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orange · warm

#cb6d21

a balanced, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Chocolate

Token name suggestion: Studio Amber

RGB
203, 109, 33
HSL
27°, 72%, 46%
CMYK
0, 46, 84, 20
Luminance
0.2374

#cb6d21 is a balanced vivid orange, 27° on the wheel and 2/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.75:1). As text it scores 3.65:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Chocolate, nearest Tailwind family is orange.

hsl(27 72% 46%)rgb(203 109 33)Base step 600AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cb6d21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cb6d21
Hue
27°
orange
Saturation
72%
vivid
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2374
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
2/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.75:1
Closest name
Chocolate
ΔE2000 2.2
Chroma
63.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.631
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
orange
500 · ΔE 8.9
Web-safe
#CC6633
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue27° of 360°
Saturation72%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cb6d21.

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
Red53%
Green46%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#cb6d21
HEX (8-digit)#cb6d21ff
RGBrgb(203, 109, 33)
RGBArgba(203, 109, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(27, 72%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(27, 84%, 80%)
HWBhwb(27 13% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 46%, 84%, 20%)
LABlab(55.8 32.2 55.1)
LCHlch(55.8 63.8 59.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.631 0.145 53.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.37, 23.75, 4.42)
Decimal13331745
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.427 0.129)
Web-safe#CC6633

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cb6d21;
background-color: #cb6d21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cb6d21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cb6d21] bg-[#cb6d21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cb6d21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.427, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.427, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CB6D21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCB6D21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCB6D21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 109, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 109, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 109, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 109, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.4275f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,109,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cb6d21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cb6d21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6E3B12, #EEDFD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cb6d21 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: #FCF7F3;
  --brand-100: #F8EFE7;
  --brand-200: #F3DCC9;
  --brand-300: #EFC39F;
  --brand-400: #E7A46E;
  --brand-500: #E0863E;
  --brand-600: #cb6d21;
  --brand-700: #AF5E1D;
  --brand-800: #8C4B17;
  --brand-900: #663915;
  --brand-950: #40240D;
  --brand: #cb6d21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF7F4;
  --brand-border: #EDD4C0;
  --brand-hover: #AC5D1C;
  --brand-pressed: #8E4C17;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241B14;
    --brand-ink: #EEDFD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF7F3',
        100: '#F8EFE7',
        200: '#F3DCC9',
        300: '#EFC39F',
        400: '#E7A46E',
        500: '#E0863E',
        600: '#cb6d21',
        700: '#AF5E1D',
        800: '#8C4B17',
        900: '#663915',
        950: '#40240D',
        DEFAULT: '#cb6d21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF7F3,
  '100': #F8EFE7,
  '200': #F3DCC9,
  '300': #EFC39F,
  '400': #E7A46E,
  '500': #E0863E,
  '600': #cb6d21,
  '700': #AF5E1D,
  '800': #8C4B17,
  '900': #663915,
  '950': #40240D,
);
$brand-base: #cb6d21;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF7F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8EFE7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3DCC9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EFC39F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E7A46E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E0863E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#cb6d21", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#AF5E1D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8C4B17", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#663915", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#40240D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cb6d21 · 5.75:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.65:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.75:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #cb6d21 as text scores 3.65:1 on white and 5.75:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6E3B12 at 2.50:1.

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
#B15F1D · 4.64:1
AA on white−6% L
#B15F1D
The quick fox
#854716 · 7.22:1
AAA on white−16% L
#854716
The quick fox
#cb6d21 · 5.75:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cb6d21
The quick fox
#DD7C2E · 7.00:1
AAA on black+6% L
#DD7C2E

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #CB6D21 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
#cb6d21 on white: 3.65:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cb6d21 on black: 5.75:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cb6d21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cb6d21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.65:1AaAa
Slate 503.49:1AaAa
Slate 1003.33:1AaAa
Slate 2002.96:1AaAa
Slate 3002.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.42:1AaAa
Slate 5001.30:1AaAa
Slate 6002.07:1AaAa
Slate 7002.83:1AaAa
Slate 8004.00:1AaAa
Slate 9004.89:1AaAa
Black5.75:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #897913
deuteranopia · #9F8E20
tritanopia · #DF585E

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. #cb6d21 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.

#FCF7F3
#F8EFE7
#F3DCC9
#EFC39F
#E7A46E
#E0863E
#cb6d21
#AF5E1D
#8C4B17
#663915
#40240D
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCF7F3Darkest = 950 · #40240DText 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 0.036 53.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 53.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.087 53.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.113 53.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.133 53.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.145 53.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.145 53.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.136 53.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.122 53.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 53.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.080 53.9);
}

Colors that work with #cb6d21

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#EDD4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B6E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1895B4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6E3B12
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF1E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241B14
Dark-mode background
Hover#AC5D1C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E4C17
Two steps down
Disabled#C0AC9C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E87518
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 #cb6d21

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 #6E3B12
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#217FCB
Analogous left#CB212A
Analogous right#CBC221
Split-complement 1#21CBC2
Split-complement 2#212ACB
Triadic 1#21CB6D
Triadic 2#6D21CB
Tetradic#2ACB21
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°27°

#cb6d21 sits at 27°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green42.7%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
109
0x6d
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta46.3%
Yellow83.7%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 150%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cb6d21 text on a black background

contrast 5.75:1

Card sample

#cb6d21 text on a white background

contrast 3.65:1

Card sample

#cb6d21 on grey

3.33:1

#cb6d21 on its own surface

3.42:1

#cb6d21 on its dark surface

4.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cb6d21;
Background color
Panel with #cb6d21 background
background-color: #cb6d21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cb6d21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 109, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 109, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cb6d21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cb6d21, #B8CB21);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cb6d21, #8DCB21);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cb6d21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cb6d21;
caret-color: #cb6d21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cb6d21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF1E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cb6d21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cb6d21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cb6d21 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(203, 109, 33, 0.5)
rgb(203 109 33 / 50%)
#cb6d2180
hsl(27 72% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cb6d21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cb6d211a#FAF0E9
20%#cb6d2133#F5E2D3
40%#cb6d2166#EAC5A6
60%#cb6d2199#E0A77A
80%#cb6d21cc#D58A4D

Gradients from #cb6d21

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, #E18C48, #cb6d21 45%, #6E3B12);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cb6d21, #94B11D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cb6d21, #217FCB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E69D62 0%, #cb6d21 45%, #6E3B12 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%, #E03F55 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D8DD2E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6E3B12 0%, transparent 65%), #cb6d21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cb6d21

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.

#cb6d21 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 5.75:1.

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.

#cb6d21, answered

What color is #cb6d21?

#cb6d21 is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Chocolate (ΔE2000 2.2). It sits at 27° on the hue wheel with 72% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cb6d21?

rgb(203, 109, 33) — 203 red, 109 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 42.7% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #cb6d21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(27, 72%, 46%) and hsv(27, 84%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cb6d21 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2374 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 5.75:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cb6d21?

Black. It scores 5.75:1 against #cb6d21, versus 3.65:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #cb6d21 accessible on a white background?

#cb6d21 on white scores 3.65:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #B15F1D to reach 4.5:1, or #854716 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cb6d21?

#217FCB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21CBC2 and #212ACB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cb6d21?

For interface work: #FAF7F4 as the surface, #EDD4C0 for borders, #9B6E4B for secondary text, #1895B4 as an accent and #6E3B12 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB212A and #CBC221 stays calm, while #217FCB is the loudest partner.

What is #cb6d21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 46%, 84%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cb6d21 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 #DC7729; nudged cooler, #CD2D1F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cb6d21?

The orange family — its 500 step is #f97316, ΔE2000 8.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cb6d21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cb6d21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cb6d21] or text-[#cb6d21], 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 #cb6d21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 109, 33, 0.5), or #cb6d2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5B690; over black, #663711.

Is #cb6d21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC6633, ΔE2000 5.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cb6d21 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 #cb6d21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E18C48, #cb6d21 45%, #6E3B12). For more colour, a short hue run to #94B11D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cb6d21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cb6d21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.