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Claim offerInspiration in the color brown.
Learn the history and meaning of the color brown, the most grounded color.
Get inspired with brown design templates.
The color brown represents natural landscapes, dependability, strength, and warmth.
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How to use the color brown.
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Brown color used in business.
When used in logos and branding, the color brown can represent dependability, ruggedness, or sustainability. Its exact meaning depends on how brown is used (or what color brown is paired with).
Tap into the psychology of the color brown.
The color brown is found to relax the senses. Specifically, brown color increases levels of tryptophan, which is tied to sleep and the immune system. Brown color also increases serotonin production, which is one of the essential chemicals for mood regulation.
There are many paths to the (brown) mountaintop.
The color brown can be made different ways, always arriving at the exact same hex code. Brown color can be made by desaturating reds, oranges, and yellows. The color brown can also be made by combining all three primary colors in the red-yellow-blue color model.
Combine brown with other colors.
The color brown can be combined with virtually every color. This has been proven by the flora of endless color that reaches out of the rich, brown earth. Paired with green, the color brown takes on an unmistakable look of nature. Combine brown with pink or coral for a chic and expressive palette. The color brown next to white instead enhances all the best meanings of brown.
Information about brown color.
The brown HEX code picker is #964B00. This is the warm, rich brown most closely tied to nature.
The color brown can be achieved in a RGB space with 150 red, 75 green, and 0 blue. Brown color can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 29% cyan, 74% magenta, 100% yellow, and 24% black.
What is the meaning of the color brown?
Popular surveys state that brown is the “least common favorite color,” which some have interpreted as “people don’t like brown.” All it takes, though, is a look at brown in our daily lives to see what brown color really means. Chocolate, teddy bears, rich soil, a reverberating cello, a handsome moose, that UPS delivery we’re excited about — they all carry the warm and reliable color brown.
The color brown is closely tied to nature. Brown color is healing, secure, and familiar.
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The history of the color brown.
Brown color went without a name for a long, long time.
The color brown is in the soil and the bark of trees. Brown has been ever-present, and so it was easy to call something “earth color” without naming the color brown. The brown hue we know today was not documented until the 13th century, first as brun. The term was used 400 years prior to mean “dark color” or “glistening, shining,” which is where the word burnish comes from.
The meaning of brown color through the ages.
In prehistoric times, the color brown was a simple pigment to make and was used in paintings as old as 40,000 years. Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used an umber-based brown pigment to depict the skin of beautiful figures. In Ancient Rome, in contrast, the color brown took on a meaning of “barbarian” and was worn by the lower class. The Roman word for the urban poor was pullati, meaning “those dressed in brown.”
Brown color is back to earth with a dash of wholesomeness thrown in.
In many Western cultures, the color brown has taken back its original meaning of earthy. It’s used to depict sustainability, health, nurturing, and dependability. Multiple trusted, longstanding brands feature brown prominently in their logos and marketing, including UPS, M&Ms, and JP Morgan.
The color brown across different cultures.
The color brown represents a central element of feng shui.
Feng shui, the Chinese practice of creating balance with the natural world, considers brown color a crucial element. Dark brown color represents wood, and light brown represents soil. Both are considered energetic and nurturing. Brown color is used pointedly in décor to keep it in balance with other colors.
In other languages, words for the color brown are inspired by food.
In Turkish and Greek, the words for brown (kahverengi and kafé) are also the words for coffee. In Portuguese, Spanish, and French, the word for a common shade of brown (also used to describe brunette hair) comes from the word for chestnut. In Malay and Filipino, the color brown comes from their words for chocolate.
The color brown is popular in English idioms.
In English, a “brown-noser” is someone who acts overly submissive to win someone over. To be “in a brown study” means to be absorbed in thought. A “brown badger” is someone who brings his or her own supplies, or even someone who brings his or her own liquor (presumably in a brown bag). Today, to be “browned off” means to be infuriated, but originally it meant to be depressed.