Resistor Color Code Calculator · Practical guide
Resistor Color Code Chart with Multiplier and Tolerance
One chart for every band: digit values, multipliers, and tolerances for 4-band and 5-band resistors.
At a glance
The Complete Chart
Each color represents a digit from 0 to 9. The same colors act as powers-of-ten multipliers, while brown, red, gold, and silver also serve as tolerance bands. Gold and silver are the only colors with fractional multipliers (×0.1 and ×0.01), which is how sub-10 Ω values are marked.
| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | ×1 | — |
| Brown | 1 | ×10 | ±1% |
| Red | 2 | ×100 | ±2% |
| Orange | 3 | ×1 k | — |
| Yellow | 4 | ×10 k | — |
| Green | 5 | ×100 k | — |
| Blue | 6 | ×1 M | — |
| Violet | 7 | ×10 M | — |
| Gray | 8 | ×100 M | — |
| White | 9 | ×1 G | — |
| Gold | — | ×0.1 | ±5% |
| Silver | — | ×0.01 | ±10% |
Interactive tool
Resistor Color Code Calculator
Enter your own values, then compare the result with the examples below.
Resistor Value
How to Use the Chart
For a 4-band resistor, combine the first two digits, then multiply: yellow-violet-red-gold is 4, 7, ×100, ±5% = 4,700 Ω (4.7 kΩ) with an acceptable range of 4,465 Ω to 4,935 Ω. For a 5-band resistor, use the first three digits the same way: brown-black-black-red-brown is 100 × 100 = 10 kΩ ±1%.
Common Values at a Glance
| Bands (4-band) | Value | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|
| Red-Red-Brown-Gold | 220 Ω | ±5% |
| Brown-Black-Red-Gold | 1 kΩ | ±5% |
| Yellow-Violet-Red-Gold | 4.7 kΩ | ±5% |
| Brown-Black-Orange-Gold | 10 kΩ | ±5% |
| Brown-Black-Green-Gold | 1 MΩ | ±5% |
Rather than memorizing the chart, match your resistor's bands in the calculator above — it decodes the value, tolerance, and acceptable range instantly for both 4-band and 5-band parts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a mnemonic for the resistor color order?
A common clean one is Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Gray White — better boys race our young girls but violet generally wins. The colors follow rainbow order after black and brown.
What tolerance colors will I see most often?
Gold (±5%) dominates general-purpose resistors. Precision metal-film parts usually carry brown (±1%) or red (±2%), and silver (±10%) appears on older carbon-composition resistors.
Why do gold and silver have fractional multipliers?
Values below 10 Ω need to shrink the digits rather than add zeros. A red-red-gold-gold resistor is 22 × 0.1 = 2.2 Ω, which no whole-number multiplier could express.
Does the chart apply to SMD resistors?
No. Surface-mount resistors use printed numeric codes like 472 (4.7 kΩ) or 4R7 (4.7 Ω) instead of color bands. This chart is for axial through-hole resistors only.