Resistor Color Coding

Decode resistor values using color bands for 4-ring and 5-ring resistors

Overview

Resistor values are often encoded using color bands (rings) rather than printed numbers. Each color represents a digit or a multiplier, making it easy to identify resistor values at a glance.

Color Coding Standards:

The color coding system is standardized according to IEC 60062. Different resistor types use different numbers of color bands:

  • 4-ring Carbon film resistors: 2 digits + multiplier + tolerance
  • 5-ring Metal film resistors: 3 digits + multiplier + tolerance

4-Ring Carbon Film Resistors

Carbon film resistors typically have 4 color bands. The first two rings determine the first two digits of the resistance value, the third ring is the multiplier, and the fourth ring indicates the tolerance.

Ring Meanings:
  • Ring 1: First digit
  • Ring 2: Second digit
  • Ring 3: Multiplier (power of 10)
  • Ring 4: Tolerance (accuracy)

Color Code Table (4-Ring)

Color 1st Digit 2nd Digit Multiplier Tolerance
Black 0 0 100 (1) -
Brown 1 1 101 (10) ±1%
Red 2 2 102 (100) ±2%
Orange 3 3 103 (1k) -
Yellow 4 4 104 (10k) -
Green 5 5 105 (100k) ±0.5%
Blue 6 6 106 (1M) ±0.25%
Violet 7 7 107 (10M) ±0.1%
Gray 8 8 - -
White 9 9 - -
Gold - - 10-1 (0.1) ±5%
Silver - - 10-2 (0.01) ±10%

Example: Red-Red-Yellow-Gold

Decode 4-Ring Resistor

Color bands: Red - Red - Yellow - Gold

Ring 1 (Red): First digit = 2
Ring 2 (Red): Second digit = 2
Ring 3 (Yellow): Multiplier = 104 = 10,000
Ring 4 (Gold): Tolerance = ±5%
Value = 22 × 10,000 = 220,000 Ω = 220 kΩ ±5%

5-Ring Metal Film Resistors

Metal film resistors typically have 5 color bands. The first three rings determine the first three digits of the resistance value, the fourth ring is the multiplier, and the fifth ring indicates the tolerance.

Ring Meanings:
  • Ring 1: First digit
  • Ring 2: Second digit
  • Ring 3: Third digit
  • Ring 4: Multiplier (power of 10)
  • Ring 5: Tolerance (accuracy)

Color Code Table (5-Ring)

Color 1st Digit 2nd Digit 3rd Digit Multiplier Tolerance
Black 0 0 0 100 (1) -
Brown 1 1 1 101 (10) ±1%
Red 2 2 2 102 (100) ±2%
Orange 3 3 3 103 (1k) -
Yellow 4 4 4 104 (10k) -
Green 5 5 5 105 (100k) ±0.5%
Blue 6 6 6 106 (1M) ±0.25%
Violet 7 7 7 107 (10M) ±0.1%
Gray 8 8 8 - -
White 9 9 9 - -
Gold - - - 10-1 (0.1) ±5%
Silver - - - 10-2 (0.01) ±10%

Example: Brown-Black-Green-Gold-Brown

Decode 5-Ring Resistor

Color bands: Brown - Black - Green - Gold - Brown

Ring 1 (Brown): First digit = 1
Ring 2 (Black): Second digit = 0
Ring 3 (Green): Third digit = 5
Ring 4 (Gold): Multiplier = 10-1 = 0.1
Ring 5 (Brown): Tolerance = ±1%
Value = 105 × 0.1 = 10.5 Ω = 10.5 Ω ±1%

Key Points

  • 4-ring resistors: 2 digits + multiplier + tolerance
  • 5-ring resistors: 3 digits + multiplier + tolerance
  • Color codes are standardized according to IEC 60062
  • Always read color bands starting from the closest end
  • Tolerance indicates maximum deviation from nominal value
  • Gold and silver rings have special multiplier values (0.1 and 0.01)
  • Metal film resistors (5-ring) are more precise than carbon film (4-ring)


Resistors in Parallel
Resistors in Series
Resistor Color Coding
















Is this page helpful?            
Thank you for your feedback!

Sorry about that

How can we improve it?