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orange · warm

#bc9f7e

a balanced, soft orange · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Signal Marmalade

RGB
188, 159, 126
HSL
32°, 32%, 62%
CMYK
0, 15, 33, 26
Luminance
0.3699

#bc9f7e is a balanced soft orange, 32° on the wheel and 6/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.40:1). As text it scores 2.50:1 on white — use #8F6F4A instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(32 32% 62%)rgb(188 159 126)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc9f7e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc9f7e
Hue
32°
orange
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3699
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
6/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.40:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 6.2
Chroma
22.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.720
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 17.8
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue32° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bc9f7e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool6% 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
Red29%
Green67%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#bc9f7e
HEX (8-digit)#bc9f7eff
RGBrgb(188, 159, 126)
RGBArgba(188, 159, 126, 1)
HSLhsl(32, 32%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(32, 33%, 74%)
HWBhwb(32 49% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 15%, 33%, 26%)
LABlab(67.3 5.8 21.2)
LCHlch(67.3 22.0 74.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.720 0.057 70.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.90, 37.00, 24.93)
Decimal12361598
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.624 0.494)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc9f7e;
background-color: #bc9f7e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc9f7e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc9f7e] bg-[#bc9f7e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc9f7e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.624, blue: 0.494)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.624, blue: 0.494, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC9F7E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC9F7E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC9F7E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(126, 159, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 159, 126)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 159, 126)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 159, 126)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.6235f, 0.4941f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,159,126}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc9f7e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc9f7e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#54412C, #EAE1D7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc9f7e 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: #F9F7F5;
  --brand-100: #F3F0EC;
  --brand-200: #E7DED5;
  --brand-300: #D9C8B5;
  --brand-400: #bc9f7e;
  --brand-500: #B2916B;
  --brand-600: #A17D54;
  --brand-700: #866846;
  --brand-800: #6B5338;
  --brand-900: #4F3E2B;
  --brand-950: #31271B;
  --brand: #bc9f7e;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E3D7C9;
  --brand-hover: #B08E67;
  --brand-pressed: #A07C53;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EAE1D7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F7F5',
        100: '#F3F0EC',
        200: '#E7DED5',
        300: '#D9C8B5',
        400: '#bc9f7e',
        500: '#B2916B',
        600: '#A17D54',
        700: '#866846',
        800: '#6B5338',
        900: '#4F3E2B',
        950: '#31271B',
        DEFAULT: '#bc9f7e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F7F5,
  '100': #F3F0EC,
  '200': #E7DED5,
  '300': #D9C8B5,
  '400': #bc9f7e,
  '500': #B2916B,
  '600': #A17D54,
  '700': #866846,
  '800': #6B5338,
  '900': #4F3E2B,
  '950': #31271B,
);
$brand-base: #bc9f7e;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F7F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3F0EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7DED5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D9C8B5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bc9f7e", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B2916B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A17D54", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#866846", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6B5338", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4F3E2B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#31271B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc9f7e · 8.40:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.50:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.40:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bc9f7e as text scores 2.50:1 on white and 8.40:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #54412C at 3.87:1.

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
#8F6F4A · 4.62:1
AA on white−19% L
#8F6F4A
The quick fox
#6A5237 · 7.30:1
AAA on white−30% L
#6A5237
The quick fox
#bc9f7e · 8.40:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bc9f7e
The quick fox
#bc9f7e · 8.40:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bc9f7e

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B08E67 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
#bc9f7e on white: 2.50:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc9f7e on black: 8.40:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc9f7e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc9f7e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.50:1AaAa
Slate 502.39:1AaAa
Slate 1002.28:1AaAa
Slate 2002.03:1AaAa
Slate 3001.68:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.90:1AaAa
Slate 6003.03:1AaAa
Slate 7004.14:1AaAa
Slate 8005.85:1AaAa
Slate 9007.14:1AaAa
Black8.40:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A9A07C
deuteranopia · #B0A77F
tritanopia · #C69896

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. #bc9f7e 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.

#F9F7F5
#F3F0EC
#E7DED5
#D9C8B5
#bc9f7e
#B2916B
#A17D54
#866846
#6B5338
#4F3E2B
#31271B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F7F5Darkest = 950 · #31271BText step on white = 700
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 0.014 70.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 70.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 70.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.044 70.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.052 70.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.057 70.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.057 70.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.053 70.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.048 70.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.040 70.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 70.3);
}

Colors that work with #bc9f7e

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#FAF8F5
Tinted page background
Border#E3D7C9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#97754E
Captions on the surface
Accent#42768A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#54412C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F3EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#B08E67
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A07C53
Two steps down
Disabled#DED6CC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CCAA83
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 #bc9f7e

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #54412C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B08E67

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#7E9BBC
Analogous left#BC807E
Analogous right#BABC7E
Split-complement 1#7EBABC
Split-complement 2#807EBC
Triadic 1#7EBC9F
Triadic 2#9F7EBC
Tetradic#7EBC80
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°32°

#bc9f7e sits at 32°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green62.4%
Blue49.4%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
159
0x9f
B · 0–255
126
0x7e

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta15.4%
Yellow33.0%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 75%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc9f7e text on a black background

contrast 8.40:1

Card sample

#bc9f7e text on a white background

contrast 2.50:1

Card sample

#bc9f7e on grey

2.28:1

#bc9f7e on its own surface

2.36:1

#bc9f7e on its dark surface

6.66:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc9f7e;
Background color
Panel with #bc9f7e background
background-color: #bc9f7e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc9f7e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 159, 126, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 159, 126, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc9f7e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc9f7e, #B0BC7E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc9f7e, #A0BC7E);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc9f7e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc9f7e;
caret-color: #bc9f7e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc9f7e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F3EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc9f7e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc9f7e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc9f7e 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(188, 159, 126, 0.5)
rgb(188 159 126 / 50%)
#bc9f7e80
hsl(32 32% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc9f7e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc9f7e1a#F8F5F2
20%#bc9f7e33#F2ECE5
40%#bc9f7e66#E4D9CB
60%#bc9f7e99#D7C5B2
80%#bc9f7ecc#C9B298

Gradients from #bc9f7e

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, #D1BDA6, #bc9f7e 45%, #54412C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc9f7e, #9DB26A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc9f7e, #7E9BBC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DBCCBB 0%, #bc9f7e 45%, #54412C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CDA0A2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C0C692 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #54412C 0%, transparent 65%), #bc9f7e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc9f7e

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.

#bc9f7e 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 8.40:1.

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.

#bc9f7e, answered

What color is #bc9f7e?

#bc9f7e is a balanced soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 6.2). It sits at 32° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bc9f7e?

rgb(188, 159, 126) — 188 red, 159 green and 126 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 62.4% / 49.4% by channel.

What is #bc9f7e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(32, 32%, 62%) and hsv(32, 33%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc9f7e a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3699 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.40:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc9f7e?

Black. It scores 8.40:1 against #bc9f7e, versus 2.50:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bc9f7e accessible on a white background?

#bc9f7e on white scores 2.50:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8F6F4A to reach 4.5:1, or #6A5237 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bc9f7e?

#7E9BBC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7EBABC and #807EBC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc9f7e?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E3D7C9 for borders, #97754E for secondary text, #42768A as an accent and #54412C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC807E and #BABC7E stays calm, while #7E9BBC is the loudest partner.

What is #bc9f7e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 15%, 33%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc9f7e warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 6 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C5A78F; nudged cooler, #BEB77C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc9f7e?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 17.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc9f7e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc9f7e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc9f7e] or text-[#bc9f7e], 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 #bc9f7e with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 159, 126, 0.5), or #bc9f7e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DECFBF; over black, #5E503F.

Is #bc9f7e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 6.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc9f7e 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bc9f7e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D1BDA6, #bc9f7e 45%, #54412C). For more colour, a short hue run to #9DB26A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc9f7e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc9f7e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.