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orange · warm

#ffaf3e

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Marmalade

RGB
255, 175, 62
HSL
35°, 100%, 62%
CMYK
0, 31, 76, 0
Luminance
0.5227

#ffaf3e is a balanced electric orange, 35° on the wheel and 4/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.45:1). As text it scores 1.83:1 on white — use #A96300 instead. Nearest name is Orange, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(35 100% 62%)rgb(255 175 62)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ffaf3e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ffaf3e
Hue
35°
orange
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5227
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
4/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.45:1
Closest name
Orange
ΔE2000 3.5
Chroma
69.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.813
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 4.5
Web-safe
#FF9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue35° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ffaf3e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool4% 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
Red41%
Green59%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ffaf3e
HEX (8-digit)#ffaf3eff
RGBrgb(255, 175, 62)
RGBArgba(255, 175, 62, 1)
HSLhsl(35, 100%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(35, 76%, 100%)
HWBhwb(35 24% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 31%, 76%, 0%)
LABlab(77.4 20.0 66.2)
LCHlch(77.4 69.2 73.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.813 0.153 71.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(57.44, 52.27, 11.62)
Decimal16756542
Display P3color(display-p3 1.000 0.686 0.243)
Web-safe#FF9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ffaf3e;
background-color: #ffaf3e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ffaf3e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ffaf3e] bg-[#ffaf3e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ffaf3e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 1.000, green: 0.686, blue: 0.243)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 1.000, green: 0.686, blue: 0.243, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FFAF3E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFFAF3E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFFAF3E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(62, 175, 255)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(255, 175, 62)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(255, 175, 62)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 175, 62)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(1.0000f, 0.6863f, 0.2431f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{255,175,62}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ffaf3e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ffaf3e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#804B00, #EEE3D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ffaf3e 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: #FEF8F1;
  --brand-100: #FCF2E3;
  --brand-200: #FCE3C0;
  --brand-300: #FFD08F;
  --brand-400: #ffaf3e;
  --brand-500: #FFA21F;
  --brand-600: #F58F00;
  --brand-700: #CC7700;
  --brand-800: #A35F00;
  --brand-900: #764705;
  --brand-950: #492C03;
  --brand: #ffaf3e;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDAC0;
  --brand-hover: #FFA01B;
  --brand-pressed: #F69000;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241D14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE3D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEF8F1',
        100: '#FCF2E3',
        200: '#FCE3C0',
        300: '#FFD08F',
        400: '#ffaf3e',
        500: '#FFA21F',
        600: '#F58F00',
        700: '#CC7700',
        800: '#A35F00',
        900: '#764705',
        950: '#492C03',
        DEFAULT: '#ffaf3e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEF8F1,
  '100': #FCF2E3,
  '200': #FCE3C0,
  '300': #FFD08F,
  '400': #ffaf3e,
  '500': #FFA21F,
  '600': #F58F00,
  '700': #CC7700,
  '800': #A35F00,
  '900': #764705,
  '950': #492C03,
);
$brand-base: #ffaf3e;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FEF8F1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCF2E3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FCE3C0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FFD08F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ffaf3e", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FFA21F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F58F00", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CC7700", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A35F00", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#764705", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#492C03", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ffaf3e · 11.45:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.83:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ffaf3e as text scores 1.83:1 on white and 11.45:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #804B00 at 3.92:1.

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
#A96300 · 4.70:1
AA on white−29% L
#A96300
The quick fox
#814B00 · 7.14:1
AAA on white−37% L
#814B00
The quick fox
#ffaf3e · 11.45:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ffaf3e
The quick fox
#ffaf3e · 11.45:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ffaf3e

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #D77E00 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
#ffaf3e on white: 1.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ffaf3e on black: 11.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ffaf3e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ffaf3e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.83:1AaAa
Slate 501.75:1AaAa
Slate 1001.67:1AaAa
Slate 2001.49:1AaAa
Slate 3001.23:1AaAa
Slate 4001.40:1AaAa
Slate 5002.60:1AaAa
Slate 6004.13:1AaAa
Slate 7005.65:1AaAa
Slate 8007.98:1AaAa
Slate 9009.74:1AaAa
Black11.45:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CAB42D
deuteranopia · #DDC741
tritanopia · #FF9B98

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. #ffaf3e 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.

#FEF8F1
#FCF2E3
#FCE3C0
#FFD08F
#ffaf3e
#FFA21F
#F58F00
#CC7700
#A35F00
#764705
#492C03
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FEF8F1Darkest = 950 · #492C03Text 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 0.038 71.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 71.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.092 71.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.120 71.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.141 71.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.153 71.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.153 71.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.144 71.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.129 71.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 71.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 71.2);
}

Colors that work with #ffaf3e

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#0087CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#804B00
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF4E5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241D14
Dark-mode background
Hover#FFA01B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#F69000
Two steps down
Disabled#E0D8CE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFB753
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 #ffaf3e

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 #804B00
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #D77E00

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
  • 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#3E8EFF
Analogous left#FF4F3E
Analogous right#EFFF3E
Split-complement 1#3EEFFF
Split-complement 2#4F3EFF
Triadic 1#3EFFAF
Triadic 2#AF3EFF
Tetradic#3EFF4F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°35°

#ffaf3e sits at 35°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red100.0%
Green68.6%
Blue24.3%
R · 0–255
255
0xff
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
62
0x3e

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta31.4%
Yellow75.7%
Key (black)0.0%

Total ink coverage is 107%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ffaf3e text on a black background

contrast 11.45:1

Card sample

#ffaf3e text on a white background

contrast 1.83:1

Card sample

#ffaf3e on grey

1.67:1

#ffaf3e on its own surface

1.73:1

#ffaf3e on its dark surface

9.08:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ffaf3e;
Background color
Panel with #ffaf3e background
background-color: #ffaf3e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ffaf3e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(255, 175, 62, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(255, 175, 62, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ffaf3e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ffaf3e, #CEFF3E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffaf3e, #9EFF3E);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ffaf3e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ffaf3e;
caret-color: #ffaf3e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ffaf3e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFF4E5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ffaf3e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ffaf3e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ffaf3e 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(255, 175, 62, 0.5)
rgb(255 175 62 / 50%)
#ffaf3e80
hsl(35 100% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ffaf3e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ffaf3e1a#FFF7EC
20%#ffaf3e33#FFEFD8
40%#ffaf3e66#FFDFB2
60%#ffaf3e99#FFCF8B
80%#ffaf3ecc#FFBF65

Gradients from #ffaf3e

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, #FFC87B, #ffaf3e 45%, #804B00);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ffaf3e, #B4FF20);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffaf3e, #3E8EFF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFD59A 0%, #ffaf3e 45%, #804B00 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%, #FF7171 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E4FF5D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #804B00 0%, transparent 65%), #ffaf3e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ffaf3e

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.

#ffaf3e 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 11.45:1.

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.

#ffaf3e, answered

What color is #ffaf3e?

#ffaf3e is a balanced electric orange, closest to Orange (ΔE2000 3.5). It sits at 35° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ffaf3e?

rgb(255, 175, 62) — 255 red, 175 green and 62 blue out of 255, or 100% / 68.6% / 24.3% by channel.

What is #ffaf3e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(35, 100%, 62%) and hsv(35, 76%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ffaf3e a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5227 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 11.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ffaf3e?

Black. It scores 11.45:1 against #ffaf3e, versus 1.83:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ffaf3e accessible on a white background?

#ffaf3e on white scores 1.83:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #A96300 to reach 4.5:1, or #814B00 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ffaf3e?

#3E8EFF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3EEFFF and #4F3EFF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ffaf3e?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDAC0 for borders, #9B7A4B for secondary text, #0087CC as an accent and #804B00 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FF4F3E and #EFFF3E stays calm, while #3E8EFF is the loudest partner.

What is #ffaf3e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 31%, 76%, 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 #ffaf3e warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 4 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FFAB58; nudged cooler, #FFF63E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ffaf3e?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 4.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ffaf3e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ffaf3e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ffaf3e] or text-[#ffaf3e], 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 #ffaf3e with 50% opacity?

rgba(255, 175, 62, 0.5), or #ffaf3e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFD79F; over black, #80581F.

Is #ffaf3e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9933, ΔE2000 7.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ffaf3e 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 #ffaf3e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FFC87B, #ffaf3e 45%, #804B00). For more colour, a short hue run to #B4FF20 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ffaf3e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ffaf3e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.