We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,000+ algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdates
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Tangerine Silk Muted
Color detail

Tangerine Silk Muted

Orange · Hue 25
Hex
#BCAB9F
RGB
rgb(188, 171, 159)
HSL
hsl(25, 18%, 68%)
CMYK
cmyk(0%, 9%, 15%, 26%)
Metrics
S 18% · L 68%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
2.2:1Fail
on black
9.5:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Tangerine Silk Muted (#BCAB9F) belongs to the orange family — hue 25°, 18% saturation, 68% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-tangerine-silk-muted: #BCAB9F;
  --colorarchive-tangerine-silk-muted-hsl: hsl(25, 18%, 68%);
  --colorarchive-tangerine-silk-muted-rgb: rgb(188, 171, 159);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

CheerfulApproachableWarm
Common in

Children's Products · Wellness · Social Apps

Pairs well with

Soft teal for playful contrast, warm white for minimalism

Design tip

Perfect for onboarding screens and friendly UI. Light oranges feel welcoming without the intensity of pure orange.

Cultural context ▶

Peach and apricot tones are associated with friendliness and optimism. In many Asian cultures, orange symbolizes happiness.

Color Origins

Orange family

Citrus, fire, and the only color named after a fruit.

Heritage

Orange is unusual: in English the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around — before the fruit reached Europe in the 16th century, this hue was simply 'yellow-red'. Earlier pigments included realgar (toxic), saffron (priceless), and orpiment. Cadmium orange, introduced in the 19th century, gave painters from the Impressionists onward a stable, brilliant orange that didn't fade or poison.

Across cultures

In Hindu and Buddhist tradition saffron orange marks renunciation — the robe of monks across Theravada and Tibetan lineages. The Dutch House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a national identity color, still worn at football matches and on King's Day. In Ireland, orange is the Protestant counterpart to green's Catholic association — the country's flag literally encodes the divide. Halloween's orange-and-black is a 20th-century American invention that has since gone global.

In the wild

Hermès orange is a brand asset traceable to a 1942 wartime cardboard shortage. Penguin Books used orange-and-white spines as a class signal — fiction was always orange. Nickelodeon, Fanta, and easyJet all chose orange for the same reason: it reads playful and consumer-friendly while staying outside the more crowded red and yellow lanes. NASA flight suits use International Orange specifically because nothing in nature matches it, making astronauts maximally visible against any background.

How it reads

Orange is warm without the urgency of red. It signals appetite (used heavily in fast food), creativity, and approachability. At low saturation it becomes terracotta, rust, or apricot — earthy palettes for hospitality and craft. At high saturation it reads as a sport, energy drink, or warning hazard. Orange and teal is the most common modern film-grade pairing; the contrast between warm skin tones and cool shadows is engineered for it.

This particular tone

A grounded mid-tone — sober, considered, well-suited to body text accents, editorial layouts, or any context where restraint reads as quality.

Lightness band: At mid-lightness the hue carries its full character. This is the band where most identity colors live: bright enough to be distinctive at small sizes, deep enough to sit cleanly on a white canvas.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #BCAB9F.

  • Slackaccent
    Slack Yellow · #ECB22E
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →
  • Patagoniasecondary
    Sunset Yellow · #F4D54F
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #BCAB9F.

  • ScandinaviaAsh Grey
    #A8AAA5 · Birch and ash bark
    →
  • EgyptPapyrus Tan
    #C1A36F · Cyperus papyrus reed paper
    →
  • Greece (Aegean)Olive Silver
    #9CA38F · Olea europaea leaf undersides
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Tangerine Bloom Muted
#CDC0B7 · hsl(25, 18%, 76%)
Darker companion
Tangerine Tone Muted
#AB9687 · hsl(25, 18%, 60%)
Complementary counterpoint
Steel Silk Muted
#9FB0BC · hsl(205, 18%, 68%)
Analogous lead
Amber Silk Muted
#BCB79F · hsl(50, 18%, 68%)
Analogous echo
Crimson Silk Muted
#BC9F9F · hsl(0, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +120°
Celadon Silk Muted
#9FBCAB · hsl(145, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +240°
Orchid Silk Muted
#A99FBC · hsl(260, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +150°
Cyan Silk Muted
#9FBCBA · hsl(175, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +210°
Indigo Silk Muted
#9FA4BC · hsl(230, 18%, 68%)
Export preview
Base: Tangerine Silk Muted #BCAB9F
Lighter companion: Tangerine Bloom Muted #CDC0B7
Darker companion: Tangerine Tone Muted #AB9687
Complementary counterpoint: Steel Silk Muted #9FB0BC
Analogous lead: Amber Silk Muted #BCB79F
Analogous echo: Crimson Silk Muted #BC9F9F
Triadic +120°: Celadon Silk Muted #9FBCAB
Triadic +240°: Orchid Silk Muted #A99FBC
Split-comp +150°: Cyan Silk Muted #9FBCBA
Split-comp +210°: Indigo Silk Muted #9FA4BC

Compare

See how Tangerine Silk Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsTangerine Bloom MutedvsTangerine Tone MutedvsSteel Silk MutedvsAmber Silk MutedvsCrimson Silk MutedvsCeladon Silk Muted

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Tangerine Silk Faint
#B6ACA5 · hsl(25, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Silk Dust
#C3AA98 · hsl(25, 26%, 68%)
Nearby match
Ember Silk Muted
#BCA99F · hsl(20, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Coral Silk Muted
#BCAD9F · hsl(30, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Tone Muted
#AB9687 · hsl(25, 18%, 60%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Bloom Muted
#CDC0B7 · hsl(25, 18%, 76%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA7:1
Steel Ink Faint
#202427
AAA7:1
Steel Ink Muted
#1D252A
AAA7:1
Steel Ink Dust
#1A252D
AAA7:1
Steel Ink Soft
#182630
AAA7:1
Azure Ink Faint
#202527
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Faint
#202427

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#B6B7A3
Protanopia
#B5B5A2
Tritanopia
#BBA4A5
Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

ColorArchive Pro includes CSS variables, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, and Procreate swatches — ready to drop into any project.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Related colors

More from Orange

Search
Vermillion Ink Faint#272220 · hsl(15, 10%, 14%)Vermillion Nocturne Faint#38302E · hsl(15, 10%, 20%)Vermillion Shadow Faint#4F4440 · hsl(15, 10%, 28%)Vermillion Dusk Faint#5F524E · hsl(15, 10%, 34%)Vermillion Velvet Faint#766660 · hsl(15, 10%, 42%)Vermillion Core Faint#87746E · hsl(15, 10%, 48%)Vermillion Radiant Faint#95847E · hsl(15, 10%, 54%)Vermillion Tone Faint#A3948F · hsl(15, 10%, 60%)