Orange

OrangeRed

#FF4500
HEX
#FF4500
RGB
rgb(255, 69, 0)
HSL
hsl(16, 100%, 50%)

Orange family

About OrangeRed

OrangeRed (#FF4500) is a medium, vivid orange. Orange mixes red's energy with yellow's cheer, producing a warm, friendly hue that feels vibrant without being as intense as pure red.

Psychology

Orange radiates enthusiasm, creativity and warmth. It is an optimistic, sociable color that stimulates activity and appetite, yet reads as more approachable and playful than red.

Applications

Orange is a favorite for food and beverage brands, sports, adventure and creative industries. It also makes an excellent accent for CTAs, highlights and anything that should feel energetic but friendly.

History

The color takes its name from the fruit, which arrived in Europe via trade routes in the Middle Ages; before that, the hue was simply described as a yellow-red. Synthetic chrome orange in the 19th century made vivid oranges widely available.

Meaning

Orange is linked to warmth, harvest, vitality and affordability. In Western cultures it signals energy and value, while in others it carries sacred or spiritual significance, such as saffron robes in South Asia.

Why use this color

Choose orange when you want a design to feel warm, optimistic and energetic but not aggressive. It works well for friendly CTAs, food brands and creative or outdoor products.

Accessibility

Against white, #FF4500 has a 3.4:1 contrast ratio; against black it is 6.1:1. Black text on #FF4500 meets WCAG AA for normal text.

Fun facts

  • The fruit gave the color its name; in English the fruit word predates the color word.
  • Orange is highly visible, which is why safety vests, life rafts and traffic cones use it.
  • Orange is a common team color in sports because it stands out in a crowd and on camera.

Shades, tints & tones

Variations

Ten lightness steps plus OrangeRed's tints, shades and tones — every swatch copies its hex on click.

Lightness scale

Tints (toward white)

Shades (toward black)

Tones (toward gray)

Color theory

Color harmonies

Proven schemes built around OrangeRed. Each swatch is one click from your clipboard.

Complementary

#ff4400#00bbff

Analogous

#ff003c#ff4400#ffc400

Triadic

#ff4400#00ff44#4400ff

Split-complementary

#ff4400#00ffc3#003cff

Tetradic

#ff4400#3cff00#00bbff#c300ff

Monochromatic

#4d1400#a32c00#ff4400#ff875c#ffc7b3

Accessibility

Blindness simulator

See how OrangeRed is perceived with common types of color vision deficiency.

#FF4500

Normal vision

Standard trichromatic vision, shown for reference.

#807000

Protanopia

Red-blind. Reds look darker and can be confused with greens and browns.

#ad9900

Deuteranopia

Green-blind. Greens look muted and can be confused with reds and browns.

#ff003c

Tritanopia

Blue-blind. Blues look greenish and yellows fade toward pink.

#8a8a8a

Achromatopsia

Complete color blindness. Everything is seen in shades of gray.

WCAG

Contrast checker

How OrangeRed performs against black and white text, with WCAG AA and AAA ratings.

AaWhite on OrangeRed
3.44:1
AAAAAAA LargeAAA Large
AaBlack on OrangeRed
6.10:1
AAAAAAA LargeAAA Large

The ratio is identical whether OrangeRed is used as the text or the background.

Open the full checker

Ready to use

Color palettes

Curated palettes that put OrangeRed to work, with copy-all support for each.

Complementary

Roughly 180° across the wheel from #FF4500 (hue 16°) sits #00bbff, held together by the #f9a486 tint and the neutrals #f4f4f5 and #18181b.

Analogous

#FF4500 with its two closest neighbours, #ff003c and #ffc400, for a 100%-saturation run that stays inside one family; #f9a486 and #802200 add depth without breaking it.

Triadic

#FF4500 plus #00ff44 and #4400ff, a triangle that sits 120° apart at every corner, with #f4f4f5 and #18181b doing the quiet work underneath.

Monochromatic

One hue at 5 lightness steps: #fff0eb through #1f0800, starting from #FF4500 at 50% lightness.

OrangeRed (#FF4500) is a orange-family color. Use its values, variations, harmonies and palettes above to put it to work in your next design.

Frequently asked questions

OrangeRed is #FF4500 — rgb(255, 69, 0) / hsl(16, 100%, 50%). OrangeRed (#FF4500) is a medium, vivid orange. Orange mixes red's energy with yellow's cheer, producing a warm, friendly hue that feels vibrant without being as intense as pure red.

Good to know

  • OrangeRed is one of 609 named colors in the library.
  • Its complementary hue sits 180° away on the color wheel: #00bbff.

More color tools

Next steps for OrangeRed: each of these picks the value up where this page leaves off, so nothing gets retyped or re-uploaded.