Brown

Earth itself: umber, sienna, sepia, khaki and the browns of wood, hide and soil. 81 colours written up on Rang so far.

How brown feels

DisgustBrown, Green, Yellow NostalgiaBrown, Gold, Orange

What brown means, country by country

5 countries. The same colour, read differently.

🇩🇪 Germany

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 protest Danger and warning Shame Source: Sturmabteilung

🇫🇯 Fiji

Masi 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 holy Weddings and marriage Source: Tapa cloth

🇬🇭 Ghana

Kuntunkuni 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 death Sadness Source: Adinkra symbols

🇮🇩 Indonesia

The 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 power Pride Source: Batik

🇲🇱 Mali

Bogolanfini, 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 healing Sacred and holy Source: Bògòlanfini

Brown in the swatch book

122 named values.

Open the swatch book

Antique brass#C88A65Antique bronze#665D1EBistre#3D2B1FBeaver#9F8170Blast-off bronze#A57164Blood red#660000Brown#964B00Brown sugar#AF6E4DCamel#C19A6BCafé noir#4B3621Café au lait#A67B5BChocolate (traditional)#7B3F00Coffee#6F4E37Copper red#CB6D51Coyote brown#81613CDark brown#654321Dark goldenrod#B8860BDark lava#483C32Dark liver (horses)#543D37Dark sienna#3C1414Desert#C19A6BFallow#C19A6BField drab#6C541EFrench beige#A67B5BFrench bistre#856D4DFuzzy Wuzzy#87421FGold Fusion#85754EGolden brown#996515Kobicha#6B4423Kobe#882D17Liver chestnut#987456Mahogany#C04000Metallic Sunburst#9C7C38Mode beige#967117Old burgundy#43302EOlive#808000Oxblood#4A0000Raw umber#826644Sandy brown#F4A460Rosewood#65000BRusset#80461BRust#B7410ESaddle brown#8B4513Seal brown#59260BSepia#704214Shadow#8A795DSienna#882D17Taupe#483C32Tenné#CD5700Umber#635147Van Dyke brown#664228Wood brown#C19A6BWindsor tan#A75502Xumo#413639Zinnwaldite brown#2C1608Liver (organ)#6C2E1FKurotobi黒鳶#351E1CKaracha唐茶#B35C44Sōdenkaracha宗傳唐茶#9B533FSuzumecha雀茶#8C4736Tobi-iro鳶色#4C221BKurumizome胡桃染#9F7462Kōrozen黄櫨染#592B1FKogecha焦茶#351F19Taisha-iro代赭色#9F5233Sencha-iro煎茶色#824B35Chōjicha丁子茶#8F583CBiwacha枇杷茶#AB6134Chōjizome丁子染#A96232Kitsune-iro狐色#985629Fushizome柴染#8C5939Kyara-iro伽羅色#6A432DSusutake-iro煤竹色#593A27Shiracha白茶#C48E69Ōdo-iro黄土色#BE7F51Kinsusutake銀煤竹#7D4E2DKobicha媚茶#6B4423Namakabe-iro生壁色#785E49Kitsurubami黄橡#BB8141Rikyūcha利休茶#826B58Higosusutake肥後煤竹#7F5D3BRokōcha路考茶#665343Mirucha海松茶#4C3D30Nataneyu-iro菜種油色#A17917Kimirucha黄海松茶#896C39Uguisucha鶯茶#5C4827Aokuchiba青朽葉#AA8736Hiwacha鶸茶#957B38Uguisu-iro鶯色#645530Yanagicha柳茶#9C8A4DRikancha璃寛茶#534A32Aikobicha藍媚茶#473F2DMiru-iro海松色#524B2ASensaicha千歳茶#3B3429Baikōcha梅幸茶#857C55Iwaicha岩井茶#5E5545Yanagisusutake柳煤竹#4D4B3AYanaginezumi柳鼠#817B69Pullman Brown (UPS Brown)#644117Sand dune#967117Nisemurasaki似せ紫#43242ABenikeshinezumi紅消鼠#44312EGinnezumi銀鼠#97867CSunezumi素鼠#6E5F57darkgoldenrod#B8860BSpanish bistre#807532Binrōjizome檳榔子染#352925saddlebrown#8B4513sienna#A0522Dolive#808000Tuscan brown#6F4E37Tuscan tan#A67B5BTenné#C67000Bistre brown#967117Olive Drab #7#3C341FRikyūshiracha利休白茶#B0927AAku-iro灰汁色#7F6B5DMummy brown#824B27Auburn hair#A52A2APantone 448 C#4A412A

KindBasic colour Named shade Pigment Dye Colour named from nature Traditional colour National or team colour Heraldic colour Standard colour Screen colour

Made fromMineral or earth Plant Animal Synthetic Light only (no pigment)

Brown Aniline A colourless oil that darkens with air and launched the first synthetic dyesPigment · 🇩🇪 Germany

Brown Catechu A brown plant extract used as a dye, tannin, and preservativeColour named from nature · 🇯🇵 Japan +2 Brown Juglone A plant compound that gives deep brown-orange colour to cloth, ink and foodPigment

Brown Bryoria fremontii A dark brown lichen used for food, medicine, and dye by First Nations in North AmericaColour named from nature · 🇷🇺 Russia

Brown Walnut A brown dye and ink made from the husk of the walnut fruitColour named from nature · 🇮🇷 Iran +5

Brown Catechu A reddish-brown dye and extract from the heartwood of Senegalia catechuDye · 🇮🇳 India +3 Brown Quercus lusitanica A Mediterranean oak shrub that yields nutgalls for dyeingColour named from nature · 🇵🇹 Portugal +2

Brown Brown HT A synthetic brown dye used in processed foods and bakingDye

Brown Crotal dye A traditional dye from a common lichen, giving deep red-brown and rusty-orange shadesDye · 🇮🇹 Italy Brown Brown FK A synthetic brown food dye once used to colour smoked fish and meatsPigment

Brown Ephedra cutleri dye A dye from a desert shrub used for light tan or reddish coloursColour named from nature · 🇺🇸 United States

Brown Little-leaf mountain mahogany dye A reddish-brown dye made from the tap-root bark of a desert shrubDye · 🇺🇸 United States Brown Gambier A yellow-brown plant extract used as dye, tannin and traditional medicineDye · 🇮🇩 Indonesia +4

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Bryoria fremontii: Millifolium, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Catechu: Maša Sinreih in Valentina Vivod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Aniline: Smokefoot, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Walnut: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ephedra cutleri dye: Craig Martin, CC0, source
Catechu: Shaik Jaber Al-Shihab, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Brown HT: Jynto ( more, CC0, source
Crotal dye: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Little-leaf mountain mahogany dye: Unknown author, Public domain, source