97;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ccba97] bg-[#ccba97]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ccba97;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.800, green: 0.729, blue: 0.592)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.800, green: 0.729, blue: 0.592, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CCBA97</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCCBA97)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCCBA97)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(151, 186, 204)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(204, 186, 151)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(204, 186, 151)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 204, 186, 151)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8000f, 0.7294f, 0.5922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{204,186,151}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ccba97 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ccba97 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#56472A, #EBE4D6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ccba97 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: #F9F8F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F1EC;
  --brand-200: #E8E1D4;
  --brand-300: #DACDB4;
  --brand-400: #ccba97;
  --brand-500: #B59B68;
  --brand-600: #A48851;
  --brand-700: #897143;
  --brand-800: #6E5B36;
  --brand-900: #50432A;
  --brand-950: #322A1A;
  --brand: #ccba97;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E4DBC8;
  --brand-hover: #C0AA7F;
  --brand-pressed: #B59A67;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EBE4D6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F8F5',
        100: '#F4F1EC',
        200: '#E8E1D4',
        300: '#DACDB4',
        400: '#ccba97',
        500: '#B59B68',
        600: '#A48851',
        700: '#897143',
        800: '#6E5B36',
        900: '#50432A',
        950: '#322A1A',
        DEFAULT: '#ccba97',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F8F5,
  '100': #F4F1EC,
  '200': #E8E1D4,
  '300': #DACDB4,
  '400': #ccba97,
  '500': #B59B68,
  '600': #A48851,
  '700': #897143,
  '800': #6E5B36,
  '900': #50432A,
  '950': #322A1A,
);
$brand-base: #ccba97;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8E1D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DACDB4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ccba97", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B59B68", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A48851", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#897143", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6E5B36", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#50432A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#322A1A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ccba97 · 11.04:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.04:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ccba97 as text scores 1.90:1 on white and 11.04:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #56472A at 4.74:1.

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
#8B7344 · 4.53:1
AA on white−29% L
#8B7344
The quick fox
#655432 · 7.32:1
AAA on white−40% L
#655432
The quick fox
#ccba97 · 11.04:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ccba97
The quick fox
#ccba97 · 11.04:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ccba97

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE9159 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
#ccba97 on white: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ccba97 on black: 11.04:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ccba97 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ccba97.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.90:1AaAa
Slate 501.82:1AaAa
Slate 1001.74:1AaAa
Slate 2001.54:1AaAa
Slate 3001.28:1AaAa
Slate 4001.35:1AaAa
Slate 5002.50:1AaAa
Slate 6003.98:1AaAa
Slate 7005.44:1AaAa
Slate 8007.69:1AaAa
Slate 9009.38:1AaAa
Black11.04:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C3B995
deuteranopia · #C7BE98
tritanopia · #D5B4B0

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. #ccba97 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.

#F9F8F5
#F4F1EC
#E8E1D4
#DACDB4
#ccba97
#B59B68
#A48851
#897143
#6E5B36
#50432A
#322A1A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F8F5Darkest = 950 · #322A1AText 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 83.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.021 83.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.031 83.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.040 83.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.047 83.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.051 83.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.051 83.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.048 83.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.043 83.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.036 83.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.028 83.9);
}

Colors that work with #ccba97

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#FAF8F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4DBC8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9A7F4C
Captions on the surface
Accent#3F6D8D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#56472A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F4EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C0AA7F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B59A67
Two steps down
Disabled#EEEBE5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9C59E
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 #ccba97

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 #56472A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AE9159

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
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#97A9CC
Analogous left#CC9F97
Analogous right#C4CC97
Split-complement 1#97C4CC
Split-complement 2#9F97CC
Triadic 1#97CCBA
Triadic 2#BA97CC
Tetradic#97CC9F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°40°

#ccba97 sits at 40°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.0%
Green72.9%
Blue59.2%
R · 0–255
204
0xcc
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
151
0x97

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta8.8%
Yellow26.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Total ink coverage is 55%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ccba97 text on a black background

contrast 11.04:1

Card sample

#ccba97 text on a white background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

#ccba97 on grey

1.74:1

#ccba97 on its own surface

1.79:1

#ccba97 on its dark surface

8.62:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ccba97;
Background color
Panel with #ccba97 background
background-color: #ccba97;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ccba97;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(204, 186, 151, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(204, 186, 151, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ccba97;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ccba97, #BBCC97);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ccba97, #ADCC97);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ccba97;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ccba97;
caret-color: #ccba97;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ccba97;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F4EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ccba97;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ccba97 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ccba97 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(204, 186, 151, 0.5)
rgb(204 186 151 / 50%)
#ccba9780
hsl(40 34% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ccba97 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ccba971a#FAF8F5
20%#ccba9733#F5F1EA
40%#ccba9766#EBE3D5
60%#ccba9799#E0D6C1
80%#ccba97cc#D6C8AC

Gradients from #ccba97

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, #E0D5C0, #ccba97 45%, #56472A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ccba97, #A8C282);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ccba97, #97A9CC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAE3D5 0%, #ccba97 45%, #56472A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DDBCB9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CCD6AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #56472A 0%, transparent 65%), #ccba97;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ccba97

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.

#ccba97 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 11.04:1.

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.

#ccba97, answered

What color is #ccba97?

#ccba97 is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 40° on the hue wheel with 34% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ccba97?

rgb(204, 186, 151) — 204 red, 186 green and 151 blue out of 255, or 80% / 72.9% / 59.2% by channel.

What is #ccba97 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(40, 34%, 70%) and hsv(40, 26%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ccba97 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5019 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.04:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ccba97?

Black. It scores 11.04:1 against #ccba97, versus 1.90:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ccba97 accessible on a white background?

#ccba97 on white scores 1.90:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8B7344 to reach 4.5:1, or #655432 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ccba97?

#97A9CC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #97C4CC and #9F97CC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ccba97?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E4DBC8 for borders, #9A7F4C for secondary text, #3F6D8D as an accent and #56472A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CC9F97 and #C4CC97 stays calm, while #97A9CC is the loudest partner.

What is #ccba97 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 9%, 26%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ccba97 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 9 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CCB097; nudged cooler, #CCCE95.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ccba97?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 18.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ccba97 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ccba97 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ccba97] or text-[#ccba97], 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 #ccba97 with 50% opacity?

rgba(204, 186, 151, 0.5), or #ccba9780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6DDCB; over black, #665D4C.

Is #ccba97 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 9.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ccba97 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 #ccba97?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0D5C0, #ccba97 45%, #56472A). For more colour, a short hue run to #A8C282 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ccba97 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ccba97 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.