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orange · warm

#fdad50

a light, electric orange · warm · closest name: Sandy Brown

Token name suggestion: Morning Amber

RGB
253, 173, 80
HSL
32°, 98%, 65%
CMYK
0, 32, 68, 1
Luminance
0.5135

#fdad50 is a light electric orange, 32° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.27:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #B26102 instead. Nearest name is Sandy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 98% 65%)rgb(253 173 80)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fdad50 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fdad50
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
98%
electric
Lightness
65%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5135
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.27:1
Closest name
Sandy Brown
ΔE2000 5.4
Chroma
61.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.808
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 5.7
Web-safe
#FF9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation98%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fdad50.

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
Red41%
Green58%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#fdad50
HEX (8-digit)#fdad50ff
RGBrgb(253, 173, 80)
RGBArgba(253, 173, 80, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 98%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 68%, 99%)
HWBhwb(32 31% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 32%, 68%, 1%)
LABlab(76.9 21.0 58.0)
LCHlch(76.9 61.7 70.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.808 0.142 67.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.90, 51.35, 14.50)
Decimal16624976
Display P3color(display-p3 0.992 0.678 0.314)
Web-safe#FF9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fdad50;
background-color: #fdad50;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fdad50;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fdad50] bg-[#fdad50]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fdad50;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.992, green: 0.678, blue: 0.314)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.992, green: 0.678, blue: 0.314, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FDAD50</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFDAD50)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFDAD50)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(80, 173, 253)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(253, 173, 80)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(253, 173, 80)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 253, 173, 80)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9922f, 0.6784f, 0.3137f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{253,173,80}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fdad50 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fdad50 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7E4501, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fdad50 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: #FBE0C1;
  --brand-300: #FECB90;
  --brand-400: #fdad50;
  --brand-500: #FC9721;
  --brand-600: #F28403;
  --brand-700: #CA6E02;
  --brand-800: #A15802;
  --brand-900: #744106;
  --brand-950: #492904;
  --brand: #fdad50;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD8C0;
  --brand-hover: #FD9D2D;
  --brand-pressed: #FC8C09;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF8F1',
        100: '#FCF1E4',
        200: '#FBE0C1',
        300: '#FECB90',
        400: '#fdad50',
        500: '#FC9721',
        600: '#F28403',
        700: '#CA6E02',
        800: '#A15802',
        900: '#744106',
        950: '#492904',
        DEFAULT: '#fdad50',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF8F1,
  '100': #FCF1E4,
  '200': #FBE0C1,
  '300': #FECB90,
  '400': #fdad50,
  '500': #FC9721,
  '600': #F28403,
  '700': #CA6E02,
  '800': #A15802,
  '900': #744106,
  '950': #492904,
);
$brand-base: #fdad50;
$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": "#FBE0C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FECB90", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#fdad50", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FC9721", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F28403", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CA6E02", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A15802", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#744106", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#492904", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fdad50 · 11.27:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.27:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fdad50 as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.27:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7E4501 at 4.11:1.

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
#B26102 · 4.56:1
AA on white−30% L
#B26102
The quick fox
#854802 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−39% L
#854802
The quick fox
#fdad50 · 11.27:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fdad50
The quick fox
#fdad50 · 11.27:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fdad50

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #DF7903 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
#fdad50 on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fdad50 on black: 11.27:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fdad50 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fdad50.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.78:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.26:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.55:1AaAa
Slate 6004.07:1AaAa
Slate 7005.56:1AaAa
Slate 8007.85:1AaAa
Slate 9009.58:1AaAa
Black11.27:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C7B346
deuteranopia · #DAC552
tritanopia · #FF9A99

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. #fdad50 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.

#FDF8F1
#FCF1E4
#FBE0C1
#FECB90
#fdad50
#FC9721
#F28403
#CA6E02
#A15802
#744106
#492904
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FDF8F1Darkest = 950 · #492904Text 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 0.036 67.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.057 67.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.085 67.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.111 67.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.131 67.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.142 67.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.142 67.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.134 67.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.120 67.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.100 67.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.078 67.2);
}

Colors that work with #fdad50

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#7E4501
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF3E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#FD9D2D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FC8C09
Two steps down
Disabled#E6DFD7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFB762
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 #fdad50

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 #7E4501
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #DF7903

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 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#50A0FD
Analogous left#FD5750
Analogous right#F6FD50
Split-complement 1#50F6FD
Split-complement 2#5750FD
Triadic 1#50FDAD
Triadic 2#AD50FD
Tetradic#50FD57
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#fdad50 sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.2%
Green67.8%
Blue31.4%
R · 0–255
253
0xfd
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
80
0x50

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta31.6%
Yellow68.4%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fdad50 text on a black background

contrast 11.27:1

Card sample

#fdad50 text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#fdad50 on grey

1.70:1

#fdad50 on its own surface

1.76:1

#fdad50 on its dark surface

8.94:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fdad50;
Background color
Panel with #fdad50 background
background-color: #fdad50;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fdad50;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(253, 173, 80, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(253, 173, 80, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fdad50;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fdad50, #DAFD50);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdad50, #AEFD50);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fdad50;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fdad50;
caret-color: #fdad50;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fdad50;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFF3E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fdad50;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fdad50 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fdad50 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(253, 173, 80, 0.5)
rgb(253 173 80 / 50%)
#fdad5080
hsl(32 98% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fdad50 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fdad501a#FFF7EE
20%#fdad5033#FFEFDC
40%#fdad5066#FEDEB9
60%#fdad5099#FECE96
80%#fdad50cc#FDBD73

Gradients from #fdad50

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, #FEC98D, #fdad50 45%, #7E4501);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fdad50, #C2FD32);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdad50, #50A0FD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FED8AB 0%, #fdad50 45%, #7E4501 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%, #FE8288 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ECFD6E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7E4501 0%, transparent 65%), #fdad50;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fdad50

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.

#fdad50 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

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 11.27:1.

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.

#fdad50, answered

What color is #fdad50?

#fdad50 is a light electric orange, closest to Sandy Brown (ΔE2000 5.4). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 98% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fdad50?

rgb(253, 173, 80) — 253 red, 173 green and 80 blue out of 255, or 99.2% / 67.8% / 31.4% by channel.

What is #fdad50 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 98%, 65%) and hsv(32, 68%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fdad50 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5135 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.27:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fdad50?

Black. It scores 11.27:1 against #fdad50, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fdad50 accessible on a white background?

#fdad50 on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B26102 to reach 4.5:1, or #854802 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fdad50?

#50A0FD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #50F6FD and #5750FD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fdad50?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDD8C0 for borders, #9B764B for secondary text, #0091CC as an accent and #7E4501 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FD5750 and #F6FD50 stays calm, while #50A0FD is the loudest partner.

What is #fdad50 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 32%, 68%, 1%). 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 #fdad50 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 #FDAF69; nudged cooler, #FFEE4E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fdad50?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 5.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fdad50 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fdad50 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fdad50] or text-[#fdad50], 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 #fdad50 with 50% opacity?

rgba(253, 173, 80, 0.5), or #fdad5080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FED6A8; over black, #7F5728.

Is #fdad50 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9966, ΔE2000 12.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fdad50 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 #fdad50?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEC98D, #fdad50 45%, #7E4501). For more colour, a short hue run to #C2FD32 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fdad50 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fdad50 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.