Skip to content
orange · warm

#dca080

a light, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Dark Salmon

Token name suggestion: Morning Apricot

RGB
220, 160, 128
HSL
21°, 57%, 68%
CMYK
0, 27, 42, 14
Luminance
0.4192

#dca080 is a light vivid orange, 21° on the wheel and 5/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.38:1). As text it scores 2.24:1 on white — use #B55F32 instead. Nearest name is Dark Salmon, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(21 57% 68%)rgb(220 160 128)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dca080 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dca080
Hue
21°
orange
Saturation
57%
vivid
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4192
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
5/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.38:1
Closest name
Dark Salmon
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
31.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.755
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 15.4
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue21° of 360°
Saturation57%
Lightness68%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dca080.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool5% 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%
Green60%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#dca080
HEX (8-digit)#dca080ff
RGBrgb(220, 160, 128)
RGBArgba(220, 160, 128, 1)
HSLhsl(21, 57%, 68%)
HSV / HSBhsv(21, 42%, 86%)
HWBhwb(21 50% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 42%, 14%)
LABlab(70.8 18.3 25.5)
LCHlch(70.8 31.4 54.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.755 0.084 49.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.98, 41.92, 26.09)
Decimal14459008
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.627 0.502)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dca080;
background-color: #dca080;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dca080;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dca080] bg-[#dca080]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dca080;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.627, blue: 0.502)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.627, blue: 0.502, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCA080</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCA080)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCA080)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(128, 160, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 160, 128)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 160, 128)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 160, 128)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.6275f, 0.5020f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,160,128}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dca080 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dca080 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#64351C, #EEDCD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dca080 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: #FBF6F4;
  --brand-100: #F6EEE9;
  --brand-200: #EED9CD;
  --brand-300: #E7BDA7;
  --brand-400: #dca080;
  --brand-500: #CF7B4F;
  --brand-600: #C06535;
  --brand-700: #A0542C;
  --brand-800: #804423;
  --brand-900: #5D331D;
  --brand-950: #3A2012;
  --brand: #dca080;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF6F4;
  --brand-border: #EDCFC0;
  --brand-hover: #D48B64;
  --brand-pressed: #CD7648;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241914;
    --brand-ink: #EEDCD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF6F4',
        100: '#F6EEE9',
        200: '#EED9CD',
        300: '#E7BDA7',
        400: '#dca080',
        500: '#CF7B4F',
        600: '#C06535',
        700: '#A0542C',
        800: '#804423',
        900: '#5D331D',
        950: '#3A2012',
        DEFAULT: '#dca080',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF6F4,
  '100': #F6EEE9,
  '200': #EED9CD,
  '300': #E7BDA7,
  '400': #dca080,
  '500': #CF7B4F,
  '600': #C06535,
  '700': #A0542C,
  '800': #804423,
  '900': #5D331D,
  '950': #3A2012,
);
$brand-base: #dca080;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF6F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6EEE9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EED9CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E7BDA7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#dca080", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#CF7B4F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C06535", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A0542C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#804423", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5D331D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A2012", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dca080 · 9.38:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.24:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.38:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dca080 as text scores 2.24:1 on white and 9.38:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #64351C at 4.54:1.

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
#B55F32 · 4.52:1
AA on white−23% L
#B55F32
The quick fox
#854625 · 7.24:1
AAA on white−35% L
#854625
The quick fox
#dca080 · 9.38:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dca080
The quick fox
#dca080 · 9.38:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dca080

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #D07F54 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
#dca080 on white: 2.24:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dca080 on black: 9.38:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dca080 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dca080.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.24:1AaAa
Slate 502.14:1AaAa
Slate 1002.04:1AaAa
Slate 2001.82:1AaAa
Slate 3001.51:1AaAa
Slate 4001.15:1AaAa
Slate 5002.13:1AaAa
Slate 6003.39:1AaAa
Slate 7004.63:1AaAa
Slate 8006.54:1AaAa
Slate 9007.98:1AaAa
Black9.38:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B0A67E
deuteranopia · #BEB280
tritanopia · #EB9698

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. #dca080 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.

#FBF6F4
#F6EEE9
#EED9CD
#E7BDA7
#dca080
#CF7B4F
#C06535
#A0542C
#804423
#5D331D
#3A2012
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FBF6F4Darkest = 950 · #3A2012Text 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 0.021 49.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.034 49.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.051 49.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.066 49.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.077 49.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.084 49.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.084 49.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.079 49.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.071 49.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.059 49.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.046 49.1);
}

Colors that work with #dca080

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#FAF6F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDCFC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B674B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2898A4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#64351C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F0EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241914
Dark-mode background
Hover#D48B64
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CD7648
Two steps down
Disabled#ECE4E1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7AA89
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 #dca080

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #64351C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #D07F54

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 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-high
  • Weight32/100
  • 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#80BCDC
Analogous left#DC808E
Analogous right#DCCE80
Split-complement 1#80DCCE
Split-complement 2#808EDC
Triadic 1#80DCA0
Triadic 2#A080DC
Tetradic#8EDC80
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°21°

#dca080 sits at 21°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green62.7%
Blue50.2%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
128
0x80

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta27.3%
Yellow41.8%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 83%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dca080 text on a black background

contrast 9.38:1

Card sample

#dca080 text on a white background

contrast 2.24:1

Card sample

#dca080 on grey

2.04:1

#dca080 on its own surface

2.08:1

#dca080 on its dark surface

7.66:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dca080;
Background color
Panel with #dca080 background
background-color: #dca080;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dca080;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 160, 128, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 160, 128, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dca080;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dca080, #DBDC80);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dca080, #C4DC80);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dca080;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dca080;
caret-color: #dca080;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dca080;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F0EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dca080;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dca080 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dca080 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(220, 160, 128, 0.5)
rgb(220 160 128 / 50%)
#dca08080
hsl(21 57% 68% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dca080 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dca0801a#FCF6F2
20%#dca08033#F8ECE6
40%#dca08066#F1D9CC
60%#dca08099#EAC6B3
80%#dca080cc#E3B399

Gradients from #dca080

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, #E9C4B0, #dca080 45%, #64351C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dca080, #CBD568);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dca080, #80BCDC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F0D6C8 0%, #dca080 45%, #64351C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF6F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E7A8B7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E3DD98 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #64351C 0%, transparent 65%), #dca080;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dca080

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.

#dca080 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 9.38:1.

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.

#dca080, answered

What color is #dca080?

#dca080 is a light vivid orange, closest to Dark Salmon (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 21° on the hue wheel with 57% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dca080?

rgb(220, 160, 128) — 220 red, 160 green and 128 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 62.7% / 50.2% by channel.

What is #dca080 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(21, 57%, 68%) and hsv(21, 42%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dca080 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4192 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.38:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dca080?

Black. It scores 9.38:1 against #dca080, versus 2.24:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dca080 accessible on a white background?

#dca080 on white scores 2.24:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B55F32 to reach 4.5:1, or #854625 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dca080?

#80BCDC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #80DCCE and #808EDC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dca080?

For interface work: #FAF6F4 as the surface, #EDCFC0 for borders, #9B674B for secondary text, #2898A4 as an accent and #64351C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DC808E and #DCCE80 stays calm, while #80BCDC is the loudest partner.

What is #dca080 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 42%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dca080 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 5 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #E1B394; nudged cooler, #DE7E80.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dca080?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 15.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dca080 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dca080 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dca080] or text-[#dca080], 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 #dca080 with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 160, 128, 0.5), or #dca08080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EED0C0; over black, #6E5040.

Is #dca080 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 #dca080 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 #dca080?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E9C4B0, #dca080 45%, #64351C). For more colour, a short hue run to #CBD568 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dca080 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dca080 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.