What is the hex code for Sepia?

Sepia is #644b1e. It appears in 2 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".

What does Sepia look like on white and black backgrounds?

Sepia (#644b1e) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 8.18:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 2.57:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

Where does the color Sepia come from?

Sepia is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued orange pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.

Can I use Sepia in my own design or brand?

Yes. The color name and hex value (#644b1e) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.

#644b1e

orange · 2 palettes

Sepia

About Sepia

Sepia is a deep, muted orange tone. Its hex value is #644b1e — that is RGB 100, 75, 30, or HSL 39°, 54%, 25%.

It holds 8.2:1 contrast against white, so Sepia works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 8.2:1; on black 2.6:1.)

Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Sepia appears in 2 combinations — most often paired with Veronia Purple, Yellow Orange and Taupe Brown.

Palettes with Sepia

Sepia appears in 2 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours.

Showa era

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Plate 24 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sepia, Veronia Purple.

Showa era

Yellow Orange & Sepia +2

Plate 288 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Yellow Orange, Sepia, Taupe Brown, Black.

Embed this color

Drop a Sepia swatch card into any blog post, design review, or color-study reference page. Links back to this color's detail.

<iframe src="https://colorcombinations.org/embed/colors/sepia/" width="360" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border-radius:8px;overflow:hidden;" title="Sepia — colorcombinations.org"></iframe>

Preview

From the archive

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