The Yellow orange color is situated on the color wheel between the primary color yellow and its adjacent secondary color orange. As you might have guessed, it’s a mixture of both. While yellow and orange have rich histories of their own, yellow-orange was likely first used in Medieval times in illuminated manuscripts. This deep yellow orange color was called saffron, however.
The history of yellow orange
Yellow orange is a mixture of yellow and orange, two colors that have existed for centuries.
The word “yellow” was first used in the year AD700, but its use as a color stretches back even further—yellow ochre pigment was one of the first colors used in cave paintings during the Stone Age. In Ancient Egypt, yellow was treasured for its likeness to the color of gold.
The word “orange” was first used as a color name in English in 1512. Prior to the 15th century, the hue was known instead as “yellow-red”. The color is named after the typical shade of the citrus fruit orange.
In the modern era, yellow and orange are not always popular colors. Yellow, in particular, is often disliked—a survey in the year 2000 found only six percent of respondents named it their favorite color, compared to 45 percent for blue.
Van Gogh famously contrasted yellow and orange colors with blues and purples. He was so fascinated by the many shades and tints of yellow in Southern France that he expressed it in a letter to his brother, “The sun dazzles me and goes to my head, a sun, a light that I can only call yellow, sulfur yellow, lemon yellow, golden yellow. How lovely yellow is!”
What Colors Make Yellow Orange?
As the name suggests, yellow orange is made by mixing yellow with orange. Simple, right? Yet, there are other ways to get your favorite shade of yellow orange. Try mixing Cadmium Red with Cadmium Yellow or Cadmium Lemon for a bright, saturated version. You can even mute yellow orange by adding the complementary color blue. Try Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue for a muted shade or Cadmium Yellow for a brighter hue.
What colors go with yellow orange?
Yellow orange can be matched with a number of different colors. You could use it together with other shades of orange and yellow for a fun and fruity color scheme, contrast it with striking purples, or calm it down with other earthy hues. Yellow orange also looks great with light blue, which is its complementary color on the color wheel. The colors that pair well with yellow orange include:
- Light blue
- Purple
- Violet
- Brown
- Burnt orange
- Maroon
Similar colors to yellow orange
Looking for a different hue? The following colors are related to yellow orange.
- Orange
- Yellow
- Freesia
- Gold
- Amber
- Burnt orange
Information about Yellow orange / #ffae42
In a RGB color space (made from three colored lights for red, green, and blue), hex #ffae42 is made of 100% red, 68.2% green, and 25.9% blue. In a CMYK color space (also known as process color, or four colors, and used in color printing), hex #ffae42 is made of 0% cyan, 32% magenta, 74% yellow, and 0% black. Yellow orange has a hue angle of 34.3 degrees, a saturation of 100%, and a lightness of 62.9%.
Color Conversion
The hexadecimal color #ffae42 has RGB values of R: 100, G: 68.2, B: 25.9 and CMYK values of C: 0, M: 0.32, Y: 0.74, K:0.