French Bistre (#856D4D)

HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK values + mood/style/use-case color tags. Use this page to keep your colors consistent across web and print.

Preview

Sample Text
This is how text may look on this color.
Best text color: #FFFFFF
Contrast vs white: 4.89:1 — vs black: 4.29:1

Color values

  • HEX #856D4D
  • RGB rgb(133, 109, 77)
  • HSL hsl(34, 42%, 52%)
  • CMYK cmyk( 0, 18.05, 42.11, 47.84 )

Tags

Tip: tags are heuristic suggestions (helpful for browsing and inspiration).

Color Harmonies

Colors that pair well with #856D4D based on color theory relationships.

Complementary

The color directly opposite on the color wheel — creates maximum contrast and vibrance.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#4D6585
Analogous

Colors adjacent on the wheel — naturally harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#85514D
#81854D
Triadic

Three colors equally spaced 120° apart — bold, balanced, and visually rich.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#4D856D
#6D4D85
Split-Complementary

Two colors flanking the complement — high contrast with less tension than full complementary.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#4D8185
#514D85
Tetradic (Square)

Four colors at 90° intervals — rich variety, best when one color dominates.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#4D8551
#4D6585
#854D81
Monochromatic

Shades and tints of the same hue — cohesive, elegant, and easy to work with.

French Bistre
#856D4D Base
#241E15
#554531
#6B583E
#9F825C
#AD9471
#C9B8A2
Shades & Tints

Darker shades and lighter tints of French Bistre, generated by adjusting lightness while keeping the same hue and saturation.

Shades (darker)

#100D09
#282017
#3F3424
#564732
#6E5A3F
French Bistre #856D4D Base
#A58964
#B9A487
#CDBEA9
#E2D8CC
#F6F3EF
CSS & SCSS Snippets

Ready-to-use code snippets for #856D4D. Click the copy button to copy any snippet to your clipboard.

CSS Properties
/* Background */
.element {
    background-color: #856D4D;
}

/* Text */
.element {
    color: #856D4D;
}

/* Border */
.element {
    border: 1px solid #856D4D;
}
CSS Gradient
/* Linear gradient to complementary */
.element {
    background: linear-gradient(
        to right,
        #856D4D,
        #527EB8
    );
}

/* Radial gradient */
.element {
    background: radial-gradient(
        circle,
        #856D4D,
        #527EB8
    );
}
SCSS Variable
// SCSS variable
$french-bistre: #856D4D;

// With RGB channels (useful for rgba() usage)
$french-bistre-r: 133;
$french-bistre-g: 109;
$french-bistre-b: 77;

// Usage
.element {
    background-color: $french-bistre;
    color: rgba($french-bistre-r, $french-bistre-g, $french-bistre-b, 0.8);
}
Color Blindness Simulation

How French Bistre appears to people with different types of color vision deficiency.

Normal Vision #856D4D How the color appears with full color vision.
Deuteranopia #75754C Deuteranopia affects ~8% of males. Green cones are absent, making it difficult to distinguish red from green. The most common form of color blindness.
Protanopia #70704D Protanopia affects ~1% of males. Red cones are absent, causing reds to appear dark and indistinguishable from greens and browns.
Tritanopia #886A6A Tritanopia is rare (~0.003%). Blue cones are absent, making blue and yellow difficult to distinguish. Blues may appear green, yellows appear pink.
Achromatopsia #717171 Achromatopsia is complete color blindness. The world is seen entirely in shades of grey. Affects ~1 in 30,000 people.
Similar Named Colors

The closest named colors to French Bistre ranked by perceptual difference (Delta-E 2000 — lower = more similar).

French Bistre #856D4D Base
Raw Umber #826644 ΔE 2.87
Pastel Brown #836953 ΔE 4.50
Coyote Brown #81613E ΔE 4.99
Shadow #8A795D ΔE 5.20

How to use this color

  1. Copy HEX for CSS and design tools, or RGB/HSL for UI adjustments.
  2. Use CMYK when preparing print assets (posters, packaging, brochures).
  3. Check contrast before using it for text or important UI elements.