# Fall color palette ideas: six autumn palettes with hex codes

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/autumn-color-palettes)

Autumn colour is easy to get almost right and hard to get right. Six palettes built for real campaigns, with codes to copy and the small decisions that keep orange from turning muddy.

## The short version

- A strong fall color palette has a deep warm dark, two or three warm mid tones such as rust and amber, a pale cream, and often one cool note like moss or slate.
- Autumn palettes look muddy when orange is blended straight into green or blue, so route those blends through a warm brown or keep them apart.
- The darkest colour in an autumn palette should carry the headline area, because pale type on a deep brown or plum reads clearly on a phone.
- Early autumn campaigns suit lighter harvest colours, while late October and November suit darker plum, oxblood and candlelight tones.
- Every autumn palette in this article includes hex codes you can paste into any design tool or CSS file.

A **fall color palette** that works has four parts: a deep warm dark such as espresso or plum, two or three warm mid tones like rust, pumpkin and amber, a pale cream to rest the eye, and often one cool note, moss or slate, so the warmth has something to glow against. Below are six autumn palettes with hex codes, gradients built from each, and how to lay them out so a seasonal post still reads at a glance.

## What makes an autumn palette feel like autumn

Autumn is less about orange than about *value*: the colours sit lower and warmer than summer's. Leaves, bark, cider and candlelight are all slightly greyed, slightly brown. If you lift every colour to full saturation you get Halloween, which is a different brief with its own guide in [Halloween graphics](https://gradiently.design/guide/halloween-graphics).

- **A dark anchor.** Espresso, bark, plum or forest night. It holds the type and stops the palette looking like a sweet shop.
- **Warm mid tones, slightly dusty.** Rust, cinnamon, ochre and copper rather than traffic cone orange.
- **A soft light.** Cream, oat or parchment instead of pure white, which looks cold next to rust.
- **One cool counterweight.** Moss, sage or slate, used in a small area. Warmth reads warmer beside it.

The warm and cool balance is covered properly in [warm and cool colours](https://gradiently.design/guide/warm-and-cool-colors). For a related family that works all year, see [earth tone colours](https://gradiently.design/guide/earth-tone-colors).

## Six fall color palettes with hex codes

### 1. Bonfire

- Ember dark: #2b1a12
- Rust: #8c2f1b
- Pumpkin: #d9622b
- Marigold: #f2a541
- Cream: #f6e3c5

The classic autumn run from smoke to flame. Use Ember dark behind text and keep Marigold for one highlight, such as a price or date.

### 2. Orchard

- Bark: #4a3426
- Apple red: #9b2335
- Pear: #b5a642
- Sage leaf: #7d8b6a
- Oat: #e8dcc4

Red and green without the Christmas feel, because both are muted and Bark sits between them. Good for farm shops, bakeries and cider makers.

### 3. Fog and fern

- Fern dark: #2f3b33
- Moss: #6b7f5e
- Lichen: #a8a48c
- Fog: #d8d3c6
- Copper: #b5653a

A cool autumn for brands that find orange too loud. Copper is the only warm colour, so give it the one thing you want people to notice.

Three more, for quick reference. Each follows the same structure of dark, mid tones, light and accent.

| Palette | Dark | Mid tones | Light | Accent |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Spiced latte | `#3e2a20` | `#8a5a3c` `#c89f7a` | `#efe4d6` | `#a33b2b` |
| Plum and copper | `#2a1630` | `#5e2a4f` `#b8733d` | `#f3e9dc` | `#e3b27a` |
| Late October | `#141016` | `#3b1f2b` `#7a2e1f` | `#f1e4cf` | `#e9c46a` |

Spiced latte suits cafés and homeware; Plum and copper suits beauty and wine; Late October suits evening events and anything after the clocks change.

## Autumn gradients you can copy

A palette becomes a background when you let its colours blend. The trick with autumn is to keep the light source warm and the edges dark, the way low sun and early dusk actually look. Each gradient below uses colours from the palettes above.

- Pumpkin dusk: `linear-gradient(160deg, #2b1a12 0%, #8c2f1b 45%, #d9622b 75%, #f2a541 100%)`
- Orchard light: `radial-gradient(circle at 30% 25%, #f2a541 0%, #b5653a 35%, #5a1e24 80%)`
- Fog over fern: `linear-gradient(180deg, #d8d3c6 0%, #a8a48c 45%, #2f3b33 100%)`
- Spiced latte: `linear-gradient(135deg, #efe4d6 0%, #c89f7a 55%, #8a5a3c 100%)`
- Plum and copper: `radial-gradient(circle at 75% 80%, #b8733d 0%, #5e2a4f 45%, #2a1630 85%)`
- Candlelit: `radial-gradient(circle at 50% 100%, #e9c46a 0%, #c4572a 30%, #3b1f2b 65%, #141016 100%)`

Six autumn gradients. Click any one to copy its CSS.

### Muddy

- Orange blended straight into teal or green
- Every colour at full saturation
- Pure white type and backgrounds beside rust
- Brightest colour sitting behind the headline

### Clean

- Orange to green routed through a warm brown
- Dusty mid tones with one bright accent
- Cream or oat as the light colour
- Brightest colour in a corner, dark behind words

Orange and teal meet in grey if you blend them directly. That grey band is one reason so many autumn graphics look tired, and [muddy gradients](https://gradiently.design/guide/muddy-gradients) explains the fix in detail.

## How to use a fall palette on a real post

Most autumn content is a seasonal offer, a new menu or an event, so the words matter more than the leaves. Put the darkest colour where the headline goes and set the type in Cream. Use the bright accent once. If you want a pattern or photo, tint it in two palette colours so it sits back.

A portrait social post announcing an autumn café menu on a warm rust and amber gradient background

A café's portrait post for the feed, with the warm light kept away from the headline.

A vertical story inviting people to a harvest supper club on a dark plum and candlelight gradient

The same season as a story, using the darker, later palette for an evening event.

A gradient background is livelier than flat brown, but it can fight your text. In Gradiently, the background is a Mark that knows where the words are: it settles its calmest, best contrasting colour behind the headline and picks light or dark type line by line, so a rich autumn look stays readable without a box or shadow behind the words. [Text on a gradient](https://gradiently.design/guide/text-on-gradient) covers the manual way.

## Sizes for an autumn campaign

A seasonal campaign usually needs a feed post, a story, a Pinterest pin for recipes or gift ideas, and an email header. Design the main post first, then make the others from it so the colour lands in the right place on each shape.

- Instagram post 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350
- Story 1080×1920: 1080 × 1920
- Pinterest pin 1000×1500: 1000 × 1500
- Email header 1200×600: 1200 × 600

Four formats that cover most autumn campaigns. Every other size is in [social media image sizes](https://gradiently.design/guide/social-media-image-sizes).

## Matching the palette to the month

Autumn is three months long, and the light changes a great deal across it. Shifting your palette gently keeps a long campaign from going stale without breaking your look.

- **September:** Orchard or Spiced latte. Lighter, still a little green, good for back to routine and harvest offers.
- **October:** Bonfire or Fog and fern. The peak of the leaves. Save the darker Late October for the last week and for Halloween events.
- **November:** Plum and copper or Candlelit. Short days and warm interiors; this palette leads naturally into [Thanksgiving posts](https://gradiently.design/guide/thanksgiving-posts) and the gift season.

> **Keep your brand colour in the room** A seasonal palette should sit around your brand colour, not replace it. Swap your usual light and mid tones for autumn ones and keep your logo colour as the accent, so people still know it is you.

## FAQ

### What colours are in a fall color palette?

Typically a deep warm dark such as espresso or plum, warm mid tones like rust, pumpkin, ochre and copper, a soft cream, and sometimes a cool moss or slate accent.

### What are good autumn hex codes?

Try `#2b1a12` for a dark, `#8c2f1b` rust, `#d9622b` pumpkin, `#f2a541` marigold and `#f6e3c5` cream. That is the Bonfire palette in this article.

### How do I stop autumn gradients looking muddy?

Avoid blending orange directly into green or blue, which creates a grey band. Route the blend through a warm brown or keep the colours in separate areas.

### Can I use autumn colours without orange?

Yes. Fog and fern uses moss, lichen and fog with a single copper accent, and Plum and copper leans on deep purple. Both still read as autumn.

### What text colour works on an autumn background?

Cream or oat type on the darkest colour in the palette reads best. Pure white can look cold beside rust and brown.