Gray band on a resistor
On a resistor, a gray (grey) band is the digit 8, or as the multiplier band ×100,000,000. As a tolerance band, TT Electronics and Panasonic give it ±0.05%.
Easily confused with
How to read it
In the IEC 60062 color code gray is 8 as a digit band and ×100,000,000 (10⁸, “x 100M” in TT Electronics’ table) as the multiplier. As a second digit it is the 8 of 68: the University of Colorado Colorado Springs physics prelab reads blue, grey, black as 68 Ω. TT Electronics and Panasonic give gray a tolerance of ±0.05%, TT Electronics’ tolerance letter A, for precision resistors. Vishay and TT Electronics spell it grey; Panasonic and the University of Central Florida, gray.
Also searched as: 0.05% tolerance band, gray resistor band, gray stripe on resistor, grey band on a resistor, grey resistor band, resistor color code gray.
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 gray as 1 ppm/K in the sixth band of a six-band resistor, the smallest coefficient it lists. Vishay’s marking sheet has no gray in that column.
Where the charts disagree
Vishay’s marking sheet of 2010 and the University of Central Florida’s table give gray no tolerance at all. TT Electronics’ note of 2024 and Panasonic’s article of 2025 give ±0.05%.
Look-alikes
Silver is not a digit: it is the multiplier ×0.01 or a tolerance of ±10%.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesWhite band on a resistorOn a resistor, a white band is the digit 9, or as the multiplier band ×1,000,000,000. White has no tolerance value.
- 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
- PES 2160 Prelab Questions, PES 2160 Prelab 1, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Department of Physics and Energy Science, Prelab answer 4
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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