Resistor Color Codes Reference
The colored bands printed on a resistor and the digit, multiplier, and tolerance each one stands for.
At a glance
Key facts- Standard
- IEC 60062
- Common
- Four or five bands
- Read from
- The grouped end first
- Last band
- Tolerance, set apart
Colour code calculator
4, 5, and 6 band1 kΩ ±5%
In tolerance anywhere from 950 Ω to 1.05 kΩ.
Bands read Brown, Black, Red, Gold.
Read the bands with the tolerance band on the right. The tolerance band is usually gold or silver and is often set slightly further from the others, which is the only reliable way to tell which end is which on a four band part.
Band color meanings
12 rows| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | x1 | n/a |
| Brown | 1 | x10 | ±1% |
| Red | 2 | x100 | ±2% |
| Orange | 3 | x1k | n/a |
| Yellow | 4 | x10k | n/a |
| Green | 5 | x100k | ±0.5% |
| Blue | 6 | x1M | ±0.25% |
| Violet | 7 | x10M | ±0.1% |
| Grey | 8 | x100M | ±0.05% |
| White | 9 | x1G | n/a |
| Gold | n/a | x0.1 | ±5% |
| Silver | n/a | x0.01 | ±10% |
Source: IEC 60062, marking codes for resistors and capacitors. This table has not been re-verified against the primary source; see the methodology for what that means and how to report a correction. 12 rows, dataset version 1.1.0. Changelog and JSON.
Where it comes from
The resistor color code was standardized so that a small component could carry its value without printed text, which is hard to read at that size and easy to rub off. The scheme is defined by IEC 60062, the same international standard that governs capacitor marking. A resistor usually carries four or five bands: two or three digits, one multiplier, and one tolerance ring set slightly apart from the rest.
How to use it
Read the bands from the end where they are grouped closest together. On a four band resistor the first two bands are digits, the third is a power of ten multiplier, and the fourth is tolerance. So brown, black, red, gold reads 1, 0, times 100, giving 1000 ohms, or 1k, at five percent. On a five band part the first three bands are digits and the fourth is the multiplier. The multiplier column below is the power of ten you multiply by, and the same colors carry a digit value in the first bands.
This page is a standing reference at a fixed URL, built to be linked and cited. The data here is compiled from IEC 60062, the international standard for marking resistors and capacitors.