220 ohm resistor color code
Red, red, brown: 2, 2 and one zero, 220 ohms. On a four-band resistor the fourth band, set apart, is the tolerance: gold for ±5%.
How to read it
Red is 2 and brown as the multiplier is ×10, so the value is 22 × 10 = 220 Ω. NYU’s physical computing course identifies the 220-ohm resistors in its labs by two red bands and a brown band, followed by a gold band, ±5%.
Also searched as: 220 ohm resistor, 220 resistor color code, 221 resistor, red red brown resistor.
This explains what a resistor’s markings mean. Marking schemes vary between makers and series, and the part’s own datasheet takes precedence. It is not a guide to building or repairing electronics.
On a five-band resistor
With three digit bands the value is red, red, black, black: 220 × 1. The fifth band is the tolerance.
On a chip resistor
A 220 Ω surface mount resistor is printed 221 (22 and one zero), or 2200 with four digits on 1% parts, following Vishay’s chip marking table, where 101 to 911 cover 100 Ω to 910 Ω. 220 is not one of the 96 values of the EIA-96 table: the nearest are 215 (code 33) and 221 (code 34). See SMD resistor codes.
Look-alikes
With a black third band the value is 22 Ω, and with red, 2.2 kΩ.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesBlack band on a resistorOn a resistor, a black band is the digit 0, or as the multiplier band ×1, so the value is just the digits before it. Black has no tolerance value. A single black band on its own marks a zero-ohm resistor.
- The same shape in Smoke and CO alarm soundsLow-frequency 520 Hz alarm (sleeping rooms)A fire alarm in a sleeping room that sounds a low buzz in place of a high-pitched beep. It is the three-beep fire alarm rhythm at 520 Hz, which NFPA 72 requires of alarms provided to wake people in sleeping areas.
More resistor color codes
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with letters and numbers or lines.
Sources
- resistors (Lab: Arduino to Digital Audio Workstation), Photo caption, NYU Tisch, ITP Physical Computing, Caption
- Surface Mount Resistor Marking, Document number 20020 (revision 25 May 2010), Vishay Draloric (Vishay Intertechnology), Color code table; chip resistor marking
- Technical Note TN004: Methods for Marking Values on Resistors, TN004 (09.24), TT Electronics, Colour code table
- Chip Resistor Surface Mount: Marking, Product specification (2 April 2008, V.1), Yageo, Table 2 EIA-96 marking rule
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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