Caramel Color
Caramel is a brown color with hex code #AF6F09. This page covers its meaning, all color values, harmonies, colors that go with caramel, shades, tints, similar colors, CSS examples, FAQs, and WCAG contrast ratios.
Caramel Color Values
What Does Caramel Mean?
Caramel belongs to the brown family of colors. Brown is earth, wood, and coffee, and it behaves accordingly: grounded, unbothered, dependable. Craft brands, leather goods, and rustic interiors all borrow that steadiness. When brown looks cheap, that's a styling choice rather than the color's fault. Caramel sits at a mid-lightness, which keeps it readable on both white and black without much fuss.
In the ISCC-NBS color naming system, Caramel is classified as a brown (nearest centroid: strong yellowish brown, #996515).
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Colors That Go With Caramel
Caramel and #0949AE are complements, parked opposite each other on the wheel. Together they hit maximum contrast, so a rough 70/30 split keeps the pairing from shouting.
Analogous neighbors — #AE1C09 and #9BAE09, which sit beside caramel on the wheel. Pairings like this feel calm and settled, which suits backgrounds and gradients.
For an energetic three-color palette, pair caramel with triadic partners #09AE6F and #6F09AE. All three sit evenly spaced around the wheel, so the scheme stays lively without clashing.
Build and test these combinations in our Color Wheel Tool or check text readability with the Contrast Checker.
Tints and Shades
Tints (lighter)
Shades (darker)
Similar Colors
- Mai Tai —
#B06608(Delta E 6) - Mandalay —
#AD781B(Delta E 7) - Bourbon —
#BA6F1E(Delta E 7) - Golden Brown —
#B27A01(Delta E 7) - Raw Sienna —
#9A6200(Delta E 7)
CSS Examples
.text { color: #AF6F09; }
.background { background-color: #AF6F09; }
.border { border: 2px solid #AF6F09; }
.shadow { box-shadow: 0 4px 6px #AF6F0940; }WCAG Contrast
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hex code for caramel?
Caramel has the hex code #AF6F09. In RGB notation it is rgb(175, 111, 9), in HSL it is hsl(37, 90%, 36%), and its OKLCH value is 0.596, 0.127, 69.4.
What does the color caramel mean?
Brown-family colors like caramel carry distinct psychological associations. Caramel belongs to the brown family of colors. Brown is earth, wood, and coffee, and it behaves accordingly: grounded, unbothered, dependable. Craft brands, leather goods, and rustic interiors all borrow that steadiness. When brown looks cheap, that's a styling choice rather than the color's fault. Caramel sits at a mid-lightness, which keeps it readable on both white and black without much fuss.
What colors go with caramel?
Caramel has three easy routes: its complement #0949AE for punch, its neighbors #AE1C09 and #9BAE09 for something calmer, or triadic partners #09AE6F and #6F09AE when you want energy.
Is caramel a standard web color?
No — Caramel is not a CSS keyword. Use its hex value #AF6F09 or any RGB/HSL equivalent in your stylesheets.
How do I make caramel lighter or darker?
To lighten caramel, add white to create tints; to darken it, add black to create shades. The tints and shades table above shows five computed steps of each, from #FCE9CA (lightest tint) to #1D1302 (darkest shade).
About Caramel
Caramel is classified as a Brown in the ISCC-NBS color naming system, within the Brown hue family. It has The color is recognized by XKCD, meodai.
Use our Color Converter to convert #AF6F09 to any other color format, or explore the Color Wheel to find harmonious color combinations.