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orange · warm

#cebc9d

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Apricot

RGB
206, 188, 157
HSL
38°, 33%, 71%
CMYK
0, 9, 24, 19
Luminance
0.5152

#cebc9d is a light soft orange, 38° on the wheel and 9/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.30:1). As text it scores 1.86:1 on white — use #8C7246 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(38 33% 71%)rgb(206 188 157)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cebc9d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cebc9d
Hue
38°
orange
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5152
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.30:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
18.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.802
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 19
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue38° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cebc9d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool9% 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
Red25%
Green70%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#cebc9d
HEX (8-digit)#cebc9dff
RGBrgb(206, 188, 157)
RGBArgba(206, 188, 157, 1)
HSLhsl(38, 33%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(38, 24%, 81%)
HWBhwb(38 62% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 9%, 24%, 19%)
LABlab(77.0 1.5 18.0)
LCHlch(77.0 18.1 85.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.802 0.047 81.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.52, 51.52, 39.23)
Decimal13548701
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.737 0.616)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cebc9d;
background-color: #cebc9d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cebc9d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cebc9d] bg-[#cebc9d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cebc9d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.737, blue: 0.616)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.737, blue: 0.616, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CEBC9D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCEBC9D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCEBC9D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(157, 188, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 188, 157)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 188, 157)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 188, 157)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.7373f, 0.6157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,188,157}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cebc9d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cebc9d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#55452B, #EBE3D6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cebc9d 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: #F9F8F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F1EC;
  --brand-200: #E8E0D4;
  --brand-300: #DACCB4;
  --brand-400: #cebc9d;
  --brand-500: #B49969;
  --brand-600: #A38552;
  --brand-700: #886F44;
  --brand-800: #6D5936;
  --brand-900: #50422A;
  --brand-950: #32291B;
  --brand: #cebc9d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E4DAC9;
  --brand-hover: #C2AC85;
  --brand-pressed: #B69C6E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EBE3D6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F8F5',
        100: '#F4F1EC',
        200: '#E8E0D4',
        300: '#DACCB4',
        400: '#cebc9d',
        500: '#B49969',
        600: '#A38552',
        700: '#886F44',
        800: '#6D5936',
        900: '#50422A',
        950: '#32291B',
        DEFAULT: '#cebc9d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F8F5,
  '100': #F4F1EC,
  '200': #E8E0D4,
  '300': #DACCB4,
  '400': #cebc9d,
  '500': #B49969,
  '600': #A38552,
  '700': #886F44,
  '800': #6D5936,
  '900': #50422A,
  '950': #32291B,
);
$brand-base: #cebc9d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8E0D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DACCB4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cebc9d", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B49969", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A38552", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#886F44", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6D5936", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#50422A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#32291B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cebc9d · 11.30:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.86:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.30:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cebc9d as text scores 1.86:1 on white and 11.30:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #55452B at 4.97:1.

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
#8C7246 · 4.55:1
AA on white−30% L
#8C7246
The quick fox
#675433 · 7.26:1
AAA on white−41% L
#675433
The quick fox
#cebc9d · 11.30:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cebc9d
The quick fox
#cebc9d · 11.30:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cebc9d

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE905D 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
#cebc9d on white: 1.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cebc9d on black: 11.30:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cebc9d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cebc9d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.86:1AaAa
Slate 501.78:1AaAa
Slate 1001.70:1AaAa
Slate 2001.51:1AaAa
Slate 3001.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.38:1AaAa
Slate 5002.56:1AaAa
Slate 6004.08:1AaAa
Slate 7005.57:1AaAa
Slate 8007.87:1AaAa
Slate 9009.61:1AaAa
Black11.30:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C4BB9B
deuteranopia · #C9C09E
tritanopia · #D7B6B3

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. #cebc9d 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.

#F9F8F5
#F4F1EC
#E8E0D4
#DACCB4
#cebc9d
#B49969
#A38552
#886F44
#6D5936
#50422A
#32291B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F8F5Darkest = 950 · #32291BText 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 0.012 81.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 81.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 81.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.036 81.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.043 81.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.047 81.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.047 81.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.044 81.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.039 81.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 81.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 81.3);
}

Colors that work with #cebc9d

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#E4DAC9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#997D4D
Captions on the surface
Accent#406F8C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#55452B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F3EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C2AC85
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B69C6E
Two steps down
Disabled#F1EFEA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DBC7A4
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 #cebc9d

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #55452B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AE905D

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • 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#9DAFCE
Analogous left#CEA49D
Analogous right#C7CE9D
Split-complement 1#9DC7CE
Split-complement 2#A49DCE
Triadic 1#9DCEBC
Triadic 2#BC9DCE
Tetradic#9DCEA4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°38°

#cebc9d sits at 38°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green73.7%
Blue61.6%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
157
0x9d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta8.7%
Yellow23.8%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 52%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cebc9d text on a black background

contrast 11.30:1

Card sample

#cebc9d text on a white background

contrast 1.86:1

Card sample

#cebc9d on grey

1.70:1

#cebc9d on its own surface

1.75:1

#cebc9d on its dark surface

8.90:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cebc9d;
Background color
Panel with #cebc9d background
background-color: #cebc9d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cebc9d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 188, 157, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 188, 157, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cebc9d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cebc9d, #BFCE9D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cebc9d, #B3CE9D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cebc9d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cebc9d;
caret-color: #cebc9d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cebc9d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F3EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cebc9d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cebc9d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cebc9d 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(206, 188, 157, 0.5)
rgb(206 188 157 / 50%)
#cebc9d80
hsl(38 33% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cebc9d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cebc9d1a#FAF8F5
20%#cebc9d33#F5F2EB
40%#cebc9d66#EBE4D8
60%#cebc9d99#E2D7C4
80%#cebc9dcc#D8C9B1

Gradients from #cebc9d

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, #E2D8C6, #cebc9d 45%, #55452B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cebc9d, #ADC489);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cebc9d, #9DAFCE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EDE6DA 0%, #cebc9d 45%, #55452B 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%, #DFC1BF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D0D8B1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #55452B 0%, transparent 65%), #cebc9d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cebc9d

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.

#cebc9d 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

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 11.30:1.

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.

#cebc9d, answered

What color is #cebc9d?

#cebc9d is a light soft orange, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 38° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cebc9d?

rgb(206, 188, 157) — 206 red, 188 green and 157 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 73.7% / 61.6% by channel.

What is #cebc9d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(38, 33%, 71%) and hsv(38, 24%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cebc9d a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5152 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.30:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cebc9d?

Black. It scores 11.30:1 against #cebc9d, versus 1.86:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cebc9d accessible on a white background?

#cebc9d on white scores 1.86:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8C7246 to reach 4.5:1, or #675433 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cebc9d?

#9DAFCE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9DC7CE and #A49DCE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cebc9d?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E4DAC9 for borders, #997D4D for secondary text, #406F8C as an accent and #55452B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CEA49D and #C7CE9D stays calm, while #9DAFCE is the loudest partner.

What is #cebc9d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 9%, 24%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cebc9d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 9 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CEB49D; nudged cooler, #CFCF9C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cebc9d?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 19 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cebc9d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cebc9d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cebc9d] or text-[#cebc9d], 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 #cebc9d with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 188, 157, 0.5), or #cebc9d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7DECE; over black, #675E4F.

Is #cebc9d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 10 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cebc9d 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 #cebc9d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E2D8C6, #cebc9d 45%, #55452B). For more colour, a short hue run to #ADC489 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cebc9d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cebc9d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.