Tailwind CSS v4 default palette
Tailwind orange-500: #FF6900
In Tailwind CSS v4, orange-500 is defined as --color-orange-500: oklch(70.5% 0.213 47.604), which is #FF6900 in hex and rgb(255, 105, 0): a light, vivid orange. In Tailwind v3, orange-500 was #F97316.
In OKLCH, orange-500 has a lightness of 70.5%, chroma 0.213 and hue 47.6°.
This OKLCH value lies outside sRGB. The hex #FF6900 is the sRGB fallback from the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm; on Display P3 screens browsers show a more saturated color, close to color(display-p3 0.9466 0.4498 0.0757).
In v3, orange-500 was #F97316. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.6 away; v4 is more saturated.
Tailwind orange runs from a pale peach at 50 to a deep burnt orange at 950, with its highest chroma at 600.
Color codes for orange-500
| Tailwind v4 token | --color-orange-500 |
|---|---|
| OKLCH (source value) | oklch(70.5% 0.213 47.604) |
| HEX | #FF6900 |
| RGB | rgb(255, 105, 0) |
| HSL | hsl(25, 100%, 50%) |
| HWB | hwb(25 0% 0%) |
| CMYK (naive, no ICC profile) | cmyk(0%, 59%, 100%, 0%) |
| Decimal | 16,738,560 |
| Display P3 | color(display-p3 0.9466 0.4498 0.0757) |
| Tailwind v3 hex | #F97316 |
| Utility classes | bg-orange-500, text-orange-500, border-orange-500 |
Tailwind orange scale
Contrast and accessibility
On orange-500, black text has a contrast ratio of 7.27:1 and passes AAA at any text size; white text reaches 2.88:1.
WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios (success criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6: AA needs 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, AAA needs 7:1 and 4.5:1). APCA Lc is the lightness contrast from the APCA-W3 0.0.98G model proposed for WCAG 3; a higher absolute value is more readable, and Lc 75 is its suggested minimum for body text.
| Pair | Ratio | AA | AA large | AAA | AAA large | APCA Lc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black text on orange-500 | 7.27:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | 49.9 |
| White text on orange-500 | 2.88:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | −59.4 |
| Orange-500 text on white | 2.88:1 | Fail | Fail | Fail | Fail | 54.2 |
| Orange-500 text on black | 7.27:1 | Pass | Pass | Pass | Pass | −47.7 |
Tints and shades
Each step mixes var(--color-orange-500) with white (tints) or black (shades) in gamma-encoded sRGB, the same result as color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-orange-500), white 25%) in CSS.
Tints (mixed with white)
- 5%
#ff710d - 15%
#ff8026 - 25%
#ff8f40 - 35%
#ff9e59 - 45%
#ffad73 - 55%
#ffbc8c - 65%
#ffcba6 - 75%
#ffdabf - 85%
#ffe9d9 - 95%
#fff8f2
Shades (mixed with black)
- 5%
#f26400 - 15%
#d95900 - 25%
#bf4f00 - 35%
#a64400 - 45%
#8c3a00 - 55%
#732f00 - 65%
#592500 - 75%
#401a00 - 85%
#261000 - 95%
#0d0500
Color harmonies
Rotating the hue in OKLCH while keeping lightness and chroma, orange-500's complementary color is #00B1ED (close to deepskyblue), its analogous colors are #FF576D and #D88F00, and its triadic partners are #00BF8B and #9C88FF. For text on top, black gives the higher contrast.
| Harmony | Rotation | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Complementary | +180° | #00b1ed |
| Analogous | −30°, +30° | #ff576d#d88f00 |
| Triadic | +120°, +240° | #00bf8b#9c88ff |
| Split-complementary | +150°, +210° | #00b9be#529fff |
Computed in OKLCH: the hue is rotated by 180° (complementary), ±30° (analogous), ±120° (triadic) and 180° ±30° (split-complementary) while lightness and chroma stay fixed. Results that fall outside sRGB are brought back with the CSS Color 4 gamut mapping algorithm. Because this uses OKLCH, the values differ from tools that rotate hue in HSL, but every color keeps the same perceived lightness.
Warm or cool?
Tailwind orange-500 is a warm color: its hue is 25° on the HSL wheel, in the red, orange and yellow range (0° to about 70°, plus reds above 330°) that is conventionally called warm.
Nearest named and Tailwind colors
Distance is ΔE OK, the Euclidean distance in OKLab multiplied by 100. Values under about 2 are hard to tell apart side by side.
Nearest CSS named colors
Nearest Tailwind v4 colors
| Color | HEX | ΔE OK |
|---|---|---|
| orange-400 | #ff8904 | 6.1 |
| amber-600 | #e17100 | 6.3 |
| orange-600 | #f54900 | 6.5 |
Code snippets
<div class="bg-orange-500 text-black">...</div>
<p class="text-orange-500 border-orange-500">...</p>.element {
color: var(--color-orange-500);
background-color: oklch(70.5% 0.213 47.604);
border-color: #ff6900;
outline-color: rgb(255 105 0);
}import SwiftUI
extension Color {
static let orange500 = Color(red: 1.000, green: 0.412, blue: 0.000)
}import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color
val Orange500 = Color(0xFFFF6900)import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
const orange500 = Color(0xFFFF6900);<!-- res/values/colors.xml -->
<color name="orange_500">#FF6900</color>Frequently asked questions
- What is the hex code for Tailwind orange-500?
- In Tailwind CSS v4, orange-500 is oklch(70.5% 0.213 47.604), which converts to #FF6900 (rgb(255, 105, 0)) in sRGB after gamut mapping, because the OKLCH value is outside sRGB. In Tailwind v3 the same name was #F97316.
- What is the difference between orange-500 in Tailwind v3 and v4?
- v3 used the hex #F97316; v4 redefined the palette in OKLCH as oklch(70.5% 0.213 47.604). In v3, orange-500 was #F97316. The v4 value is ΔE OK 2.6 away; v4 is more saturated.
- How do I use orange-500 in plain CSS?
- Tailwind v4 defines every palette color as a theme variable, so in CSS you write var(--color-orange-500). By default Tailwind only emits the variables your project uses; @theme static emits all of them.
- Can you use white text on orange-500?
- White text on orange-500 has a contrast ratio of 2.88:1, which fails AA even for large text under WCAG 2.2. Black text reaches 7.27:1 and passes both AA and AAA. In APCA terms that is Lc −59.4 for white and Lc 49.9 for black.
- Which CSS named color is closest to orange-500?
- The closest is tomato (#FF6347) at ΔE OK 5.8, followed by coral and orangered.
Last reviewed by Arielton Oberek.