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orange · warm

#cf985a

a balanced, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Peru

Token name suggestion: Signal Apricot

RGB
207, 152, 90
HSL
32°, 55%, 58%
CMYK
0, 27, 57, 19
Luminance
0.3646

#cf985a is a balanced vivid orange, 32° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.29:1). As text it scores 2.53:1 on white — use #9F6A2E instead. Nearest name is Peru, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 55% 58%)rgb(207 152 90)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cf985a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cf985a
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
55%
vivid
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3646
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.29:1
Closest name
Peru
ΔE2000 6.1
Chroma
42.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.720
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 10.6
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation55%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cf985a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool2% 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
Red36%
Green62%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#cf985a
HEX (8-digit)#cf985aff
RGBrgb(207, 152, 90)
RGBArgba(207, 152, 90, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 55%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 57%, 81%)
HWBhwb(32 35% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 57%, 19%)
LABlab(66.9 13.7 40.4)
LCHlch(66.9 42.6 71.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.720 0.103 68.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.81, 36.46, 14.66)
Decimal13604954
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.596 0.353)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cf985a;
background-color: #cf985a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cf985a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cf985a] bg-[#cf985a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cf985a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.596, blue: 0.353)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.596, blue: 0.353, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CF985A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCF985A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCF985A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(90, 152, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 152, 90)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 152, 90)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 152, 90)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.5961f, 0.3529f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,152,90}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cf985a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cf985a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#63421D, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cf985a 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: #FBF8F4;
  --brand-100: #F6F0E9;
  --brand-200: #EEDFCE;
  --brand-300: #E6C9A8;
  --brand-400: #D9AE7D;
  --brand-500: #cf985a;
  --brand-600: #BE7E37;
  --brand-700: #9E692E;
  --brand-800: #7E5425;
  --brand-900: #5C3F1E;
  --brand-950: #3A2713;
  --brand: #cf985a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD8C0;
  --brand-hover: #C7873E;
  --brand-pressed: #AF7433;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF8F4',
        100: '#F6F0E9',
        200: '#EEDFCE',
        300: '#E6C9A8',
        400: '#D9AE7D',
        500: '#cf985a',
        600: '#BE7E37',
        700: '#9E692E',
        800: '#7E5425',
        900: '#5C3F1E',
        950: '#3A2713',
        DEFAULT: '#cf985a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF8F4,
  '100': #F6F0E9,
  '200': #EEDFCE,
  '300': #E6C9A8,
  '400': #D9AE7D,
  '500': #cf985a,
  '600': #BE7E37,
  '700': #9E692E,
  '800': #7E5425,
  '900': #5C3F1E,
  '950': #3A2713,
);
$brand-base: #cf985a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF8F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F0E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EEDFCE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E6C9A8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D9AE7D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cf985a", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#BE7E37", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9E692E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7E5425", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5C3F1E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A2713", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cf985a · 8.29:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.53:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.29:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cf985a as text scores 2.53:1 on white and 8.29:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #63421D at 3.56:1.

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
#9F6A2E · 4.59:1
AA on white−18% L
#9F6A2E
The quick fox
#775023 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−28% L
#775023
The quick fox
#cf985a · 8.29:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cf985a
The quick fox
#cf985a · 8.29:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cf985a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C7873E 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
#cf985a on white: 2.53:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cf985a on black: 8.29:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cf985a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cf985a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.53:1AaAa
Slate 502.42:1AaAa
Slate 1002.31:1AaAa
Slate 2002.05:1AaAa
Slate 3001.71:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.88:1AaAa
Slate 6002.99:1AaAa
Slate 7004.09:1AaAa
Slate 8005.78:1AaAa
Slate 9007.05:1AaAa
Black8.29:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AA9B55
deuteranopia · #B7A85B
tritanopia · #DF8B89

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. #cf985a is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF8F4
#F6F0E9
#EEDFCE
#E6C9A8
#D9AE7D
#cf985a
#BE7E37
#9E692E
#7E5425
#5C3F1E
#3A2713
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBF8F4Darkest = 950 · #3A2713Text 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 0.026 68.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.041 68.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.062 68.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.080 68.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.095 68.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.103 68.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.103 68.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.097 68.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.087 68.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.072 68.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.057 68.2);
}

Colors that work with #cf985a

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#EDD8C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B754B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2A80A2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#63421D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F3EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C7873E
One step down in lightness
Pressed#AF7433
Two steps down
Disabled#D8CDC1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DDA260
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 #cf985a

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 #63421D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C7873E

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
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#5A91CF
Analogous left#CF5D5A
Analogous right#CBCF5A
Split-complement 1#5ACBCF
Split-complement 2#5D5ACF
Triadic 1#5ACF98
Triadic 2#985ACF
Tetradic#5ACF5D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#cf985a sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green59.6%
Blue35.3%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
152
0x98
B · 0–255
90
0x5a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta26.6%
Yellow56.5%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 102%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cf985a text on a black background

contrast 8.29:1

Card sample

#cf985a text on a white background

contrast 2.53:1

Card sample

#cf985a on grey

2.31:1

#cf985a on its own surface

2.39:1

#cf985a on its dark surface

6.58:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cf985a;
Background color
Panel with #cf985a background
background-color: #cf985a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cf985a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 152, 90, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 152, 90, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cf985a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cf985a, #B8CF5A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cf985a, #9BCF5A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cf985a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cf985a;
caret-color: #cf985a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cf985a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F3EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cf985a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cf985a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cf985a 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(207, 152, 90, 0.5)
rgb(207 152 90 / 50%)
#cf985a80
hsl(32 55% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cf985a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cf985a1a#FAF5EF
20%#cf985a33#F5EADE
40%#cf985a66#ECD6BD
60%#cf985a99#E2C19C
80%#cf985acc#D9AD7B

Gradients from #cf985a

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, #DDB689, #cf985a 45%, #63421D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cf985a, #A3C842);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cf985a, #5A91CF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E4C4A1 0%, #cf985a 45%, #63421D 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%, #DA8186 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CAD672 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #63421D 0%, transparent 65%), #cf985a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cf985a

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.

#cf985a 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 8.29:1.

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.

#cf985a, answered

What color is #cf985a?

#cf985a is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Peru (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 55% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cf985a?

rgb(207, 152, 90) — 207 red, 152 green and 90 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 59.6% / 35.3% by channel.

What is #cf985a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 55%, 58%) and hsv(32, 57%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cf985a a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3646 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.29:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cf985a?

Black. It scores 8.29:1 against #cf985a, versus 2.53:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cf985a accessible on a white background?

#cf985a on white scores 2.53:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9F6A2E to reach 4.5:1, or #775023 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cf985a?

#5A91CF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5ACBCF and #5D5ACF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cf985a?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDD8C0 for borders, #9B754B for secondary text, #2A80A2 as an accent and #63421D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CF5D5A and #CBCF5A stays calm, while #5A91CF is the loudest partner.

What is #cf985a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 57%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cf985a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 2 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D59D6E; nudged cooler, #D1C558.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cf985a?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 10.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cf985a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cf985a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cf985a] or text-[#cf985a], 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 #cf985a with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 152, 90, 0.5), or #cf985a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7CCAD; over black, #684C2D.

Is #cf985a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 2.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cf985a 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 #cf985a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DDB689, #cf985a 45%, #63421D). For more colour, a short hue run to #A3C842 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cf985a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cf985a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.