6-band resistor color code
Six bands: the five-band code (three digits, multiplier, tolerance) and a sixth band for the temperature coefficient, how far the resistance moves as the temperature changes, in ppm per kelvin.
How to read it
Panasonic describes the sixth band as the temperature coefficient (ppm/K): the smaller it is, the less the resistance changes with temperature, and 100 ppm/K means a 1% change in resistance for a 100 °C change in temperature. TE Connectivity says the change is measured against the resistance at 25 °C (77 °F). Vishay marks the sixth band on its SMM0207 resistors of ±1% and tighter. Brown, black, black, red, brown, red is 10 kΩ ±1% with a coefficient of 50 ppm/K.
Also searched as: 6 band resistor color code, six band resistor, TCR band, tempco band, temperature coefficient band.
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.
The temperature coefficient colors
| Color | Panasonic (ppm/K) | Vishay (ppm/K) |
|---|---|---|
| Black | 250 | – |
| Brown | 100 | 100 |
| Red | 50 | 50 |
| Orange | 15 | 15 |
| Yellow | 25 | 25 |
| Green | 20 | – |
| Blue | 10 | 10 |
| Violet | 5 | 5 |
| Gray | 1 | – |
Panasonic’s chart of 2025 has nine colors; Vishay’s marking sheet of 2010 has six, and where both give a value they agree. The order is not the order of the digits: orange (15 ppm/K) is a smaller coefficient than yellow (25 ppm/K), and green (20 ppm/K) falls between them.
Telling the sixth band from the tolerance
In Panasonic’s layout the tolerance is the fifth band, read the same way as on a five-band resistor, and the coefficient is the sixth, after it.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesSMD resistor codesThe number on a surface mount (chip) resistor is its value in ohms, with the last digit giving the number of zeros: 103 is 10 and three zeros, 10,000 ohms (10 kΩ). An R is a decimal point, so 4R7 is 4.7 ohms. Two digits and a letter, such as 01C, are an EIA-96 code.
- The same shape in Multimeter symbolsCapacitance symbolThe capacitance setting. The two parallel bars are the circuit symbol for a capacitor, and readings are in farads (F), on handheld meters in nanofarads (nF) and microfarads (µF).
More resistor color codes
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines.
Sources
- Resistor Color Codes: Thorough Explanations of How to Interpret, Calculate, and Remember Them!, Technical article (24 October 2025), Panasonic Industry, §2 six-band type; color chart
- Surface Mount Resistor Marking, Document number 20020 (revision 25 May 2010), Vishay Draloric (Vishay Intertechnology), MELF resistor marking, six-band code; temperature coefficient marking
- Resistor Color Codes: What Do the Color Bands Mean?, Resistors resource page, TE Connectivity, 6-band resistors
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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