Tan

Ease and the outdoors, like a worn leather belt.

About tan

Tan tends to suggest ease and the outdoors, like a worn leather belt. It feels plain and sunlit.

What color is tan?
Tan is a light, warm yellow-brown, like pale leather. Its hex code is #D2B48C.
Is tan warm or cool?
Warm: it sits on the warm side of the color wheel, with the reds, oranges and yellows. It is a light color, value 7 of 10, and its opposite is periwinkle. More in warm and cool colors.
Where the name comes from
From tanbark, the oak bark once used to turn hides into leather.
Value and codes
Value 7 of 10, in the yellow-orange family. RGB 210, 180, 140. OKLCH 78.6% 0.064 74.6.

Where to use tan

In a room

A leather sofa, a rug or woven baskets. It warms up white rooms.

In an outfit

Shoes, belts and coats. It goes with almost everything, especially navy.

In art

A light earth for sand, skin and dry grass.

In design

Too pale for text on white, at 2.0 to 1. Use it as a background instead: dark text on it reads well, at 8.1 to 1.

What tan pairs with

The opposite of tan: Periwinkle #8E97B8

Opposite tan on the color wheel sits periwinkle. Side by side, each makes the other look stronger; mixed, they turn each other gray.

  • Side by side

  • Tan around periwinkle

  • Periwinkle around tan

Often confused with tan

How to mix tan in paint

  • 32 parts
    titanium white
  • 6 parts
    yellow ochre
  • 1 part
    ultramarine blue

Golden Heavy Body Acrylics. This is a calculated mix and comes very close, so adjust by eye as you go. Practice in our Paint Mixer game.

Tan tints, tones and shades

Tints

Tones

Shades

Tap a color to copy its code. A tint adds white, a tone adds gray of the same lightness, and a shade adds black. More in tints, tones and shades.

Tan in paintings

Colors similar to tan

See all colors

Tan inspiration

Find your own colors

Add the pictures you love to Color Taste to see which colors they share, or make a palette from one photo in Image to Palette.

Export tan

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Tan