Tan
A light brown shade named after oak bark used in leather tanning
Tan is a pale, light brown colour whose name comes from tannum, the oak bark once used in tanning leather. First recorded in English in 1590, tan is close to colours like tawny and tenné, and is now widely recognised in art, design, and even military dress.
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- Tan is named after oak bark used in tanning leather.
- First recorded as a colour name in English in 1590.
- Tan is the beret colour for US Army Rangers and Canadian special forces.
- Crayola introduced tan crayons in 1958.
- Tan is a standard web colour (hex #D2B48C).
What colour is Tan?
Tan is a light, pale shade of brown. It sits between brown and yellow on the spectrum, with a muted, soft appearance. The colour is often compared to the look of tanned leather or lightly sun-darkened skin. Tan stands apart from deeper browns by its lighter, more subdued tone, and is less yellow than colours like buff or khaki.
Where does Tan come from?
The word 'tan' comes from 'tannum', the Latin for oak bark, which was once used in the process of tanning leather. The colour name was first recorded in English in 1590. Its connection to leather-making gave it a practical association with natural, earthy tones. Over time, tan became a standard colour name for a range of pale browns.
How Tan is defined
Tan as a colour is defined by its position between brown and yellow, and is often specified in digital and print standards, such as the web colour system (hex code #D2B48C). It does not refer to a single pigment or dye, but rather to a mixture or value used in paints, crayons, and digital design.
Where Tan is used
Tan is seen in many areas, from art and design to clothing and military uniforms. The United States Army Rangers and Canadian special operations units use tan for their berets. It is also a common crayon and marker colour, with versions made by Crayola since the mid-20th century. Tan is used in digital media as a web colour and appears in fashion, interiors, and product design.
What Tan means
Tan is associated with sunbathing, as skin darkens to a tan shade after time in the sun. In North America, it is also linked to military dress, especially elite units. The sources do not mention any religious or emotional meanings for tan.
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 Tan
Related shades include tawny, tenné, and fulvous, which are sometimes used as synonyms. Variants like Windsor tan and Tuscan tan have their own histories, with Windsor tan named in 1925 and Tuscan tan in 1926. Colours such as café au lait and French beige are nearly identical to Tuscan tan. Sandy tan and Crayola's tan are other recognised versions.
Colours that go with Tan
Harmonies are worked out from the value #D2B48C. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Tan
What colour is tan?
Tan is a pale, light brown shade, lighter than most browns and less yellow than buff or khaki. It is similar to the colour of tanned leather or lightly sun-darkened skin.
Where does the name 'tan' come from?
The name 'tan' comes from 'tannum', the Latin word for oak bark, which was used in tanning leather. The colour name was first recorded in English in 1590.
Is tan the same as tawny or khaki?
Tan is closely related to colours like tawny, tenné, and fulvous, but each has its own shade. Khaki is another similar colour, but tan is generally lighter and less greenish.
Where is tan used in uniforms?
Tan is the beret colour for the United States Army Rangers and Canadian special operations units.
How is tan made as a colour?
Tan is not made from a single pigment or dye. It is a colour value created by mixing brown and yellow tones, and is defined in digital and print standards such as the web colour system.
Good reading and sources
- Tan (color) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Tan (color)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). 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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