Resistor Color Code Calculator
Pick the band colors by name to get the resistance and tolerance, or type a value to see its colors.
- Resistance
- Range
- Tolerance
- Temp. coefficient
- Bands
- Nearest Standard Value
Saved Resistors
Items you add are saved in this browser.
| Name | Bands | Value | Tolerance | Remove |
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How to Read Resistor Color Codes
Through-hole resistors are marked with colored bands, read starting from the end with the bands grouped together (the tolerance band is usually set apart or is gold or silver). On a 4-band resistor, the first two bands are digits, the third is the multiplier, and the fourth is the tolerance. On 5- and 6-band resistors, the first three bands are digits; a sixth band gives the temperature coefficient.
Worked Example
Yellow, violet, red, gold: yellow is 4 and violet is 7, so the digits are 47. Red is a multiplier of 100, so 47 × 100 = 4,700 Ω, or 4.7 kΩ. Gold means ±5%, so the actual value is between 4,465 and 4,935 Ω.
Color Code Chart
Per IEC 60062.
| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance | Temp. Coefficient |
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Tips
Colors can be hard to tell apart, especially brown, red and orange, or blue, violet and gray, and they fade with heat. If you can't be sure, measure the resistor with a multimeter out of circuit. A handy memory aid is BB ROY of Great Britain had a Very Good Wife: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gray, white for 0 through 9.