Black band on a resistor
On 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.
Easily confused with
How to read it
In the IEC 60062 color code, as Vishay, TT Electronics and Panasonic print it, black is 0 as a digit band and ×1 (10⁰) as the multiplier. As a second digit it is the 0 of 10: the University of Texas at Dallas lab manual reads brown, black, brown as 100 Ω, and brown, black, black on a four-band resistor is 10 Ω. None of the makers’ charts gives black a tolerance. A resistor whose only marking is one black band is a zero-ohm resistor, a link with no value to code.
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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.
As a sixth band
Panasonic’s chart gives black as 250 ppm/K in the sixth band, the temperature coefficient of a six-band resistor. Vishay’s marking sheet has no black in its temperature coefficient column, which runs from brown (100 ppm/K) to violet (5 ppm/K).
Look-alikes
Among other bands, black is a digit or the multiplier. Only a black band with no other bands marks the zero-ohm resistor.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesBrown band on a resistorOn a resistor, a brown band is the digit 1, the multiplier ×10, or, as the tolerance band at the end, ±1%.
- 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
- Surface Mount Resistor Marking, Document number 20020 (revision 25 May 2010), Vishay Draloric (Vishay Intertechnology), Color code table; temperature coefficient marking
- Technical Note TN004: Methods for Marking Values on Resistors, TN004 (09.24), TT Electronics, Colour code table
- Resistor Color Codes: Thorough Explanations of How to Interpret, Calculate, and Remember Them!, Technical article (24 October 2025), Panasonic Industry, §2 color-to-value chart
- III. Standard Resistor Color Code, EEL 3123 Linear Circuits II Lab Manual, Appendix III (revised March 2023), University of Central Florida, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Table A – 1 Electronic Color Code
- Appendix B: Color Code for Composite Carbon Resistors, EE 1202 lab manual, Appendix B, The University of Texas at Dallas, Digits; example 1
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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