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orange · warm

#cfab81

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Marmalade

RGB
207, 171, 129
HSL
32°, 45%, 66%
CMYK
0, 17, 38, 19
Luminance
0.4398

#cfab81 is a light soft orange, 32° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.80:1). As text it scores 2.14:1 on white — use #976C3A instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 45% 66%)rgb(207 171 129)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfab81 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfab81
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4398
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.80:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 2.9
Chroma
27.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.763
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 15.1
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfab81.

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
Red30%
Green66%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#cfab81
HEX (8-digit)#cfab81ff
RGBrgb(207, 171, 129)
RGBArgba(207, 171, 129, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 45%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 38%, 81%)
HWBhwb(32 51% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 17%, 38%, 19%)
LABlab(72.2 7.3 26.6)
LCHlch(72.2 27.6 74.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.763 0.070 70.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(44.26, 43.98, 26.92)
Decimal13609857
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.671 0.506)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfab81;
background-color: #cfab81;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfab81;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfab81] bg-[#cfab81]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfab81;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.671, blue: 0.506)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.671, blue: 0.506, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFAB81</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFAB81)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFAB81)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(129, 171, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 171, 129)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 171, 129)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 171, 129)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.6706f, 0.5059f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,171,129}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfab81 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfab81 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5C4223, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfab81 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: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F5F0EA;
  --brand-200: #EBDFD1;
  --brand-300: #E0C9AE;
  --brand-400: #cfab81;
  --brand-500: #C1935D;
  --brand-600: #B17F44;
  --brand-700: #946A38;
  --brand-800: #76542D;
  --brand-900: #563F24;
  --brand-950: #362716;
  --brand: #cfab81;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #E8D8C4;
  --brand-hover: #C59A67;
  --brand-pressed: #BB894D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F0EA',
        200: '#EBDFD1',
        300: '#E0C9AE',
        400: '#cfab81',
        500: '#C1935D',
        600: '#B17F44',
        700: '#946A38',
        800: '#76542D',
        900: '#563F24',
        950: '#362716',
        DEFAULT: '#cfab81',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F0EA,
  '200': #EBDFD1,
  '300': #E0C9AE,
  '400': #cfab81,
  '500': #C1935D,
  '600': #B17F44,
  '700': #946A38,
  '800': #76542D,
  '900': #563F24,
  '950': #362716,
);
$brand-base: #cfab81;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F0EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBDFD1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E0C9AE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cfab81", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C1935D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B17F44", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#946A38", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#76542D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#563F24", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#362716", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfab81 · 9.80:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.14:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.80:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfab81 as text scores 2.14:1 on white and 9.80:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5C4223 at 4.34:1.

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
#976C3A · 4.64:1
AA on white−25% L
#976C3A
The quick fox
#72522B · 7.10:1
AAA on white−35% L
#72522B
The quick fox
#cfab81 · 9.80:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfab81
The quick fox
#cfab81 · 9.80:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfab81

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BD8B51 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
#cfab81 on white: 2.14:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfab81 on black: 9.80:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfab81 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfab81.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.14:1AaAa
Slate 502.05:1AaAa
Slate 1001.96:1AaAa
Slate 2001.74:1AaAa
Slate 3001.44:1AaAa
Slate 4001.20:1AaAa
Slate 5002.22:1AaAa
Slate 6003.53:1AaAa
Slate 7004.83:1AaAa
Slate 8006.82:1AaAa
Slate 9008.33:1AaAa
Black9.80:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8AC7E
deuteranopia · #C0B482
tritanopia · #DCA2A0

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. #cfab81 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.

#FAF8F5
#F5F0EA
#EBDFD1
#E0C9AE
#cfab81
#C1935D
#B17F44
#946A38
#76542D
#563F24
#362716
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #362716Text 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 0.018 70.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 70.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.042 70.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.055 70.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.065 70.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.070 70.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.070 70.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.066 70.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.059 70.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.049 70.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.039 70.8);
}

Colors that work with #cfab81

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#E8D8C4
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B764B
Captions on the surface
Accent#357B97
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5C4223
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F3ED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C59A67
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BB894D
Two steps down
Disabled#E7E1D9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCB588
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 #cfab81

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 #5C4223
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BD8B51

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
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#81A5CF
Analogous left#CF8481
Analogous right#CCCF81
Split-complement 1#81CCCF
Split-complement 2#8481CF
Triadic 1#81CFAB
Triadic 2#AB81CF
Tetradic#81CF84
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#cfab81 sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green67.1%
Blue50.6%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
129
0x81

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta17.4%
Yellow37.7%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 74%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cfab81 text on a black background

contrast 9.80:1

Card sample

#cfab81 text on a white background

contrast 2.14:1

Card sample

#cfab81 on grey

1.96:1

#cfab81 on its own surface

2.02:1

#cfab81 on its dark surface

7.77:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfab81;
Background color
Panel with #cfab81 background
background-color: #cfab81;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfab81;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 171, 129, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 171, 129, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfab81;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfab81, #BFCF81);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfab81, #ACCF81);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfab81;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfab81;
caret-color: #cfab81;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfab81;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F3ED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfab81;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfab81 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfab81 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, 171, 129, 0.5)
rgb(207 171 129 / 50%)
#cfab8180
hsl(32 45% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfab81 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfab811a#FAF7F2
20%#cfab8133#F5EEE6
40%#cfab8166#ECDDCD
60%#cfab8199#E2CDB3
80%#cfab81cc#D9BC9A

Gradients from #cfab81

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, #E0C9AD, #cfab81 45%, #5C4223);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfab81, #ACC76B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfab81, #81A5CF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E8D7C4 0%, #cfab81 45%, #5C4223 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%, #DDA6A8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D0D797 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5C4223 0%, transparent 65%), #cfab81;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfab81

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.

#cfab81 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 9.80:1.

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.

#cfab81, answered

What color is #cfab81?

#cfab81 is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 2.9). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cfab81?

rgb(207, 171, 129) — 207 red, 171 green and 129 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 67.1% / 50.6% by channel.

What is #cfab81 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 45%, 66%) and hsv(32, 38%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfab81 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4398 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.80:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfab81?

Black. It scores 9.80:1 against #cfab81, versus 2.14:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfab81 accessible on a white background?

#cfab81 on white scores 2.14:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #976C3A to reach 4.5:1, or #72522B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfab81?

#81A5CF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #81CCCF and #8481CF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfab81?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #E8D8C4 for borders, #9B764B for secondary text, #357B97 as an accent and #5C4223 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CF8481 and #CCCF81 stays calm, while #81A5CF is the loudest partner.

What is #cfab81 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 17%, 38%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfab81 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 #D6B294; nudged cooler, #D1C97F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfab81?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 15.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfab81 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfab81 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfab81] or text-[#cfab81], 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 #cfab81 with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 171, 129, 0.5), or #cfab8180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7D5C0; over black, #685641.

Is #cfab81 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 18.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfab81 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 #cfab81?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0C9AD, #cfab81 45%, #5C4223). For more colour, a short hue run to #ACC76B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfab81 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfab81 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.