Tints & Shades
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Scale from white (50) through Tangerine (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.
Color Values
- HEX
- #F28500
- RGB
- rgb(242, 133, 0)
- HSL
- hsl(33, 100%, 47%)
- OKLCH
- oklch(0.722 0.172 58)
- CMYK
- cmyk(0%, 45%, 100%, 5%)
--color-tangerinebg-[#F28500]Accessibility
Score: 48/100On White (#FFF)
2.58:1
On Black (#000)
8.13:1
On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)
2.37:1
Best text color on this background:
Design Applications
background-color: #F28500
color: #F28500
bg-[#F28500] text-[#000000]
border-left: 4px solid #F28500
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Cool Blue
#4F84C4
Split-Complementary
Similar Colors
Color Meaning & Psychology
Orange sits at the intersection of red's intensity and yellow's optimism. It is the warmest color in the spectrum and carries associations with harvest, health, and human warmth. Unlike red, orange is rarely perceived as aggressive — it feels friendly, approachable, and energetic. In marketing, orange signals affordability and value; premium brands tend to avoid it for this reason. Deeper burnt oranges feel earthy and artisanal; bright oranges feel playful and modern. Orange has the highest visibility against a blue sky or ocean, making it the safety color for life vests and warning signs. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
Industry Usage
Common contexts and industries where Tangerine is applied in professional design.
- Technology and startup branding
- Food delivery and restaurant chains
- Outdoor recreation and adventure brands
- Construction and industrial safety equipment
- Health and wellness products emphasizing energy
- Home improvement and DIY retail
- Youth and education brands
- Budget and value-oriented retail
Accessibility Considerations
Normal Text
Fails AA
4.5:1 minimum required
Large Text
Fails AA Large
3:1 minimum required
UI Components
Check contrast
3:1 for non-text UI
Tangerine is a light color. Use black (#000000) text on top of it for maximum readability (8.13:1). Avoid white text on this background.
CSS & Code Examples
Background
background-color: #F28500;Text
color: #F28500;Border
border: 2px solid #F28500;Box Shadow
box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #F2850040;Gradient
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #F28500, #ffb543);Tailwind-style
--color-tangerine: #F28500;Tailwind CSS Utilities
Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Tangerine without a custom config.
Background
bg-[#F28500]Text
text-[#F28500]Border
border-[#F28500]Ring
ring-[#F28500]Fill
fill-[#F28500]From (gradient)
from-[#F28500]Via (gradient)
via-[#F28500]To (gradient)
to-[#F28500]Design Tokens
Ready-to-use Tangerine design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.
CSS Custom Properties
:root {
--color-tangerine: #F28500;
--color-tangerine-rgb: 242, 133, 0;
--color-tangerine-hsl: 33, 100%, 47%;
}SCSS Variables
$color-tangerine: #F28500; $color-tangerine-rgb: 242, 133, 0; $color-tangerine-hsl: 33, 100%, 47%;
Tailwind v3 Config
// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
theme: {
extend: {
colors: {
'tangerine': '#F28500',
},
},
},
};Tailwind v4 (@theme)
/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
--color-tangerine: #F28500;
}JSON Design Token (W3C format)
{
"tangerine": {
"value": "#F28500",
"type": "color",
"description": "Tangerine — #F28500"
}
}More orange colors
View all →What Does Tangerine Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism
The color Tangerine communicates energy through the universal language of warmth. Orange tones sit at the intersection of solar energy (yellow) and vital intensity (red), and this particular shade carries that synthesis into a quality of energy that designers can deploy as an invitation to act.
- Across color psychology research, orange consistently tests high for "friendly" associations, making Tangerine a reliable vehicle for energy in cross-demographic audiences.
- Brand designers draw on orange-family tones to project energetic and creative—values that Tangerine communicates in a medium key.
- At 100% saturation, Tangerine reads as vivid—Pure saturated oranges are impossible to ignore—they pulse with kinetic energy and work exceptionally well for sports brands, gaming, and anything that needs to project confidence and action.
- Tangerine's medium lightness (47%) shifts its psychological register: a balanced mid-tone that embodies enthusiasm, warmth, creativity, and accessibility at its most direct.
Use Tangerine where you want energy without intimidation. It's the color that says "come in" rather than "stop here."
How to Use Tangerine in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices
Brands seeking approachability often reach for orange when they've ruled out red (too intense) and yellow (too cautious). Tangerine's medium warmth occupies exactly that positioning sweet spot.
- Avoid: luxury or premium positioning (reads as affordable, not exclusive), healthcare clinical contexts (may seem too casual), and B2B enterprise tools where seriousness is required.
- Color harmonies: Tangerine's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
- Proportional use: Tangerine's vivid saturation (100%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
- Tangerine creates strong legibility with black text overlays (8.1:1 contrast ratio), making it a reliable background or surface color in design systems
- Typography: Tangerine as text requires a dark background; its 47% lightness means it provides 2.6:1 contrast on white, not meeting WCAG AA.
Use Tangerine where you want energy without intimidation. It's the color that says "come in" rather than "stop here."
Tangerine Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design
Tangerine (#F28500) achieves a 8.13:1 contrast ratio with black text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 35.6%.
- As text on white (#FFFFFF): 2.58:1 — Fail
- As text on black (#000000): 8.13:1 — AAA ✓
- Best text color on Tangerine background: Black (#000000) at 8.13:1
- WCAG 2.1 luminance: 35.6% — mid-range luminance—it sits in the transition zone where both dark and light text approaches require testing against the 4.5:1 WCAG threshold
- Tangerine qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
- Color blindness consideration: protanopia and deuteranopia (red-green color blindness, ~8% of males) may affect how orange-family colors are distinguished from greens and browns. For critical UI states, supplement color alone with shape, label, or pattern cues.
For production use, test Tangerine against your specific background colors rather than assuming #FFFFFF or #000000 performance translates. Surrounding colors alter perceived contrast.
Tangerine in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications
Tangerine (#F28500) is most at home in industries where enthusiasm, warmth, creativity, and accessibility are key brand values. Its medium quality makes it particularly effective in Food & Beverage contexts, where the vivid saturation signals warmth at exactly the right register.
- Food & Beverage: Orange stimulates appetite almost as effectively as red while feeling friendlier and more playful. Food delivery apps, snack brands, and casual dining chains use it to communicate deliciousness and accessibility. (examples: Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Blue Bottle Coffee) Pairs well with white for clean, appetizing digital food interfaces.
- Sports & Fitness: Orange communicates high energy, competitive drive, and athletic enthusiasm. It's a popular secondary color in sports branding precisely because it energizes without the urgency or danger association of red. (examples: Orange Theory, Peloton, Under Armour) Orange-and-black is a classic high-visibility sports palette used from road construction to professional teams.
- Technology & Startups: Challenger tech brands use orange to signal they're energetic, user-friendly, and disrupting stuffy industries. It positions a product as approachable and human without sacrificing ambition. (examples: Notion, Slack, Salesforce) Works better for B2C tools and consumer products than for enterprise SaaS where trust and professionalism dominate.
- Brand positioning: Tangerine is best suited for brands projecting friendly, enthusiastic, accessible. Categories outside this positioning—luxury or premium positioning (reads as affordable—tend to see weaker results.
- Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Tangerine works effectively in secondary CTAs, highlight accents, notification dots—contexts where warmth serves a secondary but reinforcing role.
The industries where Tangerine performs best are those where the audience expects warmth. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.
Accessibility & Design Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the hex code for Tangerine? ▾
- The hex code for Tangerine is #F28500. Its RGB values are rgb(242, 133, 0) and its HSL values are hsl(33, 100%, 47%).
- What does Tangerine mean in design? ▾
- Orange sits at the intersection of red's intensity and yellow's optimism. It is the warmest color in the spectrum and carries associations with harvest, health, and human warmth. Unlike red, orange is rarely perceived as aggressive — it feels friendly, approachable, and energetic. In marketing, orange signals affordability and value; premium brands tend to avoid it for this reason. Deeper burnt oranges feel earthy and artisanal; bright oranges feel playful and modern. Orange has the highest visibility against a blue sky or ocean, making it the safety color for life vests and warning signs. At medium lightness, it is the most versatile tone of this hue family — readable as text on light backgrounds, yet vibrant enough as a visual accent.
- Is Tangerine WCAG accessible? ▾
- Tangerine (#F28500) does not pass WCAG AA on white (2.58:1 ratio). Use it on dark backgrounds where it achieves 8.13:1. Its overall accessibility score is 48/100.
- What colors go well with Tangerine? ▾
- Tangerine pairs well with its complementary color Cool Blue (#4F84C4). Analogous colors like New York Pink and Rust also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
- What is Tangerine used for? ▾
- Tangerine is commonly used for: Technology and startup branding; Food delivery and restaurant chains; Outdoor recreation and adventure brands; Construction and industrial safety equipment; Health and wellness products emphasizing energy.
- What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Tangerine? ▾
- In CSS, use `color: #F28500` or `background-color: #F28500`. The CSS custom property is `--color-tangerine: #F28500`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#F28500]` for backgrounds or `text-[#F28500]` for text.