Sepia Color
Sepia is a brown color with hex code #A9593A. This page covers its meaning, all color values, harmonies, colors that go with sepia, shades, tints, similar colors, CSS examples, FAQs, and WCAG contrast ratios.
Sepia Color Values
What Does Sepia Mean?
Sepia 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. Sepia sits at a mid-lightness, which keeps it readable on both white and black without much fuss.
In the ISCC-NBS color naming system, Sepia is classified as a orange (nearest centroid: dark reddish orange, #9E4732).
Color Harmonies
Complementary
Analogous
Triadic
Colors That Go With Sepia
Sepia and #3B8BAB 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 — #AB3B53 and #AB933B, which sit beside sepia on the wheel. Pairings like this feel calm and settled, which suits backgrounds and gradients.
For an energetic three-color palette, pair sepia with triadic partners #3BAB5A and #5A3BAB. 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
CSS Examples
.text { color: #A9593A; }
.background { background-color: #A9593A; }
.border { border: 2px solid #A9593A; }
.shadow { box-shadow: 0 4px 6px #A9593A40; }WCAG Contrast
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the hex code for sepia?
Sepia has the hex code #A9593A. In RGB notation it is rgb(169, 89, 58), in HSL it is hsl(17, 49%, 45%), and its OKLCH value is 0.553, 0.114, 41.4.
What does the color sepia mean?
Brown-family colors like sepia carry distinct psychological associations. Sepia 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. Sepia sits at a mid-lightness, which keeps it readable on both white and black without much fuss.
What colors go with sepia?
Sepia has three easy routes: its complement #3B8BAB for punch, its neighbors #AB3B53 and #AB933B for something calmer, or triadic partners #3BAB5A and #5A3BAB when you want energy.
Is sepia a standard web color?
No — Sepia is not a CSS keyword. Use its hex value #A9593A or any RGB/HSL equivalent in your stylesheets.
How do I make sepia lighter or darker?
To lighten sepia, 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 #F3E3DD (lightest tint) to #1E100A (darkest shade).
About Sepia
Sepia is classified as a Orange in the ISCC-NBS color naming system, within the Brown hue family. It has The color is recognized by Crayola.
Use our Color Converter to convert #A9593A to any other color format, or explore the Color Wheel to find harmonious color combinations.