Wood brown
A brown shade named for the look of wood, first recorded in the 19th century
Wood brown is a brown colour that looks like the surface of wood. Its name first appeared in English in 1886, and its colour matches those called fallow, camel, and desert. The exact shade was defined by Robert Ridgway in his works on colour standards.
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- Named for its resemblance to wood
- First recorded in English in 1886
- Colour matches fallow, camel, and desert
- Defined by Robert Ridgway in his colour standards
What colour is Wood brown?
Wood brown is a shade of brown that closely matches the appearance of natural wood. It sits among the lighter, muted browns, neither too dark nor too yellow. The colour is subtle and earthy, making it distinct from richer or redder browns. Its tone is identical to other shades like fallow, camel, and desert, which share the same colour coordinates.
Where does Wood brown come from?
The name 'wood brown' was first used in English by Robert Ridgway in 1886, in his book on colour names for naturalists. Ridgway later gave a more precise definition of its colour in his 1912 publication. The shade is named for its similarity to the colour of wood, and has been matched in later years to other named browns such as fallow, camel, and desert.
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 Wood brown
Wood brown is exactly the same colour as fallow, camel, and desert, even though these names were first recorded at different times. These shades can be confused with each other, but all refer to the same muted, light brown tone.
Colours that go with Wood brown
Harmonies are worked out from the value #C19A6B. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Wood brown
What colour is wood brown?
Wood brown is a light, muted brown that looks like the surface of natural wood. It is neither very dark nor strongly yellow or red.
Where does the name wood brown come from?
The name comes from its similarity to the colour of wood. It was first used in English by Robert Ridgway in 1886.
Is wood brown the same as fallow, camel, or desert?
Yes, wood brown has the same colour coordinates as fallow, camel, and desert, even though these names were recorded at different times.
Who defined the colour wood brown?
Robert Ridgway first recorded and later refined the definition of wood brown in his works on colour standards.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Shades of brown" (the section "Wood 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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