Resistor Color Code Calculator
Pick the band colors to find a resistor's value, tolerance and temperature coefficient — or type a value to see its color code. Works for 4-band, 5-band and 6-band resistors, with a full resistor color code chart.
How to read a resistor color code
- Find the starting end. Hold the resistor so the tolerance band — usually gold or silver, often with a wider gap before it — is on the right. The first band is the one closest to the other end.
- Read the digits. On a 4-band resistor the first two bands are digits; on 5- and 6-band resistors the first three are digits.
- Apply the multiplier. The next band says how many zeros to add (or, for gold and silver, divides by 10 or 100).
- Read the tolerance — how far the real resistance may differ from the marked value — and, on a 6-band resistor, the temperature coefficient.
Example: Yellow–Violet–Red–Gold reads 4, 7, then ×100 — so 47 × 100 = 4,700 Ω (4.7 kΩ) with a ±5% tolerance, meaning the real value lies between 4.465 kΩ and 4.935 kΩ. The 5-band version, Yellow–Violet–Black–Brown–Brown, reads 4, 7, 0, ×10 = 4.7 kΩ at ±1%. Use the resistor color code calculator above to check any combination, or type a value to see its bands.
Resistor color code chart
Each color has a fixed meaning that depends on the band's position. This resistor color chart follows the international standard IEC 60062:2016; a few older charts list grey as ±0.05% and don't include the newer orange and yellow tolerances or the pink ×0.001 multiplier.
| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance | Temp. coefficient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | ×1 | — | 250 ppm/K |
| Brown | 1 | ×10 | ±1% | 100 ppm/K |
| Red | 2 | ×100 | ±2% | 50 ppm/K |
| Orange | 3 | ×1,000 | ±0.05% | 15 ppm/K |
| Yellow | 4 | ×10,000 | ±0.02% | 25 ppm/K |
| Green | 5 | ×100,000 | ±0.5% | 20 ppm/K |
| Blue | 6 | ×1,000,000 | ±0.25% | 10 ppm/K |
| Violet | 7 | ×10,000,000 | ±0.1% | 5 ppm/K |
| Grey | 8 | ×100,000,000 | ±0.01% | 1 ppm/K |
| White | 9 | ×1,000,000,000 | — | — |
| Gold | — | ×0.1 | ±5% | — |
| Silver | — | ×0.01 | ±10% | — |
| Pink | — | ×0.001 | — | — |
| No band | — | — | ±20% | — |
4-band, 5-band and 6-band resistors
A 4-band resistor has two significant digits, a multiplier and a tolerance band; it is the classic carbon-film part, usually with a beige body and a ±5% gold or ±10% silver tolerance. A 5-band resistor adds a third digit for more precise values, typically on a blue metal-film body with ±1% (brown) or ±2% (red) tolerance. A 6-band resistor adds a final band for the temperature coefficient — how much the resistance drifts with heat, in parts per million per kelvin — used where stability matters. A single black band marks a zero-ohm link, used as a jumper on circuit boards.
Common resistor values and their color codes
Resistors are made in standard E-series values: E12 (12 values per decade, for ±10%), E24 (24 values, ±5%) and E96 (96 values, ±1%). These are the color codes you will meet most often in kits and on breadboards. The calculator tells you whether any value is a standard one and suggests the nearest if it isn't.
| Value | 4-band (±5%) | 5-band (±1%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Ω | Brown–Black–Black–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Gold–Brown | Open |
| 22 Ω | Red–Red–Black–Gold | Red–Red–Black–Gold–Brown | Open |
| 47 Ω | Yellow–Violet–Black–Gold | Yellow–Violet–Black–Gold–Brown | Open |
| 100 Ω | Brown–Black–Brown–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Black–Brown | Open |
| 220 Ω | Red–Red–Brown–Gold | Red–Red–Black–Black–Brown | Open |
| 330 Ω | Orange–Orange–Brown–Gold | Orange–Orange–Black–Black–Brown | Open |
| 470 Ω | Yellow–Violet–Brown–Gold | Yellow–Violet–Black–Black–Brown | Open |
| 680 Ω | Blue–Grey–Brown–Gold | Blue–Grey–Black–Black–Brown | Open |
| 1 kΩ | Brown–Black–Red–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Brown–Brown | Open |
| 2.2 kΩ | Red–Red–Red–Gold | Red–Red–Black–Brown–Brown | Open |
| 4.7 kΩ | Yellow–Violet–Red–Gold | Yellow–Violet–Black–Brown–Brown | Open |
| 10 kΩ | Brown–Black–Orange–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Red–Brown | Open |
| 22 kΩ | Red–Red–Orange–Gold | Red–Red–Black–Red–Brown | Open |
| 47 kΩ | Yellow–Violet–Orange–Gold | Yellow–Violet–Black–Red–Brown | Open |
| 100 kΩ | Brown–Black–Yellow–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Orange–Brown | Open |
| 220 kΩ | Red–Red–Yellow–Gold | Red–Red–Black–Orange–Brown | Open |
| 470 kΩ | Yellow–Violet–Yellow–Gold | Yellow–Violet–Black–Orange–Brown | Open |
| 1 MΩ | Brown–Black–Green–Gold | Brown–Black–Black–Yellow–Brown | Open |
Resistor color code mnemonics
The digit order is black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, grey, white — 0 to 9. The red-to-violet stretch follows the rainbow, and a sentence whose words start with the same letters makes the rest easy to remember: "Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well" or "Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Venture Goes Wrong." For the multiplier band, remember that its digit is simply the number of zeros: red (2) adds two zeros, orange (3) adds three.
Reading resistor bands with color blindness
Resistor bands are a notoriously hard test of color vision: brown, red and orange sit close together, as do green and grey or violet and blue, and the bands are tiny. People with red-green color blindness — about 1 in 12 men — often struggle to tell brown from red or green from orange. That is why every band in this calculator also shows its color name, and every color option shows its digit.
If you're not sure, a multimeter set to ohms gives a definitive reading. You can also photograph the resistor in good light and identify each band with the color name from image tool or the image color picker. To find out how your own color vision handles these colors, take the color blind test or the more detailed Cambridge color test, and use the color blindness simulator to see how a resistor chart looks with each type of color vision deficiency.
Other color codes
Electronics isn't the only place colors carry codes. On the web, every color has an HTML color code — a hex value like #D32F2F — that you can convert with the color converter or pick with the HTML color picker. Games have their own systems, such as Minecraft color codes and Roblox color codes, and the 140 CSS color names are the color code every browser understands.
Resistor color code FAQ
How do you read a resistor color code?
Hold the resistor with the tolerance band (often gold or silver) on the right. Read the first two bands as digits (three on 5- and 6-band resistors), multiply by the multiplier band, then read the tolerance. Yellow, violet, red, gold is 47 × 100 = 4.7 kΩ ±5%.
What are the resistor color code numbers?
Black 0, brown 1, red 2, orange 3, yellow 4, green 5, blue 6, violet 7, grey 8 and white 9. As a multiplier the same color adds that many zeros, while gold divides by 10 and silver by 100.
What is the difference between 4-band and 5-band resistors?
A 4-band resistor has two significant digits and usually a ±5% or ±10% tolerance. A 5-band resistor has three significant digits for more precise values and usually ±1% or ±2% tolerance. A 6-band resistor adds a temperature coefficient band.
What color code is a 10k resistor?
On a 4-band resistor, 10 kΩ is brown, black, orange plus the tolerance band — gold for ±5%. On a 5-band resistor it is brown, black, black, red, then brown for ±1%.
Which side of a resistor do you start reading from?
Start from the end with the band closest to the edge. The tolerance band, usually gold or silver, sits at the other end and often has a larger gap before it. Gold and silver are never the first band.