4-band resistor color code
Four bands: the first two are digits, the third is the multiplier (how many zeros follow) and the fourth, set apart from the others, is the tolerance. Brown, green, red, gold is 1,500 ohms (1.5 kΩ) ±5%.
How to read it
The code is IEC 60062, which TE Connectivity describes as the latest codification of the color system the electronics industry settled on early. The value is the two digits times the multiplier. In TE Connectivity’s example, brown (1), green (5), red (×100) and gold (±5%) make 1,500 Ω, which may be 75 Ω either way. Vishay uses the four-band code for its ±5% resistors in the E24 series. A resistor with only three bands has the same digits and multiplier and no tolerance band, which TE Connectivity and Vishay’s chart read as ±20%: TE gives brown, black, gold as 1 Ω, between 0.8 and 1.2 Ω.
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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.
Which end is the first band
The tolerance band is at the far end, set apart. TE Connectivity says the first band is the one closest to the end of the body, and the space before the tolerance band is slightly larger. TT Electronics says the tolerance band is either wider than the others or further from them. Panasonic says a gold or silver band is the last, and the University of Texas at Dallas lab manual places the tolerance band near the other end, a little further towards the centre than the first band.
The colors
| Color | Digit | Multiplier | Tolerance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 0 | ×1 | – |
| Brown | 1 | ×10 | ±1% |
| Red | 2 | ×100 | ±2% |
| Orange | 3 | ×1,000 | – |
| Yellow | 4 | ×10,000 | – |
| Green | 5 | ×100,000 | ±0.5% |
| Blue | 6 | ×1,000,000 | ±0.25% |
| Violet | 7 | ×10,000,000 | ±0.1% |
| Gray | 8 | ×100,000,000 | ±0.05% |
| White | 9 | ×1,000,000,000 | – |
| Gold | – | ×0.1 | ±5% |
| Silver | – | ×0.01 | ±10% |
| No band | – | – | ±20% |
The tolerances of orange, yellow and white are blank in every chart we used, and gray’s ±0.05% is TT Electronics’ and Panasonic’s; Vishay gives gray none.
Gold or silver as the third band
Below 10 Ω the multiplier is gold (×0.1) or silver (×0.01). The University of Texas at Dallas lab manual reads brown, black, gold as 1 Ω.
Four bands without a tolerance
Not every four-band resistor is two digits, a multiplier and a tolerance. TT Electronics marks some resistors, such as its WRM0204, with three digits and a multiplier and no tolerance band: 4, 7, 0, ×100 is 47 kΩ. That is the five-band code with its last band left off, and TT Electronics says the product datasheet gives the marking method.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codes5-band resistor color codeFive bands: three digits, a multiplier and a tolerance. The third digit is for precision values, mostly ±1% and tighter. Yellow, violet, black, red, brown is 47,000 ohms (47 kΩ) ±1%.
- The same shape in Road signsDivided highway signA yellow diamond showing a road split around a median. It warns that the highway ahead becomes divided, with traffic in each direction separated.
More resistor color codes
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Resistor Color Codes: What Do the Color Bands Mean?, Resistors resource page, TE Connectivity, Deciphering the color codes; how to read a resistor color code; 3-band and 4-band resistors
- Technical Note TN004: Methods for Marking Values on Resistors, TN004 (09.24), TT Electronics, Introduction; colour code; examples 2 and 3
- Surface Mount Resistor Marking, Document number 20020 (revision 25 May 2010), Vishay Draloric (Vishay Intertechnology), MELF resistor marking, four-band code
- Appendix B: Color Code for Composite Carbon Resistors, EE 1202 lab manual, Appendix B, The University of Texas at Dallas, Color code; tolerance band
- Resistor Color Codes: Thorough Explanations of How to Interpret, Calculate, and Remember Them!, Technical article (24 October 2025), Panasonic Industry, §2 four-band type; §3 orientation
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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