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orange · warm

#bb8331

a balanced, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Dark Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Studio Marmalade

RGB
187, 131, 49
HSL
36°, 59%, 46%
CMYK
0, 30, 74, 27
Luminance
0.2702

#bb8331 is a balanced vivid orange, 36° on the wheel and 5/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.40:1). As text it scores 3.28:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(36 59% 46%)rgb(187 131 49)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bb8331 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bb8331
Hue
36°
orange
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2702
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
5/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
6.40:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
52.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.652
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 12.7
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue36° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bb8331.

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
Red39%
Green60%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bb8331
HEX (8-digit)#bb8331ff
RGBrgb(187, 131, 49)
RGBArgba(187, 131, 49, 1)
HSLhsl(36, 59%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(36, 74%, 73%)
HWBhwb(36 19% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 30%, 74%, 27%)
LABlab(59.0 14.0 50.8)
LCHlch(59.0 52.7 74.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.652 0.118 72.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.17, 27.02, 6.58)
Decimal12288817
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.514 0.192)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bb8331;
background-color: #bb8331;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bb8331;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bb8331] bg-[#bb8331]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bb8331;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.514, blue: 0.192)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.514, blue: 0.192, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BB8331</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBB8331)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBB8331)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(49, 131, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 131, 49)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 131, 49)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 131, 49)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.5137f, 0.1922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,131,49}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bb8331 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bb8331 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#65471A, #EEE3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bb8331 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: #FBF8F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F1E9;
  --brand-200: #EFE1CD;
  --brand-300: #E8CDA6;
  --brand-400: #DCB47A;
  --brand-500: #D09B4D;
  --brand-600: #bb8331;
  --brand-700: #A2712A;
  --brand-800: #815B22;
  --brand-900: #5E431C;
  --brand-950: #3B2A12;
  --brand: #bb8331;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDAC0;
  --brand-hover: #9F6F2A;
  --brand-pressed: #835C22;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF8F4',
        100: '#F7F1E9',
        200: '#EFE1CD',
        300: '#E8CDA6',
        400: '#DCB47A',
        500: '#D09B4D',
        600: '#bb8331',
        700: '#A2712A',
        800: '#815B22',
        900: '#5E431C',
        950: '#3B2A12',
        DEFAULT: '#bb8331',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF8F4,
  '100': #F7F1E9,
  '200': #EFE1CD,
  '300': #E8CDA6,
  '400': #DCB47A,
  '500': #D09B4D,
  '600': #bb8331,
  '700': #A2712A,
  '800': #815B22,
  '900': #5E431C,
  '950': #3B2A12,
);
$brand-base: #bb8331;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF8F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F1E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFE1CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E8CDA6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DCB47A", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D09B4D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bb8331", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A2712A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#815B22", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5E431C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B2A12", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bb8331 · 6.40:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.28:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.40:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #bb8331 as text scores 3.28:1 on white and 6.40:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #65471A at 2.59:1.

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
#9B6D29 · 4.55:1
AA on white−8% L
#9B6D29
The quick fox
#72501E · 7.29:1
AAA on white−18% L
#72501E
The quick fox
#bb8331 · 6.40:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bb8331
The quick fox
#C78C34 · 7.23:1
AAA on black+3% L
#C78C34

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BB8331 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
#bb8331 on white: 3.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bb8331 on black: 6.40:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bb8331 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bb8331.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.28:1AaAa
Slate 503.13:1AaAa
Slate 1002.99:1AaAa
Slate 2002.66:1AaAa
Slate 3002.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.28:1AaAa
Slate 5001.45:1AaAa
Slate 6002.31:1AaAa
Slate 7003.16:1AaAa
Slate 8004.46:1AaAa
Slate 9005.44:1AaAa
Black6.40:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #978626
deuteranopia · #A49333
tritanopia · #CC7572

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. #bb8331 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF8F4
#F7F1E9
#EFE1CD
#E8CDA6
#DCB47A
#D09B4D
#bb8331
#A2712A
#815B22
#5E431C
#3B2A12
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF8F4Darkest = 950 · #3B2A12Text 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 0.029 72.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.047 72.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.071 72.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.092 72.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.109 72.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.118 72.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.118 72.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.111 72.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.099 72.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.083 72.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.065 72.9);
}

Colors that work with #bb8331

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#EDDAC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B7A4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2C8DC0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#65471A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF4EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F6F2A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#835C22
Two steps down
Disabled#C0B29C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D79129
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 #bb8331

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #65471A
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight54/100
  • 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#3169BB
Analogous left#BB3E31
Analogous right#AEBB31
Split-complement 1#31AEBB
Split-complement 2#3E31BB
Triadic 1#31BB83
Triadic 2#8331BB
Tetradic#31BB3E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°36°

#bb8331 sits at 36°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green51.4%
Blue19.2%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
131
0x83
B · 0–255
49
0x31

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta29.9%
Yellow73.8%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 130%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bb8331 text on a black background

contrast 6.40:1

Card sample

#bb8331 text on a white background

contrast 3.28:1

Card sample

#bb8331 on grey

2.99:1

#bb8331 on its own surface

3.09:1

#bb8331 on its dark surface

5.04:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bb8331;
Background color
Panel with #bb8331 background
background-color: #bb8331;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bb8331;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 131, 49, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 131, 49, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bb8331;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bb8331, #97BB31);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb8331, #74BB31);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bb8331;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bb8331;
caret-color: #bb8331;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bb8331;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF4EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bb8331;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bb8331 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bb8331 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(187, 131, 49, 0.5)
rgb(187 131 49 / 50%)
#bb833180
hsl(36 59% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bb8331 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bb83311a#F8F3EA
20%#bb833133#F1E6D6
40%#bb833166#E4CDAD
60%#bb833199#D6B583
80%#bb8331cc#C99C5A

Gradients from #bb8331

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, #D3A056, #bb8331 45%, #65471A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bb8331, #79A32B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bb8331, #3169BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D9AE6F 0%, #bb8331 45%, #65471A 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%, #D1504E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B3CD3E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #65471A 0%, transparent 65%), #bb8331;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bb8331

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.

#bb8331 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

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 6.40:1.

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.

#bb8331, answered

What color is #bb8331?

#bb8331 is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 36° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bb8331?

rgb(187, 131, 49) — 187 red, 131 green and 49 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 51.4% / 19.2% by channel.

What is #bb8331 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(36, 59%, 46%) and hsv(36, 74%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bb8331 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2702 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 6.40:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bb8331?

Black. It scores 6.40:1 against #bb8331, versus 3.28:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #bb8331 accessible on a white background?

#bb8331 on white scores 3.28:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #9B6D29 to reach 4.5:1, or #72501E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bb8331?

#3169BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #31AEBB and #3E31BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bb8331?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDAC0 for borders, #9B7A4B for secondary text, #2C8DC0 as an accent and #65471A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB3E31 and #AEBB31 stays calm, while #3169BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bb8331 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 30%, 74%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bb8331 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 #BB7431; nudged cooler, #BDB82F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bb8331?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 12.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bb8331 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bb8331 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bb8331] or text-[#bb8331], 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 #bb8331 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 131, 49, 0.5), or #bb833180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDC198; over black, #5E4219.

Is #bb8331 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 7.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bb8331 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 #bb8331?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3A056, #bb8331 45%, #65471A). For more colour, a short hue run to #79A32B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bb8331 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bb8331 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.