French Bister(french Bistre) (#856D4D)

The hex code for French Bister(french Bistre) is #856D4D. It is rgb(133, 109, 77) in RGB, hsl(34, 27%, 41%) in HSL, and about cmyk(0%, 18%, 42%, 48%) in CMYK — a mid-tone brown. White text is the more readable choice on this background.

#856D4D

HEX#856D4D

RGBrgb(133, 109, 77)

HSLhsl(34, 27%, 41%)

HSVhsv(34, 42%, 52%)

CMYKcmyk(0%, 18%, 42%, 48%)

OKLCHoklch(55% 0.055 74.2)

LABlab(47.79% 6.38 21.65)

LCHlch(47.79% 22.57 73.58)

Colors Closest to French Bister(french Bistre)

French Bister(french Bistre) is a registered color name. These are the named colors nearest to it, measured as CIE76 distance in CIELAB — a perceptual scale, so the ordering matches what the eye sees rather than how close the raw RGB numbers happen to sit.

Raw Umber#826644ΔE 3.61 Gold Fusion#85754EΔE 5.34 Pastel Brown#836953ΔE 5.58 Shadow#8A795DΔE 6.21 Pale Brown#987654ΔE 6.57 Liver Chestnut#987456ΔE 6.7

Browse the full index of named colors A-Z or every brown in the library.

#856D4D Channel Values

How French Bister(french Bistre) breaks down in each color model. Hue is measured in degrees around the color wheel; saturation, lightness, and the CMYK inks are percentages.

Model	Channels	Notes
RGB	R 133 · G 109 · B 77	8-bit channels as sent to the display
HSL	H 34° · S 27% · L 41%	Easiest model for building lighter and darker variants
HSV	H 34° · S 42% · V 52%	Matches the picker in most design tools
CMYK	C 0% · M 18% · Y 42% · K 48%	Approximate ink mix; confirm with an ICC profile before printing
Luminance	4.89:1 vs white · 4.29:1 vs black	WCAG 2.2 relative-luminance contrast ratios

Text Contrast & Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 contrast ratios for text on a French Bister(french Bistre) background. AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text; AAA requires 7:1. Contrast is one check, not a full accessibility review.

TextWhite text4.89:1AA normal ✓AA large ✓AAA normal ✗

TextBlack text4.29:1AA normal ✗AA large ✓AAA normal ✗

Need a specific ratio against another background? Open #856D4D in the contrast checker.

Colors That Go With French Bister(french Bistre)

Pairings derived from color-wheel relationships. The complementary color sits opposite French Bister(french Bistre); analogous colors sit beside it; triadic and split-complementary sets spread evenly around the wheel. Select any swatch for its own breakdown.

Base

Complementary

Analogous

Analogous

Triadic

Triadic

Split comp.

Split comp.

Tints & Shades of French Bister(french Bistre)

Lighter tints and darker shades built by moving the lightness channel while holding hue and saturation, which is what you want for hover states, backgrounds, and text variants.

Tints

Shades

Want a full 50-950 ramp with semantic roles? Generate design tokens from #856D4D.

How French Bister(french Bistre) Looks with Color Vision Deficiency

Simulated with the Viénot, Brettel & Mollon LMS projection model. Anomalous types are rendered as partial versions of the matching dichromacy, which is an approximation rather than a per-person clinical model.

Typical#856D4D

Protanopia#72724D

Protanomaly#7A704D

Deuteranopia#76764C

Deuteranomaly#7C724C

Tritanopia#886A6A

Tritanomaly#876B5F

Achromatopsia#717171

Test a full palette in the color blindness simulator.

Using #856D4D in Code

Copy-ready declarations for the places this color usually ends up.

CSS custom property--french-bister-french-bistre: #856D4D;

CSS backgroundbackground-color: #856D4D;

Tailwind configcolors: { 'french-bister-french-bistre': '#856D4D' }

SwiftUIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.427, blue: 0.302)

Android XML<color name="french_bister_french_bistre">#856D4D</color>

SVG fillfill="#856D4D"

More Brown Colors

French Bister(french Bistre) sits in the brownfamily. These are its neighbours across that family's full range, each with its own breakdown.

894b00 84563c 8a4000 845210 8a5300 836953 8a5700 832a0d 8b4513 826644 8b4727 825221 944a0a 9c4e16 b17304 bd7b00 cc6600 e17100 302313 442f09 4d2e00 573800 664228 76562e

#856D4D Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hex code for French Bister(french Bistre)?

The hex code for French Bister(french Bistre) is #856D4D. That is rgb(133, 109, 77) in RGB, hsl(34, 27%, 41%) in HSL, and approximately cmyk(0%, 18%, 42%, 48%) in CMYK.

What is the RGB value of #856D4D?

#856D4D is rgb(133, 109, 77) — red 133, green 109, and blue 77 on the 0-255 scale.

What is the CMYK value of #856D4D?

#856D4D converts to approximately cmyk(0%, 18%, 42%, 48%). CMYK output is a mathematical approximation for planning; confirm production print colors with your printer and ICC profile.

Should text on #856D4D be black or white?

White text is the more readable choice. #856D4D scores 4.89:1 against white and 4.29:1 against black, and WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal body text.

Can I write #856D4D as a CSS color keyword?

No. #856D4D is not one of the CSS color keywords, so it has to be written as a hex, rgb() or hsl() value. The closest keyword is dimgray (#696969) at a CIE76 distance of 22.82, which is visibly different.

Open French Bister(french Bistre) in a Tool

Hex to RGB Hex to HSL Hex to CMYK Hex to OKLCH Hex to Pantone Build a palette Make a gradient

Keep exploring: every brown in the color library, the guide to shades of brown, or the full color library.