Beige vs Tan

Beige leans yellow; Tan leans orange. The measured difference between their classic values is ΔE 18.5, clearly different colors.

Beige

RGB: 245, 245, 220
HSL: 60, 56%, 91%
OKLCH: 96.4% 0.033 107.0

Temperature: neutral, leaning warm (subtle yellow undertone in this near-neutral)

Closest encyclopedia entry: Moon Sugar

Tan

RGB: 210, 180, 140
HSL: 34, 44%, 69%
OKLCH: 78.6% 0.064 74.6

Temperature: warm

Closest encyclopedia entry: Sheaf

Measured difference: ΔE 18.5 · clearly different colors. ΔE is a measure of perceived color difference; below 2.3 most people can't tell colors apart.

Guide

How to tell Beige and Tan apart

1 Beige is measurably lighter (18 points of OKLCH lightness). Squint: the one that survives is Tan.
2 Tan carries more chroma, so it reads more saturated. Beige looks grayer in direct comparison.
3 Temperature splits them: Beige reads neutral, leaning warm while Tan reads warm.
4 Their hues sit 32 degrees apart on the wheel. Put them on white side by side and the hue gap is the first thing you see.

Guide

When to use which

Beige is a surface color: it needs a dark background before it can carry text.

Tan is a surface color: it needs a dark background before it can carry text.

Palettes

Their palettes, side by side

Beige complementary palette

Tan complementary palette

Beige analogous palette

Tan analogous palette

FAQ

FAQs

Are Beige and Tan the same color?

No. Using their classic reference values, they differ by ΔE 18.5 (a measure of perceived color difference; below 2.3 most people can't tell colors apart). That makes them clearly different colors.

Which is darker, Beige or Tan?

Tan is darker: 18 points lower in OKLCH lightness than Beige.