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orange · warm

#fdb96f

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Amber

RGB
253, 185, 111
HSL
31°, 97%, 71%
CMYK
0, 27, 56, 1
Luminance
0.5673

#fdb96f is a light electric orange, 31° on the wheel and 1/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.35:1). As text it scores 1.70:1 on white — use #B25E02 instead. Nearest name is Sandy Brown, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(31 97% 71%)rgb(253 185 111)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fdb96f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fdb96f
Hue
31°
orange
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5673
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
1/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.35:1
Closest name
Sandy Brown
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
49.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.834
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 9.5
Web-safe
#FFCC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue31° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fdb96f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool1% 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
Red37%
Green61%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#fdb96f
HEX (8-digit)#fdb96fff
RGBrgb(253, 185, 111)
RGBArgba(253, 185, 111, 1)
HSLhsl(31, 97%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(31, 56%, 99%)
HWBhwb(31 44% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 56%, 1%)
LABlab(80.0 16.7 46.8)
LCHlch(80.0 49.7 70.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.834 0.120 67.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(60.73, 56.73, 22.79)
Decimal16628079
Display P3color(display-p3 0.992 0.725 0.435)
Web-safe#FFCC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fdb96f;
background-color: #fdb96f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fdb96f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fdb96f] bg-[#fdb96f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fdb96f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.992, green: 0.725, blue: 0.435)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.992, green: 0.725, blue: 0.435, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FDB96F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFDB96F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFDB96F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(111, 185, 253)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(253, 185, 111)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(253, 185, 111)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 253, 185, 111)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9922f, 0.7255f, 0.4353f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{253,185,111}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fdb96f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fdb96f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7E4202, #EEE1D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fdb96f 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: #FCF0E4;
  --brand-200: #FBDFC1;
  --brand-300: #FDC990;
  --brand-400: #fdb96f;
  --brand-500: #FC9422;
  --brand-600: #F18003;
  --brand-700: #C96A03;
  --brand-800: #A15502;
  --brand-900: #744006;
  --brand-950: #482804;
  --brand: #fdb96f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD7C0;
  --brand-hover: #FDA84C;
  --brand-pressed: #FC9729;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241C14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE1D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDF8F1',
        100: '#FCF0E4',
        200: '#FBDFC1',
        300: '#FDC990',
        400: '#fdb96f',
        500: '#FC9422',
        600: '#F18003',
        700: '#C96A03',
        800: '#A15502',
        900: '#744006',
        950: '#482804',
        DEFAULT: '#fdb96f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDF8F1,
  '100': #FCF0E4,
  '200': #FBDFC1,
  '300': #FDC990,
  '400': #fdb96f,
  '500': #FC9422,
  '600': #F18003,
  '700': #C96A03,
  '800': #A15502,
  '900': #744006,
  '950': #482804,
);
$brand-base: #fdb96f;
$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": "#FCF0E4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FBDFC1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FDC990", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#fdb96f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FC9422", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F18003", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C96A03", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A15502", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#744006", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#482804", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fdb96f · 12.35:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.70:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.35:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fdb96f as text scores 1.70:1 on white and 12.35:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7E4202 at 4.63:1.

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
#B25E02 · 4.67:1
AA on white−36% L
#B25E02
The quick fox
#854602 · 7.31:1
AAA on white−45% L
#854602
The quick fox
#fdb96f · 12.35:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fdb96f
The quick fox
#fdb96f · 12.35:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fdb96f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #DF7603 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
#fdb96f on white: 1.70:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fdb96f on black: 12.35:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fdb96f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fdb96f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.70:1AaAa
Slate 501.63:1AaAa
Slate 1001.55:1AaAa
Slate 2001.38:1AaAa
Slate 3001.15:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5002.80:1AaAa
Slate 6004.45:1AaAa
Slate 7006.09:1AaAa
Slate 8008.60:1AaAa
Slate 90010.50:1AaAa
Black12.35:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D0BD69
deuteranopia · #E0CD70
tritanopia · #FFA9A7

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. #fdb96f 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
#FCF0E4
#FBDFC1
#FDC990
#fdb96f
#FC9422
#F18003
#C96A03
#A15502
#744006
#482804
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FDF8F1Darkest = 950 · #482804Text 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 0.030 67.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 67.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.072 67.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.094 67.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.111 67.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.120 67.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.120 67.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.113 67.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.101 67.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.084 67.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.066 67.2);
}

Colors that work with #fdb96f

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#FAF7F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDD7C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B744B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0094CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7E4202
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF3E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241C14
Dark-mode background
Hover#FDA84C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FC9729
Two steps down
Disabled#F2EEEA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFC382
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 #fdb96f

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 #7E4202
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #DF7603

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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#6FB3FD
Analogous left#FD726F
Analogous right#FAFD6F
Split-complement 1#6FFAFD
Split-complement 2#726FFD
Triadic 1#6FFDB9
Triadic 2#B96FFD
Tetradic#6FFD72
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°31°

#fdb96f sits at 31°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.2%
Green72.5%
Blue43.5%
R · 0–255
253
0xfd
G · 0–255
185
0xb9
B · 0–255
111
0x6f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta26.9%
Yellow56.1%
Key (black)0.8%

Total ink coverage is 84%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fdb96f text on a black background

contrast 12.35:1

Card sample

#fdb96f text on a white background

contrast 1.70:1

Card sample

#fdb96f on grey

1.55:1

#fdb96f on its own surface

1.59:1

#fdb96f on its dark surface

9.87:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fdb96f;
Background color
Panel with #fdb96f background
background-color: #fdb96f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fdb96f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(253, 185, 111, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(253, 185, 111, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fdb96f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fdb96f, #E2FD6F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdb96f, #BFFD6F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fdb96f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fdb96f;
caret-color: #fdb96f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fdb96f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFF3E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fdb96f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fdb96f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fdb96f 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, 185, 111, 0.5)
rgb(253 185 111 / 50%)
#fdb96f80
hsl(31 97% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fdb96f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fdb96f1a#FFF8F1
20%#fdb96f33#FFF1E2
40%#fdb96f66#FEE3C5
60%#fdb96f99#FED5A9
80%#fdb96fcc#FDC78C

Gradients from #fdb96f

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, #FED6AB, #fdb96f 45%, #7E4202);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fdb96f, #CEFD51);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fdb96f, #6FB3FD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FEE5CA 0%, #fdb96f 45%, #7E4202 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF7F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FEA1A7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #F2FD8D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7E4202 0%, transparent 65%), #fdb96f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fdb96f

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.

#fdb96f 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 12.35:1.

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.

#fdb96f, answered

What color is #fdb96f?

#fdb96f is a light electric orange, closest to Sandy Brown (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 31° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fdb96f?

rgb(253, 185, 111) — 253 red, 185 green and 111 blue out of 255, or 99.2% / 72.5% / 43.5% by channel.

What is #fdb96f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(31, 97%, 71%) and hsv(31, 56%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fdb96f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5673 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.35:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fdb96f?

Black. It scores 12.35:1 against #fdb96f, versus 1.70:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fdb96f accessible on a white background?

#fdb96f on white scores 1.70:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #B25E02 to reach 4.5:1, or #854602 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fdb96f?

#6FB3FD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #6FFAFD and #726FFD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fdb96f?

For interface work: #FAF7F4 as the surface, #EDD7C0 for borders, #9B744B for secondary text, #0094CC as an accent and #7E4202 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FD726F and #FAFD6F stays calm, while #6FB3FD is the loudest partner.

What is #fdb96f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 56%, 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 #fdb96f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 1 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FDBE88; nudged cooler, #FE846E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fdb96f?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 9.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fdb96f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fdb96f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fdb96f] or text-[#fdb96f], 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 #fdb96f with 50% opacity?

rgba(253, 185, 111, 0.5), or #fdb96f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FEDCB7; over black, #7F5D38.

Is #fdb96f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC66, ΔE2000 8.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fdb96f 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 #fdb96f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FED6AB, #fdb96f 45%, #7E4202). For more colour, a short hue run to #CEFD51 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fdb96f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fdb96f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.