Palettes · theme palettes
Fall color palettes: hex codes for rust, mustard and forest
Five fall palettes with hex codes: autumn leaves (maple #9C2C13, mustard #E6A817), harvest, cozy cabin, moody burgundy and brick, and October. Each lists WCAG-readable text pairs, with copy and PNG export.
Autumn leaves
- #9C2C13Maple
- #D96C06Rust orange
- #E6A817Mustard
- #6B4226Chestnut
- #3F5E3AForest
Preview
Autumn leaves
Body text in black on mustard, with rust orange as the accent.
ButtonNo two colors here reach 4.5:1, so use it for decoration and set text in black or white.
Harvest
- #BC6C25Pumpkin spice
- #DDA15EWheat
- #FEFAE0Cream
- #606C38Olive
- #283618Pine
Preview
Harvest
Body text in pine on cream, with pumpkin spice as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Pine on Cream 12.24:1; Pine on Wheat 5.72:1; Olive on Cream 5.39:1
Cozy cabin
- #7F5539Leather
- #B08968Toffee
- #DDB892Oat
- #EDE0D4Linen
- #582F0EWalnut
Preview
Cozy cabin
Body text in walnut on linen, with leather as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Walnut on Linen 8.87:1; Walnut on Oat 6.20:1; Leather on Linen 4.97:1
Moody fall
- #4A0E17Burgundy
- #8C3B2ABrick
- #C38E3CBrass
- #2F3E46Storm
- #CAD2C5Frost
Preview
Moody fall
Body text in burgundy on frost, with brass as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Burgundy on Frost 9.90:1; Storm on Frost 7.13:1; Burgundy on Brass 5.30:1; Brick on Frost 4.87:1
October
- #F28C28Bright orange
- #C1440EBurnt sienna
- #F2CC8FStraw
- #3D405BTwilight
- #81B29ASage
Preview
October
Body text in twilight on straw, with burnt sienna as the accent.
ButtonReadable text pairs (WCAG AA, 4.5:1 or more): Twilight on Straw 6.62:1
Every palette here in 3D color space
Lightness runs up the pole and hue goes around it, so palettes that share a mood sit in the same region. Drag to turn it.
- Maple
- Rust orange
- Mustard
- Chestnut
- Forest
- Pumpkin spice
- Wheat
- Cream
- Olive
- Pine
- Leather
- Toffee
- Oat
- Linen
- Walnut
- Burgundy
- Brick
- Brass
- Storm
- Frost
- Bright orange
- Burnt sienna
- Straw
- Twilight
- Sage
On this page
Fall palettes work because they are borrowed from things that really exist together: dry leaves, squash, bark, wool, a stormy late-afternoon sky. All five sets below keep that logic, mixing warm colors with one cooler or darker anchor so the page does not turn into a wall of orange.
The five palettes
- Autumn leaves pairs maple red (#9C2C13) and rust orange (#D96C06) with mustard (#E6A817), chestnut brown and forest green. It is the postcard version of the season.
- Harvest uses pumpkin spice (#BC6C25), wheat, cream, olive and a very dark pine (#283618). Good for farm-stand signs and market stationery.
- Cozy cabin stays in browns: leather, toffee, oat, linen and walnut. It suits interior mood boards and a knitwear shop.
- Moody fall is burgundy (#4A0E17), brick, brass, storm blue-gray and frost. It looks more like a wine label than a pumpkin patch.
- October brightens up with a bright orange (#F28C28), burnt sienna, straw, twilight blue and sage.
Contrast notes
Fall palettes are friendlier to text than spring ones because they contain real darks. In harvest, pine on cream measures 12.24:1, pine on wheat 5.72:1 and olive on cream 5.39:1. Cozy cabin gives walnut on linen at 8.87:1 and leather on linen at 4.97:1, which is borderline, so use leather for headings rather than paragraphs. In moody fall, burgundy on frost is 9.90:1, storm on frost 7.13:1 and, a nice surprise, burgundy on brass reaches 5.30:1, so the gold can be a real background.
The orange-heavy sets are the weak spot. Autumn leaves lists no readable pair at all except through dark text you add yourself. Orange and mustard together look warm but differ very little in lightness, so a person with low vision or a washed-out projector will see them blur together.
Worked example
You run a farm stand and need a price board for the front table, readable from a few feet away in bright sun. Use harvest: cream as the board, pine for the product names and prices (12.24:1), and pumpkin spice only for a hand-drawn border and the word "Fresh". Because pine on cream is that strong, you can write the small line about cash and card payments in the same color without squinting. If you also print a smaller tag for each jar of honey, put it on wheat with pine, which still passes at 5.72:1. The Download PNG button gives you a swatch image to take to the print shop along with the hex codes.
More to try
For something with a hint of spookiness, see halloween. For dark wooden browns, wood has matching oak and walnut sets, and red and gold includes an autumn version of its own. You can also pick any single color above, such as burnt orange, to see its shades and tints.