Yellow band on a resistor
On 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.
Easily confused with
How to read it
In the IEC 60062 color code yellow is 4 as a digit band and ×10,000 (10⁴) as the multiplier, “x 10K” in TT Electronics’ table. Vishay, TT Electronics, Panasonic and the University of Central Florida’s lab manual give it no tolerance. As a first digit it is the 4 of 47: the University of California, Berkeley lab appendix reads yellow, violet, red as 4.7 kΩ and yellow, violet, orange as 47 kΩ.
Also searched as: resistor color code yellow, yellow resistor band, yellow stripe on resistor.
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 yellow is a temperature coefficient of 25 ppm/K, the value in both Panasonic’s chart and Vishay’s marking sheet.
Look-alikes
Gold is not a digit: it is the multiplier ×0.1 or a tolerance of ±5%. Yellow is a digit or a multiplier and has no tolerance value.
Read next
- Next in Resistor color codesGreen band on a resistorOn a resistor, a green band is the digit 5, the multiplier ×100,000, or, as the tolerance band at the end, ±0.5%.
- 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 1: Resistors, EECS 40/43 lab manual (Spring 2004), University of California, Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Examples
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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