Orange family
Terracotta color
A moderate orange leaning red. The reference terracotta is #CA6641, as defined by the xkcd Color Survey.
| HEX | #CA6641 | |
|---|---|---|
| RGB | rgb(202, 102, 65) | |
| HSL | hsl(16, 56%, 52%) | |
| HSV | hsv(16, 68%, 79%) | |
| OKLCH | oklch(62.2% 0.137 40.5) | |
| CMYK* | 0, 50, 68, 21 |
* CMYK is a simple conversion without a print profile; ask your printer for exact values.
What color is terracotta?
Terracotta means baked earth in Italian, and the colour is that of unglazed fired clay: flower pots, roof tiles and ancient sculpture. It is a muted, earthy orange with a red-brown base, and the xkcd survey and the Color Names list give nearly the same value for it.
Terracotta hex codes by source
Color names are not standardized, so the same name can point to different colors. Here is every definition of terracotta in our three sources, with how close each one is to the reference.
| Name | HEX | Source | Compared with the reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terracotta | #CA6641 | xkcd Color Survey | Reference shown on this page |
| Terracotta | #CB6843 | Color Names (meodai) | Virtually identical · 98% similar |
Terracotta vs Rust
#CA6641
#A83C09
Rust is darker and browner; terracotta is lighter, with more orange and pink. In numbers: the two are 52% similar (OKLab distance 0.119). See Rust for its own codes.
Colors similar to terracotta
The closest named colors to #CA6641 across all three sources, with their similarity in OKLab.
Tints and shades of terracotta
The same hue from light to dark, generated in OKLab so the steps look even. Click a step to copy its HEX code.
Colors that go with terracotta
Classic color-wheel combinations built on #CA6641, computed in OKLCH so the partners keep the same lightness and intensity. Each swatch shows the nearest common name.
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Split complementary
Terracotta with white and black text
WCAG asks for a contrast of at least 4.5:1 for body text (AA) and 3:1 for large text. On a terracotta background, black text is the better choice.
Use terracotta in CSS
.terracotta {
color: #CA6641;
/* or */ color: rgb(202 102 65);
/* or */ color: hsl(16 56% 52%);
/* or */ color: oklch(62.2% 0.137 40.5);
}