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Ember Silk Muted
Color detail

Ember Silk Muted

Orange · Hue 20
Metrics
S 18% · L 68%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white2.3:1Failon black9.3:1AA
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Ember Silk Muted (#BCA99F) belongs to the orange family — hue 20°, 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-ember-silk-muted: #BCA99F;
  --colorarchive-ember-silk-muted-hsl: hsl(20, 18%, 68%);
  --colorarchive-ember-silk-muted-rgb: rgb(188, 169, 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 a color named after a fruit.

Heritage

Orange is unusual: in English the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around — the fruit's name arrived in the 14th century, but until 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 — though cadmium is itself toxic.

Across cultures

In Hindu and Buddhist tradition saffron orange marks renunciation — the robe of Hindu sannyasis and of Theravada monks. 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 color-coded its early paperbacks by genre — orange meant general fiction. Nickelodeon, Fanta, and easyJet all use orange, which reads playful and consumer-friendly while staying outside the more crowded red and yellow lanes. NASA's shuttle-era launch-and-entry suits were International Orange so rescue crews could spot astronauts after a bailout over the ocean.

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 a familiar 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 many 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 #BCA99F.

  • Anthropicneutral
    Mid Gray · #B0AEA5
    →
  • Slackaccent
    Slack Yellow · #ECB22E
    →
  • Glossierprimary
    Glossier Pink · #F8D6CD
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #BCA99F.

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

Color guides

Go deeper on using orange and color in design.

Color History1970s Earth Tone Colors: Harvest Gold, Avocado Green & Burnt Orange PalettesColor TheoryWarm Color Palette Guide: Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Their NeutralsDesign SystemsHow to Build a Color Token System: The Complete Designer's Guide

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
Ember Bloom Muted
#CDBEB7 · hsl(20, 18%, 76%)
Darker companion
Ember Tone Muted
#AB9387 · hsl(20, 18%, 60%)
Complementary counterpoint
Azure Silk Muted
#9FB2BC · hsl(200, 18%, 68%)
Analogous lead
Saffron Silk Muted
#BCB59F · hsl(45, 18%, 68%)
Analogous echo
Crimson Silk Muted
#BC9F9F · hsl(0, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +120°
Seafoam Silk Muted
#9FBCA9 · hsl(140, 18%, 68%)
Triadic +240°
Orchid Silk Muted
#A99FBC · hsl(260, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +150°
Lagoon Silk Muted
#9FBCB7 · hsl(170, 18%, 68%)
Split-comp +210°
Indigo Silk Muted
#9FA4BC · hsl(230, 18%, 68%)
Export preview
Base: Ember Silk Muted #BCA99F
Lighter companion: Ember Bloom Muted #CDBEB7
Darker companion: Ember Tone Muted #AB9387
Complementary counterpoint: Azure Silk Muted #9FB2BC
Analogous lead: Saffron Silk Muted #BCB59F
Analogous echo: Crimson Silk Muted #BC9F9F
Triadic +120°: Seafoam Silk Muted #9FBCA9
Triadic +240°: Orchid Silk Muted #A99FBC
Split-comp +150°: Lagoon Silk Muted #9FBCB7
Split-comp +210°: Indigo Silk Muted #9FA4BC

Compare

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

vsEmber Bloom MutedvsEmber Tone MutedvsAzure Silk MutedvsSaffron Silk MutedvsCrimson Silk MutedvsSeafoam Silk Muted

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Ember Silk Faint
#B6ABA5 · hsl(20, 10%, 68%)
Nearby match
Ember Silk Dust
#C3A698 · hsl(20, 26%, 68%)
Nearby match
Vermillion Silk Muted
#BCA69F · hsl(15, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Tangerine Silk Muted
#BCAB9F · hsl(25, 18%, 68%)
Nearby match
Ember Tone Muted
#AB9387 · hsl(20, 18%, 60%)
Nearby match
Ember Bloom Muted
#CDBEB7 · hsl(20, 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
Sapphire Ink Muted
#1D242A
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Dust
#1A242D
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Soft
#182430
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Clear
#102437
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Vivid
#09243E
AAA7:1
Sapphire Ink Bright
#062442

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#B5B7A2
Protanopia
#B4B4A1
Tritanopia
#BBA3A4
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Ember Silk Faint#B6ABA5 · hsl(20, 10%, 68%)Ember Silk Muted#BCA99F · hsl(20, 18%, 68%)Ember Silk Dust#C3A698 · hsl(20, 26%, 68%)Ember Silk Soft#C9A492 · hsl(20, 34%, 68%)Ember Silk Clear#D99F81 · hsl(20, 54%, 68%)Ember Silk Vivid#EA9971 · hsl(20, 74%, 68%)Ember Silk Bright#F29769 · hsl(20, 84%, 68%)Ember Silk Pure#F89462 · hsl(20, 92%, 68%)
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