Orange band on a resistor
On a resistor, an orange band is the digit 3, or as the multiplier band ×1,000: three zeros after the digits. Orange has no tolerance value.
Easily confused with
How to read it
In the IEC 60062 color code orange is 3 as a digit band and ×1,000 (10³) as the multiplier, which TT Electronics writes as “x 1K”. Vishay, TT Electronics, Panasonic and the University of Central Florida’s lab manual give it no tolerance. As the multiplier it turns two digits into thousands of ohms: brown, black, orange is the 10 kΩ resistor, the University of Texas at Dallas lab manual’s example.
Also searched as: orange resistor band, orange stripe on resistor, resistor color code orange.
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
On a six-band resistor orange is a temperature coefficient of 15 ppm/K in both Panasonic’s chart and Vishay’s marking sheet. That is smaller than yellow’s 25 ppm/K, so in this band the colors do not run in the order of the digits.
Look-alikes
Red is 2 and ×100. A red third band where orange should be reads ten times lower: brown, black, red is 1 kΩ.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesYellow band on a resistorOn a resistor, a yellow band is the digit 4, or as the multiplier band ×10,000: four zeros after the digits. Yellow 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
- Appendix B: Color Code for Composite Carbon Resistors, EE 1202 lab manual, Appendix B, The University of Texas at Dallas, Example 5
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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