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orange · warm

#fe8021

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Apricot

RGB
254, 128, 33
HSL
26°, 99%, 56%
CMYK
0, 50, 87, 0
Luminance
0.3662

#fe8021 is a balanced electric orange, 26° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.32:1). As text it scores 2.52:1 on white — use #C25401 instead. Nearest name is Dark Orange, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(26 99% 56%)rgb(254 128 33)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fe8021 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fe8021
Hue
26°
orange
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3662
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.32:1
Closest name
Dark Orange
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
79.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.731
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 3.3
Web-safe
#FF9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue26° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness56%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fe8021.

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
Red58%
Green42%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#fe8021
HEX (8-digit)#fe8021ff
RGBrgb(254, 128, 33)
RGBArgba(254, 128, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(26, 99%, 56%)
HSV / HSBhsv(26, 87%, 100%)
HWBhwb(26 13% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 50%, 87%, 0%)
LABlab(67.0 42.8 67.3)
LCHlch(67.0 79.8 57.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.731 0.180 50.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.87, 36.63, 5.93)
Decimal16678945
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.502 0.129)
Web-safe#FF9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fe8021;
background-color: #fe8021;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fe8021;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fe8021] bg-[#fe8021]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fe8021;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.502, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.996, green: 0.502, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FE8021</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFE8021)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFE8021)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 128, 254)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(254, 128, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(254, 128, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 128, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9961f, 0.5020f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{254,128,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fe8021 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fe8021 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7F3701, #EEDED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fe8021 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: #FEF6F1;
  --brand-100: #FCEEE3;
  --brand-200: #FBDAC0;
  --brand-300: #FEBF8F;
  --brand-400: #FE9F57;
  --brand-500: #fe8021;
  --brand-600: #F46901;
  --brand-700: #CB5801;
  --brand-800: #A24601;
  --brand-900: #753505;
  --brand-950: #492103;
  --brand: #fe8021;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD3C0;
  --brand-hover: #FA6C01;
  --brand-pressed: #D75D01;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241B14;
    --brand-ink: #EEDED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEF6F1',
        100: '#FCEEE3',
        200: '#FBDAC0',
        300: '#FEBF8F',
        400: '#FE9F57',
        500: '#fe8021',
        600: '#F46901',
        700: '#CB5801',
        800: '#A24601',
        900: '#753505',
        950: '#492103',
        DEFAULT: '#fe8021',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEF6F1,
  '100': #FCEEE3,
  '200': #FBDAC0,
  '300': #FEBF8F,
  '400': #FE9F57,
  '500': #fe8021,
  '600': #F46901,
  '700': #CB5801,
  '800': #A24601,
  '900': #753505,
  '950': #492103,
);
$brand-base: #fe8021;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FEF6F1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCEEE3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FBDAC0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FEBF8F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FE9F57", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#fe8021", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F46901", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CB5801", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A24601", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#753505", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#492103", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fe8021 · 8.32:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.52:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fe8021 as text scores 2.52:1 on white and 8.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7F3701 at 3.40:1.

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
#C25401 · 4.60:1
AA on white−18% L
#C25401
The quick fox
#903E01 · 7.30:1
AAA on white−28% L
#903E01
The quick fox
#fe8021 · 8.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fe8021
The quick fox
#fe8021 · 8.32:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fe8021

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #F56A01 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
#fe8021 on white: 2.52:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fe8021 on black: 8.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fe8021 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fe8021.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.52:1AaAa
Slate 502.41:1AaAa
Slate 1002.30:1AaAa
Slate 2002.05:1AaAa
Slate 3001.70:1AaAa
Slate 4001.02:1AaAa
Slate 5001.89:1AaAa
Slate 6003.00:1AaAa
Slate 7004.10:1AaAa
Slate 8005.80:1AaAa
Slate 9007.08:1AaAa
Black8.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A59106
deuteranopia · #C3AE1D
tritanopia · #FF636F

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. #fe8021 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.

#FEF6F1
#FCEEE3
#FBDAC0
#FEBF8F
#FE9F57
#fe8021
#F46901
#CB5801
#A24601
#753505
#492103
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FEF6F1Darkest = 950 · #492103Text 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 0.045 50.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.072 50.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.108 50.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.141 50.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.166 50.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.180 50.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.180 50.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.170 50.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.152 50.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.126 50.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.099 50.8);
}

Colors that work with #fe8021

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#EDD3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B6D4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#00A7CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7F3701
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF0E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241B14
Dark-mode background
Hover#FA6C01
One step down in lightness
Pressed#D75D01
Two steps down
Disabled#D4C6BB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FF8C35
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 #fe8021

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 #7F3701
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #F56A01

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
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#219FFE
Analogous left#FE2131
Analogous right#FEEF21
Split-complement 1#21FEEF
Split-complement 2#2131FE
Triadic 1#21FE80
Triadic 2#8021FE
Tetradic#31FE21
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°26°

#fe8021 sits at 26°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green50.2%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
254
0xfe
G · 0–255
128
0x80
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta49.6%
Yellow87.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 137%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fe8021 text on a black background

contrast 8.32:1

Card sample

#fe8021 text on a white background

contrast 2.52:1

Card sample

#fe8021 on grey

2.30:1

#fe8021 on its own surface

2.36:1

#fe8021 on its dark surface

6.70:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fe8021;
Background color
Panel with #fe8021 background
background-color: #fe8021;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fe8021;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 128, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 128, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fe8021;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fe8021, #E9FE21);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fe8021, #B1FE21);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fe8021;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fe8021;
caret-color: #fe8021;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fe8021;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFF0E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fe8021;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fe8021 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fe8021 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(254, 128, 33, 0.5)
rgb(254 128 33 / 50%)
#fe802180
hsl(26 99% 56% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fe8021 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fe80211a#FFF2E9
20%#fe802133#FFE6D3
40%#fe802166#FFCCA6
60%#fe802199#FEB37A
80%#fe8021cc#FE994D

Gradients from #fe8021

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, #FEA35E, #fe8021 45%, #7F3701);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fe8021, #D1FE03);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fe8021, #219FFE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FEB47D 0%, #fe8021 45%, #7F3701 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%, #FE546E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #FCFE40 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7F3701 0%, transparent 65%), #fe8021;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fe8021

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.

#fe8021 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 8.32:1.

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.

#fe8021, answered

What color is #fe8021?

#fe8021 is a balanced electric orange, closest to Dark Orange (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 26° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fe8021?

rgb(254, 128, 33) — 254 red, 128 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 50.2% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #fe8021 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(26, 99%, 56%) and hsv(26, 87%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fe8021 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3662 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 8.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fe8021?

Black. It scores 8.32:1 against #fe8021, versus 2.52:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fe8021 accessible on a white background?

#fe8021 on white scores 2.52:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #C25401 to reach 4.5:1, or #903E01 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fe8021?

#219FFE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21FEEF and #2131FE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fe8021?

For interface work: #FAF7F4 as the surface, #EDD3C0 for borders, #9B6D4B for secondary text, #00A7CC as an accent and #7F3701 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FE2131 and #FEEF21 stays calm, while #219FFE is the loudest partner.

What is #fe8021 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 50%, 87%, 0%). 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 #fe8021 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 #FE8E3B; nudged cooler, #FF2E20.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fe8021?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 3.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fe8021 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fe8021 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fe8021] or text-[#fe8021], 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 #fe8021 with 50% opacity?

rgba(254, 128, 33, 0.5), or #fe802180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFC090; over black, #7F4011.

Is #fe8021 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9933, ΔE2000 7.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fe8021 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 #fe8021?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEA35E, #fe8021 45%, #7F3701). For more colour, a short hue run to #D1FE03 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fe8021 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fe8021 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.