Resistor Color Code Chart
The full resistor color code reference at a glance — every band color with its digit, multiplier, tolerance and temperature coefficient, plus 4, 5 and 6-band reading order and E12/E24 preferred values.
Color code chart
Every resistor band color and what it means — significant digit, multiplier, tolerance and temperature coefficient. Tap any value to copy it.
| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance | Temp. coef. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | Not applicable | |||
| Brown | ||||
| Red | ||||
| Orange | Not applicable | |||
| Yellow | Not applicable | |||
| Green | ||||
| Blue | ||||
| Violet | ||||
| Grey | ||||
| White | Not applicable | Not applicable | ||
| Gold | Not applicable | Not applicable | ||
| Silver | Not applicable | Not applicable |
How to read the bands
Hold the tolerance band (gold or silver) to the right and read left to right. The number of bands tells you how many significant figures to read.
4-band
- 1 1st significant digit
- 2 2nd significant digit
- 3 Multiplier
- 4 Tolerance
5-band
- 1 1st significant digit
- 2 2nd significant digit
- 3 3rd significant digit
- 4 Multiplier
- 5 Tolerance
6-band
- 1 1st significant digit
- 2 2nd significant digit
- 3 3rd significant digit
- 4 Multiplier
- 5 Tolerance
- 6 Temperature coefficient
Preferred values (E-series)
Standard resistor values are spaced so their tolerance bands just touch. Multiply any value by a power of ten to get real-world parts (e.g. 47 → 4.7 Ω, 470 Ω, 4.7 kΩ…).
E12 & E24
The 24 base values of the E24 series (±5%). The 12 highlighted values also make up the E12 series (±10%).
About Resistor Color Code Chart
This chart puts the entire resistor color code on one page: all twelve band colors — black through white plus gold and silver — with the significant digit, multiplier, tolerance and temperature coefficient each color encodes. Real color swatches sit beside every row, so you can match a physical resistor against the chart directly.
Reading-order diagrams for 4-band, 5-band and 6-band resistors show exactly which band plays which role: significant digits, multiplier, tolerance and, on 6-band parts, the temperature coefficient in ppm/K. A search box filters the chart, and every digit, multiplier and tolerance value is a click-to-copy button.
The page also lists the E12 and E24 preferred value series, with the twelve E12 members highlighted inside the 24-value E24 set, and links straight to the interactive resistor color code calculator when you want to decode or build a specific value.
How to use Resistor Color Code Chart
- Match your resistor’s band colors against the chart to read each color’s digit, multiplier, tolerance and temperature coefficient.
- Check the 4, 5 and 6-band diagrams to confirm which band is a digit, which is the multiplier and which is the tolerance.
- Use the search box to filter the chart to a specific color, and click any value to copy it.
- Consult the E12/E24 section to see the standard preferred values a commercial resistor is likely to have.
- Need to compute an actual resistance? Open the linked resistor color code calculator for an interactive band-by-band decode.