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orange · warm

#cdb2a2

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Clay

RGB
205, 178, 162
HSL
22°, 30%, 72%
CMYK
0, 13, 21, 20
Luminance
0.4743

#cdb2a2 is a light soft orange, 22° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.49:1). As text it scores 2.00:1 on white — use #996C52 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(22 30% 72%)rgb(205 178 162)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdb2a2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdb2a2
Hue
22°
orange
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4743
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.49:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 8.6
Chroma
13.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.783
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 21.9
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue22° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdb2a2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red27%
Green67%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#cdb2a2
HEX (8-digit)#cdb2a2ff
RGBrgb(205, 178, 162)
RGBArgba(205, 178, 162, 1)
HSLhsl(22, 30%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(22, 21%, 80%)
HWBhwb(22 64% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 13%, 21%, 20%)
LABlab(74.5 7.2 11.8)
LCHlch(74.5 13.8 58.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.783 0.038 52.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(47.62, 47.43, 40.82)
Decimal13480610
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.698 0.635)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdb2a2;
background-color: #cdb2a2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdb2a2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdb2a2] bg-[#cdb2a2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdb2a2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.698, blue: 0.635)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.698, blue: 0.635, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDB2A2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDB2A2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDB2A2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(162, 178, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 178, 162)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 178, 162)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 178, 162)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.6980f, 0.6353f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,178,162}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdb2a2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdb2a2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#533B2D, #EADED7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdb2a2 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: #F9F7F6;
  --brand-100: #F3EFEC;
  --brand-200: #E7DCD5;
  --brand-300: #D8C3B6;
  --brand-400: #cdb2a2;
  --brand-500: #B1866D;
  --brand-600: #9F7156;
  --brand-700: #855E47;
  --brand-800: #6A4B39;
  --brand-900: #4E392C;
  --brand-950: #31241C;
  --brand: #cdb2a2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F5;
  --brand-border: #E2D3CA;
  --brand-hover: #C19F8B;
  --brand-pressed: #B48C74;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241A14;
    --brand-ink: #EADED7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F7F6',
        100: '#F3EFEC',
        200: '#E7DCD5',
        300: '#D8C3B6',
        400: '#cdb2a2',
        500: '#B1866D',
        600: '#9F7156',
        700: '#855E47',
        800: '#6A4B39',
        900: '#4E392C',
        950: '#31241C',
        DEFAULT: '#cdb2a2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F7F6,
  '100': #F3EFEC,
  '200': #E7DCD5,
  '300': #D8C3B6,
  '400': #cdb2a2,
  '500': #B1866D,
  '600': #9F7156,
  '700': #855E47,
  '800': #6A4B39,
  '900': #4E392C,
  '950': #31241C,
);
$brand-base: #cdb2a2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F7F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3EFEC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7DCD5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D8C3B6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cdb2a2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B1866D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9F7156", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#855E47", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6A4B39", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4E392C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#31241C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdb2a2 · 10.49:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.00:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.49:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdb2a2 as text scores 2.00:1 on white and 10.49:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #533B2D at 5.16:1.

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
#996C52 · 4.54:1
AA on white−26% L
#996C52
The quick fox
#71503D · 7.20:1
AAA on white−38% L
#71503D
The quick fox
#cdb2a2 · 10.49:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdb2a2
The quick fox
#cdb2a2 · 10.49:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdb2a2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B48C74 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
#cdb2a2 on white: 2.00:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdb2a2 on black: 10.49:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdb2a2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdb2a2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.00:1AaAa
Slate 501.91:1AaAa
Slate 1001.83:1AaAa
Slate 2001.62:1AaAa
Slate 3001.35:1AaAa
Slate 4001.28:1AaAa
Slate 5002.38:1AaAa
Slate 6003.78:1AaAa
Slate 7005.17:1AaAa
Slate 8007.30:1AaAa
Slate 9008.91:1AaAa
Black10.49:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9B4A1
deuteranopia · #C0B9A2
tritanopia · #D5ADAD

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. #cdb2a2 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.

#F9F7F6
#F3EFEC
#E7DCD5
#D8C3B6
#cdb2a2
#B1866D
#9F7156
#855E47
#6A4B39
#4E392C
#31241C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F7F6Darkest = 950 · #31241CText 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 0.010 52.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 52.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 52.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 52.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 52.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.038 52.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.038 52.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 52.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 52.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 52.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 52.6);
}

Colors that work with #cdb2a2

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#E2D3CA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#956A50
Captions on the surface
Accent#438089
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#533B2D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F1EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241A14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C19F8B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B48C74
Two steps down
Disabled#F3EFEC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DABCA9
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 #cdb2a2

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 #533B2D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B48C74

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
  • Weight28/100
  • 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#A2BDCD
Analogous left#CDA2A8
Analogous right#CDC8A2
Split-complement 1#A2CDC8
Split-complement 2#A2A8CD
Triadic 1#A2CDB2
Triadic 2#B2A2CD
Tetradic#A8CDA2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°22°

#cdb2a2 sits at 22°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green69.8%
Blue63.5%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
178
0xb2
B · 0–255
162
0xa2

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta13.2%
Yellow21.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 54%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdb2a2 text on a black background

contrast 10.49:1

Card sample

#cdb2a2 text on a white background

contrast 2.00:1

Card sample

#cdb2a2 on grey

1.83:1

#cdb2a2 on its own surface

1.88:1

#cdb2a2 on its dark surface

8.51:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdb2a2;
Background color
Panel with #cdb2a2 background
background-color: #cdb2a2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdb2a2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 178, 162, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 178, 162, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdb2a2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdb2a2, #CBCDA2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdb2a2, #C1CDA2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdb2a2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdb2a2;
caret-color: #cdb2a2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdb2a2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F1EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdb2a2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdb2a2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdb2a2 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(205, 178, 162, 0.5)
rgb(205 178 162 / 50%)
#cdb2a280
hsl(22 30% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdb2a2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdb2a21a#FAF7F6
20%#cdb2a233#F5F0EC
40%#cdb2a266#EBE0DA
60%#cdb2a299#E1D1C7
80%#cdb2a2cc#D7C1B5

Gradients from #cdb2a2

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, #E2D3CA, #cdb2a2 45%, #533B2D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdb2a2, #BCC28E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdb2a2, #A2BDCD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EDE4DE 0%, #cdb2a2 45%, #533B2D 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%, #DFC3C9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D8D6B6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #533B2D 0%, transparent 65%), #cdb2a2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdb2a2

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.

#cdb2a2 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 10.49:1.

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.

#cdb2a2, answered

What color is #cdb2a2?

#cdb2a2 is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 8.6). It sits at 22° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdb2a2?

rgb(205, 178, 162) — 205 red, 178 green and 162 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 69.8% / 63.5% by channel.

What is #cdb2a2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(22, 30%, 72%) and hsv(22, 21%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdb2a2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4743 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.49:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdb2a2?

Black. It scores 10.49:1 against #cdb2a2, versus 2.00:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdb2a2 accessible on a white background?

#cdb2a2 on white scores 2.00:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #996C52 to reach 4.5:1, or #71503D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdb2a2?

#A2BDCD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A2CDC8 and #A2A8CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdb2a2?

For interface work: #FAF7F5 as the surface, #E2D3CA for borders, #956A50 for secondary text, #438089 as an accent and #533B2D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CDA2A8 and #CDC8A2 stays calm, while #A2BDCD is the loudest partner.

What is #cdb2a2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 13%, 21%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdb2a2 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D6C1B3; nudged cooler, #CFA1A1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdb2a2?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 21.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdb2a2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdb2a2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdb2a2] or text-[#cdb2a2], 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 #cdb2a2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 178, 162, 0.5), or #cdb2a280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6D9D1; over black, #675951.

Is #cdb2a2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 12.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdb2a2 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 #cdb2a2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E2D3CA, #cdb2a2 45%, #533B2D). For more colour, a short hue run to #BCC28E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdb2a2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdb2a2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.