Tennessee Orange should be prominent in all communications from the university. Using our signature color brings a visual consistency to communications.
White and Smokey should always be used to underscore the boldness of Tennessee Orange. Any additional colors should be selected from our accent palette, which supports our primary colors.
Download color palettes on the templates page.
Primary Palette
Though our primary color is Tennessee Orange, the colors white and Smokey can be used to underscore its boldness. See details about using out Tennessee Orange in print and web.
Tennessee Orange
CMYK 0 50 100 0
HEX FF8200
RGB 255 130 0
PMS 151
White
CMYK 0 0 0 0
HEX FFFFFF
RGB 255 255 255
PMS N/A
Smokey
CMYK 0 0 0 80
HEX 58595B
RGB 88 89 91
PMS COOL GRAY 11
Using Tennessee Orange
Tennessee Orange is a very specific hue, and the guidelines below are our recommendations to best reproduce it. Keep in mind that different printers, paper, materials, and digital screens may render these color recommendations differently than others.
Printing Promotional Items
The official Tennessee Orange is PMS 151. That is the color you should specify with a licensed vendor if you are producing merchandise like T-shirts, pens, lanyards, mugs, etc.
Printing on Paper
Almost all printed university communications use the four-color CMYK process for orange (CMYK 0-50-100-0), which cannot accurately reproduce PMS 151.
However, if a printer requests a Pantone (PMS) color to guarantee a match for a four-color print job, specify PMS 144C. Although typically 144C is used on coated paper, we have found that it also matches our orange more accurately on uncoated paper than does 144U.
Looking for a large swatch of UT Orange? We have that! Send an email to brand@utk.edu and request a 5″x3″ swatch of Pantone 151. Swatches are only available to faculty and staff of the university.
Painting something UT Orange? Here are our recommendations.
- Benjamin Moore: Orange Juice
- Behr: Joyful Orange
- PPG/Glidden: Jack O’ Lantern
- Valspar: Fresh Persimmons
- Sherwin-Williams: Carnival or Navel
Sewing something? Here are our recommendations.
- Orange: Madeira 1278 and Robinson-Anton 2328
- White: Madeira 1002
- Smokey: Madeira 1172
The Color Black
Black is not a color in our palette and should not be used when designing university communications. Fonts and any other elements that may normally be displayed in black should always be Smokey instead.
Accent Colors
Always remember this is Big Orange Country, but sometimes you need some extra color. Remember to lead with orange and use these colors as accents.
Torch
CMYK 0 85 100 0
HEX E65933
RGB 230 89 51
PMS WARM RED
Sunsphere
CMYK 0 20 90 0
HEX FED535
RGB 254 213 53
PMS 123
Eureka!
CMYK 10 0 75 0
HEX EBEA64
RGB 235 234 100
PMS 386
Switchgrass
CMYK 25 0 80 10
HEX ABC178
RGB 171 193 120
PMS 390
Legacy
CMYK 65 20 50 10
HEX 579584
RGB 87 149 132
PMS 625
Valley
CMYK 100 50 65 0
HEX 00746F
RGB 0 116 111
PMS 329
Globe
CMYK 100 18 10 50
HEX 006C93
RGB 0 108 147
PMS 308
River
CMYK 70 40 25 10
HEX 517C96
RGB 81 124 150
PMS 646
Summitt
CMYK 25 0 10 0
HEX B9E1E2
RGB 185 225 226
PMS 304
Fountain
CMYK 75 15 25 10
HEX 2197A9
RGB 33 151 169
PMS 632
Regalia
CMYK 55 100 25 25
HEX 754A7E
RGB 117 74 126
PMS 519
Leconte
CMYK 40 100 60 30
HEX 8D2048
RGB 141 32 72
PMS 209
Energy
CMYK 0 90 20 0
HEX EE3E80
RGB 238 62 128
PMS 198
Limestone
CMYK 5 5 10 0
HEX F0EDE3
RGB 240 237 227
PMS 454
Rock
CMYK 0 0 0 40
HEX A7A9AC
RGB 167 169 172
PMS COOL GRAY 7
Buckskin
CMYK 60 70 70 15
HEX 705550
RGB 112 85 80
PMS 476
Special Web Palette
Text Colors
For headlines, we use Smokey. For text we use Smokey X (a darkened version of Smokey that will make your text easier to read). For links we use Globe underlined.
Smokey
For headlines
HEX 58595B
RGB 88 89 91
Smokey X
For paragraph text and smaller only
HEX 333333
RGB 51 51 51
Globe
For text links
HEX 006C93
RGB 0 108 147
Texture Colors
In order to create slight differences in emphasis or to designate sections of a page, a range of grays is available. Your text color should be only Smokey X on these elements.
Gray 1
HEX F6F6F6
RGB 246 246 246
Gray 2
HEX E0E0E0
RGB 224 224 224
Gray 3
HEX CACACA
RGB 202 202 202
Gray 4
HEX B6B6B6
RGB 182 182 182
Colors, Digital Screens, and Accessibility
Per system policy, all UT websites aim to meet WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines for accessibility. This includes a required contrast ratio for text and images of text of at least 4.5:1. This applies to both live text and image text (digital banners, images, or graphics).
(Spoiler: Tennessee Orange is tricky!)