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orange · warm

#fba239

a balanced, electric orange · warm · closest name: Orange

Token name suggestion: Studio Clay

RGB
251, 162, 57
HSL
33°, 96%, 60%
CMYK
0, 36, 77, 2
Luminance
0.4665

#fba239 is a balanced electric orange, 33° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.33:1). As text it scores 2.03:1 on white — use #B16104 instead. Nearest name is Orange, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(33 96% 60%)rgb(251 162 57)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fba239 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fba239
Hue
33°
orange
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4665
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.33:1
Closest name
Orange
ΔE2000 4.5
Chroma
69.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.785
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 3.9
Web-safe
#FF9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue33° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fba239.

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
Red44%
Green55%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#fba239
HEX (8-digit)#fba239ff
RGBrgb(251, 162, 57)
RGBArgba(251, 162, 57, 1)
HSLhsl(33, 96%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 77%, 98%)
HWBhwb(33 22% 2%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 36%, 77%, 2%)
LABlab(74.0 24.9 64.7)
LCHlch(74.0 69.3 68.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.785 0.155 65.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.45, 46.65, 10.06)
Decimal16491065
Display P3color(display-p3 0.984 0.635 0.224)
Web-safe#FF9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fba239;
background-color: #fba239;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fba239;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fba239] bg-[#fba239]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fba239;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.984, green: 0.635, blue: 0.224)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.984, green: 0.635, blue: 0.224, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FBA239</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFBA239)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFBA239)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 162, 251)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(251, 162, 57)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(251, 162, 57)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 251, 162, 57)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9843f, 0.6353f, 0.2235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{251,162,57}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fba239 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fba239 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7D4503, #EEE2D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fba239 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: #FDF8F1;
  --brand-100: #FCF1E4;
  --brand-200: #FAE0C1;
  --brand-300: #FDCB91;
  --brand-400: #FCB25A;
  --brand-500: #fba239;
  --brand-600: #F08405;
  --brand-700: #C86E04;
  --brand-800: #A05803;
  --brand-900: #734207;
  --brand-950: #482904;
  --brand: #fba239;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD8C0;
  --brand-hover: #FA9216;
  --brand-pressed: #E88005;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE2D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF8F1',
        100: '#FCF1E4',
        200: '#FAE0C1',
        300: '#FDCB91',
        400: '#FCB25A',
        500: '#fba239',
        600: '#F08405',
        700: '#C86E04',
        800: '#A05803',
        900: '#734207',
        950: '#482904',
        DEFAULT: '#fba239',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF8F1,
  '100': #FCF1E4,
  '200': #FAE0C1,
  '300': #FDCB91,
  '400': #FCB25A,
  '500': #fba239,
  '600': #F08405,
  '700': #C86E04,
  '800': #A05803,
  '900': #734207,
  '950': #482904,
);
$brand-base: #fba239;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDF8F1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCF1E4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FAE0C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FDCB91", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FCB25A", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#fba239", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F08405", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C86E04", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A05803", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#734207", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#482904", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fba239 · 10.33:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.03:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.33:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fba239 as text scores 2.03:1 on white and 10.33:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7D4503 at 3.79:1.

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
#B16104 · 4.58:1
AA on white−25% L
#B16104
The quick fox
#844903 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−34% L
#844903
The quick fox
#fba239 · 10.33:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fba239
The quick fox
#fba239 · 10.33:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fba239

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #DE7A05 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
#fba239 on white: 2.03:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fba239 on black: 10.33:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fba239 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fba239.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.03:1AaAa
Slate 501.94:1AaAa
Slate 1001.86:1AaAa
Slate 2001.65:1AaAa
Slate 3001.37:1AaAa
Slate 4001.26:1AaAa
Slate 5002.34:1AaAa
Slate 6003.73:1AaAa
Slate 7005.09:1AaAa
Slate 8007.20:1AaAa
Slate 9008.78:1AaAa
Black10.33:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BFA929
deuteranopia · #D4BE3B
tritanopia · #FF8D8D

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. #fba239 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.

#FDF8F1
#FCF1E4
#FAE0C1
#FDCB91
#FCB25A
#fba239
#F08405
#C86E04
#A05803
#734207
#482904
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDF8F1Darkest = 950 · #482904Text 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 0.039 65.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.062 65.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.093 65.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.121 65.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.142 65.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.155 65.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.155 65.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.145 65.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.130 65.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.108 65.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.085 65.7);
}

Colors that work with #fba239

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#9B764B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0091CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D4503
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEF3E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#FA9216
One step down in lightness
Pressed#E88005
Two steps down
Disabled#DCD3C8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFAC49
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 #fba239

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 #7D4503
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #DE7A05

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#3992FB
Analogous left#FB4139
Analogous right#F3FB39
Split-complement 1#39F3FB
Split-complement 2#4139FB
Triadic 1#39FBA2
Triadic 2#A239FB
Tetradic#39FB41
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°33°

#fba239 sits at 33°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red98.4%
Green63.5%
Blue22.4%
R · 0–255
251
0xfb
G · 0–255
162
0xa2
B · 0–255
57
0x39

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta35.5%
Yellow77.3%
Key (black)1.6%

Total ink coverage is 114%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fba239 text on a black background

contrast 10.33:1

Card sample

#fba239 text on a white background

contrast 2.03:1

Card sample

#fba239 on grey

1.86:1

#fba239 on its own surface

1.92:1

#fba239 on its dark surface

8.19:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fba239;
Background color
Panel with #fba239 background
background-color: #fba239;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fba239;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(251, 162, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(251, 162, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fba239;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fba239, #D3FB39);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fba239, #A2FB39);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fba239;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fba239;
caret-color: #fba239;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fba239;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEF3E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fba239;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fba239 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fba239 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(251, 162, 57, 0.5)
rgb(251 162 57 / 50%)
#fba23980
hsl(33 96% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fba239 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fba2391a#FFF6EB
20%#fba23933#FEECD7
40%#fba23966#FDDAB0
60%#fba23999#FDC788
80%#fba239cc#FCB561

Gradients from #fba239

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, #FCBE75, #fba239 45%, #7D4503);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fba239, #B9FA1B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fba239, #3992FB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FDCC93 0%, #fba239 45%, #7D4503 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%, #FC6B71 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E7FC57 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7D4503 0%, transparent 65%), #fba239;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fba239

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.

#fba239 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 10.33:1.

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.

#fba239, answered

What color is #fba239?

#fba239 is a balanced electric orange, closest to Orange (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 33° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fba239?

rgb(251, 162, 57) — 251 red, 162 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 98.4% / 63.5% / 22.4% by channel.

What is #fba239 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(33, 96%, 60%) and hsv(32, 77%, 98%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fba239 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4665 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 10.33:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fba239?

Black. It scores 10.33:1 against #fba239, versus 2.03:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fba239 accessible on a white background?

#fba239 on white scores 2.03:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B16104 to reach 4.5:1, or #844903 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fba239?

#3992FB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39F3FB and #4139FB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fba239?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDD8C0 for borders, #9B764B for secondary text, #0091CC as an accent and #7D4503 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FB4139 and #F3FB39 stays calm, while #3992FB is the loudest partner.

What is #fba239 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 36%, 77%, 2%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #fba239 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 #FBA352; nudged cooler, #FDEB37.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fba239?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 3.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fba239 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fba239 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fba239] or text-[#fba239], 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 #fba239 with 50% opacity?

rgba(251, 162, 57, 0.5), or #fba23980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FDD19C; over black, #7E511D.

Is #fba239 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9933, ΔE2000 3.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fba239 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 #fba239?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FCBE75, #fba239 45%, #7D4503). For more colour, a short hue run to #B9FA1B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fba239 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fba239 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.