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Redeem nowInspiration in the color apricot.
Learn the history and meaning of the color apricot, a creamy orange-pink inspired by the fanciful fruit.
Get inspired with apricot design templates.
The color apricot is warm and inviting. Use its softness to add warmth without being overbearing, and enjoy its sweetness in every application.
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How to use the color apricot.
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Apricot color inspiration in interior design.
Apricot color is soft enough that it can be used extensively in interior design without overpowering a space. Rooms painted in the color apricot can add romance, softness, and the perfect dose of color. Paired with sandy beige or metallic copper and bronze, an environment can feel both playful and luxurious. Apricot color is also a great accent color in spaces with lots of white, gray, or blue.
Tap into the psychology of the color apricot.
The color apricot shares much of its psychology with yellow and orange, two of its principal ingredients. Yellow brings energy and cheerfulness, while orange brings appetite and warmth. Because of its lightness, apricot color can be used to evoke these feelings but with less intensity than other hues.
Apricot versus similar colors.
The color apricot is compared (and sometimes confused) with colors like champagne, peach, salmon, and dusty rose. Apricot color is significantly pinker than champagne. Next to peach, the color apricot is paler and more pastel. Salmon is more saturated than apricot color. Compared with dusty rose, the color apricot is brighter and more saturated.
Combine apricot with other colors.
Pair the color apricot with deep blues or greens to bring out its brightness. Combine it with pale gold or light purples, and apricot color takes on a chic and contemporary look. In a palette of similar colors like salmon, champagne, and coral, apricot color becomes an even warmer hue.
Information about apricot color.
The apricot HEX code picker is #FBCEB1. This is the pale pink-orange not strictly matched to the fruit, but nonetheless it’s reminiscent of an apricot’s velvety softness.
The color apricot can be achieved in a RGB space with 251 red, 206 green, and 177 blue. Apricot color can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 0% cyan, 18% magenta, 29% yellow, and 2% black.
The history of apricot color.
The origin of the apricot.
The apricot is a small stone fruit that balances sweet and tart, not unlike the sweet pink of apricot color balanced with hints of lemony yellow. Apricots were so prominently cultivated in Armenia some 3,000 years ago that their scientific name, P. Armeniaca, is based on that country’s name. Apricots originated, however, in South Asia.
Apricots later gained a common name and became a recognizable color.
The common name “apricot” arrived to English in 1524 from the Arabic word al-birquq. The first record of apricot as a color was in 1851, right on the cusp of the synthetic dyes boom. After the turn of the 20th century, the color apricot became rooted in English as a near-pastel that suggests sweetness everywhere it’s used.
Crayola versus the British Standards 5252 Color List.
Defining the color apricot was oddly discombobulated, considering it’s named after a fruit. In the early 20th century, the British Standards 5252 Color List defined what they called “mellow apricot color,” which wasn’t quite as yellow as its namesake. An even lighter and pinker version of the color apricot was introduced into the Crayola crayon box in 1958.
The color apricot across different cultures.
The distinction of mellow apricot color in the British Standards.
The British Standards (BS) are a collection of standards for goods and services. These are defined by a royal charter with the purpose of giving consumers and businesses clarity on what “counts” as a certain color, material, product, or offering. The BS 5252 Color List description of “mellow apricot color” quickly became a global standard of apricot color.
Apricot color has international application.
The color apricot is popular in designs and projects that represent global interests. The apricot is the national fruit of Armenia, for instance, where it was most famously cultivated. Following apricot’s introduction elsewhere, the color apricot is now used in fashion and creative projects related in any way to North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and the American Southwest.
The color apricot in China.
The apricot originated in the Himalayas and was first harvested in China and Central Asia as early as 2000 B.C.E. The Chinese traders who traveled the Great Silk Road later introduced the apricot to the Persians. Chinese culture around the fruit and its sweet apricot color was one of grace. The color apricot was believed to be symbolic of beauty.