Sandy brown
A pale orange-brown named for the colour of some sands
Sandy brown is a pale shade of brown with an orange tint, similar to the colour of certain sands. The name was first used in 1987, when it was created as one of the X11 colours for computer displays and later became part of the standard web colours.
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- Sandy brown is a standard web colour with the hex code #F4A460.
- It was first named in 1987 for the X11 colour set.
- The colour is inspired by the look of some natural sands.
- It is an orange-brown shade with a hue of 28.
What colour is Sandy brown?
Sandy brown is a pale, orange-tinged brown. It takes its name from its resemblance to the colour of some types of sand. The shade stands out among browns for its lightness and warm, orange undertone, which gives it a gentle, sunlit look compared to darker or greyer browns.
Where does Sandy brown come from?
The name 'sandy brown' was first used in 1987, when it was chosen as one of the X11 colours for computer displays. In the early 1990s, these colours became known as the X11 web colours, which are now widely used in web design. The name describes the colour’s similarity to some natural sands.
How Sandy brown is defined
Sandy brown is defined as a standard web colour with the hex code #F4A460. It is not made from a pigment or dye, but is a digital colour value used in computer graphics and web design. Its hue is set at 28, placing it in the orange-brown range.
Where Sandy brown is used
Sandy brown is mainly seen in digital contexts, especially on websites and in computer graphics. It is one of the standard colours available for web design, allowing designers to use it easily in backgrounds, highlights, and user interfaces.
Brown around the world
What the brown family means from country to country.
Brown is the colour of Nazism in German political speech, after the brown shirts of the party's stormtroopers. To call a view "brown" is to call it far right.
Politics and protestDanger and warningShameSource: SturmabteilungMasi is bark cloth beaten from paper mulberry and printed in brown and black. It is worn at weddings and funerals and given in ceremonial exchanges.
Sacred and holyWeddings and marriageSource: Tapa clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsThe batik of the Javanese courts at Yogyakarta and Surakarta is dyed in soga brown with indigo and cream. Some court patterns were once reserved for the royal family.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: BatikBogolanfini, or mud cloth, is cotton painted with fermented river mud in browns, black and white. Hunters wear it for protection, and women after childbirth.
Protection and healingSacred and holySource: BògòlanfiniShades and relatives of Sandy brown
Sandy brown is one of several pale browns with orange tones. It is lighter than many other browns and is sometimes confused with other sand-inspired shades. Its specific digital value sets it apart from similar colours in the web palette.
Colours that go with Sandy brown
Harmonies are worked out from the value #F4A460. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Sandy brown
What colour is sandy brown?
Sandy brown is a pale brown with an orange tint, similar to the colour of some sands. It is lighter and warmer than many other browns.
Where does the name sandy brown come from?
The name comes from its resemblance to the colour of certain sands. It was first used in 1987 as a digital colour name.
How is sandy brown used?
Sandy brown is mainly used in web and digital design, as it is one of the standard web colours defined for screens.
Is sandy brown a natural or synthetic colour?
Sandy brown is a digital colour value, not a pigment or dye. It is used in computer graphics and web design.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Shades of brown" (the section "Sandy brown"), written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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