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orange · warm

#ce902a

a balanced, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Dark Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Signal Apricot

RGB
206, 144, 42
HSL
37°, 66%, 49%
CMYK
0, 30, 80, 19
Luminance
0.3324

#ce902a is a balanced vivid orange, 37° on the wheel and 6/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.65:1). As text it scores 2.75:1 on white — use #9B6C20 instead. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(37 66% 49%)rgb(206 144 42)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ce902a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ce902a
Hue
37°
orange
Saturation
66%
vivid
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3324
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
6/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.65:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
61.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.698
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 7.9
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue37° of 360°
Saturation66%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ce902a.

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
Red39%
Green60%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ce902a
HEX (8-digit)#ce902aff
RGBrgb(206, 144, 42)
RGBArgba(206, 144, 42, 1)
HSLhsl(37, 66%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(37, 80%, 81%)
HWBhwb(37 16% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 30%, 80%, 19%)
LABlab(64.3 14.9 59.5)
LCHlch(64.3 61.4 75.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.698 0.134 74.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.85, 33.24, 6.72)
Decimal13537322
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.565 0.165)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ce902a;
background-color: #ce902a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ce902a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ce902a] bg-[#ce902a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ce902a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.565, blue: 0.165)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.565, blue: 0.165, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CE902A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCE902A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCE902A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(42, 144, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 144, 42)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 144, 42)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 144, 42)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.5647f, 0.1647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,144,42}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ce902a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ce902a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6A4A16, #EEE4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ce902a 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: #FBF8F3;
  --brand-100: #F8F2E8;
  --brand-200: #F1E3CB;
  --brand-300: #ECD0A2;
  --brand-400: #E2B873;
  --brand-500: #D9A145;
  --brand-600: #ce902a;
  --brand-700: #A97623;
  --brand-800: #885F1C;
  --brand-900: #624618;
  --brand-950: #3E2C0F;
  --brand: #ce902a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDCC0;
  --brand-hover: #B07B24;
  --brand-pressed: #93661E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF8F3',
        100: '#F8F2E8',
        200: '#F1E3CB',
        300: '#ECD0A2',
        400: '#E2B873',
        500: '#D9A145',
        600: '#ce902a',
        700: '#A97623',
        800: '#885F1C',
        900: '#624618',
        950: '#3E2C0F',
        DEFAULT: '#ce902a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF8F3,
  '100': #F8F2E8,
  '200': #F1E3CB,
  '300': #ECD0A2,
  '400': #E2B873,
  '500': #D9A145,
  '600': #ce902a,
  '700': #A97623,
  '800': #885F1C,
  '900': #624618,
  '950': #3E2C0F,
);
$brand-base: #ce902a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF8F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F2E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F1E3CB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ECD0A2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E2B873", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D9A145", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#ce902a", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A97623", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#885F1C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#624618", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3E2C0F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ce902a · 7.65:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.75:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.65:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ce902a as text scores 2.75:1 on white and 7.65:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6A4A16 at 2.94:1.

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
#9B6C20 · 4.61:1
AA on white−12% L
#9B6C20
The quick fox
#755218 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−21% L
#755218
The quick fox
#ce902a · 7.65:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ce902a
The quick fox
#ce902a · 7.65:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ce902a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C18727 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
#ce902a on white: 2.75:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ce902a on black: 7.65:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ce902a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ce902a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.75:1AaAa
Slate 502.62:1AaAa
Slate 1002.51:1AaAa
Slate 2002.23:1AaAa
Slate 3001.85:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.73:1AaAa
Slate 6002.76:1AaAa
Slate 7003.77:1AaAa
Slate 8005.33:1AaAa
Slate 9006.50:1AaAa
Black7.65:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A69317
deuteranopia · #B5A22E
tritanopia · #E1807C

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. #ce902a is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF8F3
#F8F2E8
#F1E3CB
#ECD0A2
#E2B873
#D9A145
#ce902a
#A97623
#885F1C
#624618
#3E2C0F
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF8F3Darkest = 950 · #3E2C0FText step on white = 800
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 0.033 74.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.053 74.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.080 74.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.104 74.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.123 74.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.134 74.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.134 74.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.126 74.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.112 74.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.094 74.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.073 74.7);
}

Colors that work with #ce902a

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#EDDCC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B7D4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2592D3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6A4A16
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF4EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#B07B24
One step down in lightness
Pressed#93661E
Two steps down
Disabled#C5B8A4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E29D2A
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 #ce902a

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 #6A4A16
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C18727

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
  • Weight51/100
  • 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#2A68CE
Analogous left#CE3E2A
Analogous right#BACE2A
Split-complement 1#2ABACE
Split-complement 2#3E2ACE
Triadic 1#2ACE90
Triadic 2#902ACE
Tetradic#2ACE3E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°37°

#ce902a sits at 37°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green56.5%
Blue16.5%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
144
0x90
B · 0–255
42
0x2a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta30.1%
Yellow79.6%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 129%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ce902a text on a black background

contrast 7.65:1

Card sample

#ce902a text on a white background

contrast 2.75:1

Card sample

#ce902a on grey

2.51:1

#ce902a on its own surface

2.59:1

#ce902a on its dark surface

6.02:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ce902a;
Background color
Panel with #ce902a background
background-color: #ce902a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ce902a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 144, 42, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 144, 42, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ce902a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ce902a, #9FCE2A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ce902a, #76CE2A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ce902a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ce902a;
caret-color: #ce902a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ce902a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF4EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ce902a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ce902a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ce902a 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(206, 144, 42, 0.5)
rgb(206 144 42 / 50%)
#ce902a80
hsl(37 66% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ce902a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ce902a1a#FAF4EA
20%#ce902a33#F5E9D4
40%#ce902a66#EBD3AA
60%#ce902a99#E2BC7F
80%#ce902acc#D8A655

Gradients from #ce902a

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, #DDAB58, #ce902a 45%, #6A4A16);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ce902a, #7FB425);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ce902a, #2A68CE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E2B872 0%, #ce902a 45%, #6A4A16 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%, #DB5550 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B8D83F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6A4A16 0%, transparent 65%), #ce902a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ce902a

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.

#ce902a 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 7.65:1.

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.

#ce902a, answered

What color is #ce902a?

#ce902a is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 37° on the hue wheel with 66% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ce902a?

rgb(206, 144, 42) — 206 red, 144 green and 42 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 56.5% / 16.5% by channel.

What is #ce902a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(37, 66%, 49%) and hsv(37, 80%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ce902a a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3324 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 7.65:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ce902a?

Black. It scores 7.65:1 against #ce902a, versus 2.75:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ce902a accessible on a white background?

#ce902a on white scores 2.75:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9B6C20 to reach 4.5:1, or #755218 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ce902a?

#2A68CE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2ABACE and #3E2ACE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ce902a?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDCC0 for borders, #9B7D4B for secondary text, #2592D3 as an accent and #6A4A16 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CE3E2A and #BACE2A stays calm, while #2A68CE is the loudest partner.

What is #ce902a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 30%, 80%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ce902a 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 #CE7D2A; nudged cooler, #D0CE28.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ce902a?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 7.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ce902a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ce902a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ce902a] or text-[#ce902a], 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 #ce902a with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 144, 42, 0.5), or #ce902a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7C895; over black, #674815.

Is #ce902a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 3.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ce902a 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 #ce902a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DDAB58, #ce902a 45%, #6A4A16). For more colour, a short hue run to #7FB425 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ce902a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ce902a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.