Resistor Color Code Chart: How to Read 4-, 5-, and 6-Band Resistors

Pick up any through-hole resistor and you will find a row of colored bands painted around its body. Those bands are not decorative — they encode the component’s resistance value, tolerance, and in some cases its temperature stability, all in a compact visual system that has been in continuous use since the 1920s. Reading a resistor color code is one of the first practical skills in electronics, and once the logic clicks, it becomes second nature.

This guide covers the complete resistor color code chart and walks through worked examples for 4-band, 5-band, and 6-band resistors. It also addresses how to identify reading direction, understand tolerance and temperature coefficient bands, avoid common mistakes, and verify values with a multimeter when the colors are ambiguous. Whether you are sorting a parts drawer, troubleshooting a PCB, or specifying components for a new design, the reference material below should cover everything you need.

Why Resistors Use Color Codes

Resistors are among the smallest passive components on a circuit board, and printing legible numerical values on a cylindrical body just a few millimeters long is not practical. The color band system solves this by using paint marks that are easy to apply during manufacturing, visible from any angle, and readable without magnification under normal conditions. The system is defined in the international standard IEC 60062, which covers marking codes for resistors and capacitors. It traces its roots to the Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA), which introduced the color coding approach in the 1920s; the IEC formally codified it in 1952, and the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) adopted the same scheme for U.S.-manufactured components in 1963. The current version of the standard is IEC 60062:2016.

Today, practically all leaded axial resistors with a power rating up to one watt are marked with the IEC 60062 color band system. Surface-mount (SMD) resistors are too small for color bands and instead use a printed numeric code, but through-hole components — including the carbon film and metal film types found in most hobby kits and general-purpose designs — rely entirely on the band system described in this guide.

The Resistor Color Code Chart

The chart below is the core reference tool. Every color corresponds to a digit value (0–9), a multiplier, and in some positions a tolerance or temperature coefficient. You will find yourself returning to this table until the associations become automatic. A useful mnemonic for the digit sequence Black–Brown–Red–Orange–Yellow–Green–Blue–Violet–Gray–White (0–9) is “BB ROY of Great Britain Had a Very Good Wife”, where each capitalized letter maps to a color in order.

One pattern worth noting: for the digit colors (black through white), the multiplier exponent equals the digit value. Brown = 1, multiplier = 10¹. Red = 2, multiplier = 10². This pattern holds through the full sequence and makes the multiplier band easy to cross-check mentally once you know the digit values.

How to Determine Reading Direction

Before calculating any value, you need to orient the resistor correctly. Reading from the wrong end is the single most common error beginners make, and it can produce a completely different — and wrong — value. Fortunately, IEC 60062 builds in several visual cues that indicate which end is the start:

• First band proximity: The first significant-digit band is placed closest to one lead. Look for the band that sits nearest to either end of the resistor body — that end is typically where you start reading.
• Gold or silver band: Gold (±5%) and silver (±10%) appear only as tolerance bands and are always the last band on a resistor. If you see a gold or silver band, it belongs on the right side; read from the opposite end.
• Wider tolerance band: Per IEC 60062, the tolerance band is 1.5–2 times wider than the digit bands on some resistors, giving another visual cue to orient the component.
• Band spacing: On many resistors there is a slightly larger gap between the multiplier band and the tolerance band than between the digit bands. The tighter cluster of bands belongs on the left.

When none of these cues are definitive — for instance, when bands are faded or the resistor body color makes them difficult to distinguish — the safest approach is to measure the resistance directly with a multimeter. This is especially relevant when working with legacy or surplus components where markings may have degraded over time.

4-Band Resistor Color Code

The 4-band format is the most common configuration in commercial electronics. It uses two significant digit bands, one multiplier band, and one tolerance band. Most general-purpose carbon film and metal film resistors with ±5% or ±10% tolerances use this system. The formula is straightforward: combine the two digits to form a two-digit number, then multiply by the value indicated by the third band.

Band layout:

• Band 1: 1st significant digit
• Band 2: 2nd significant digit
• Band 3: Multiplier
• Band 4: Tolerance

Worked Example: 4-Band Resistor

Band colors: Brown – Black – Red – Gold

• Brown = 1 (1st digit)
• Black = 0 (2nd digit)
• Red = ×100 (multiplier)
• Gold = ±5% (tolerance)

Result: 10 × 100 = 1,000 Ω (1 kΩ) ±5%

This means the actual resistance can fall anywhere between 950 Ω and 1,050 Ω and still be within specification. For most general-purpose signal and biasing circuits, ±5% is perfectly adequate. If your design requires tighter matching — for example, precision voltage dividers or filter networks — you will want to move to a 5-band resistor with a 1% tolerance rating.

5-Band Resistor Color Code

Five-band resistors are precision components. The extra band adds a third significant digit, which gives resolution to three decimal places rather than two. Metal film resistors with ±1% or tighter tolerances almost always use the 5-band system. The multiplier and tolerance bands shift one position to the right compared to the 4-band format.

Band layout:

• Band 1: 1st significant digit
• Band 2: 2nd significant digit
• Band 3: 3rd significant digit
• Band 4: Multiplier
• Band 5: Tolerance

Worked Example: 5-Band Resistor

Band colors: Brown – Yellow – Violet – Black – Brown

• Brown = 1 (1st digit)
• Yellow = 4 (2nd digit)
• Violet = 7 (3rd digit)
• Black = ×1 (multiplier)
• Brown = ±1% (tolerance)

Result: 147 × 1 = 147 Ω ±1%

Notice that the tolerance band here is brown, which is also a digit color (1). This can cause confusion when determining reading direction on 5-band resistors, because neither end has an obvious gold or silver anchor band. In practice, look for the wider band spacing between bands 4 and 5 (the gap before the tolerance band), or verify with a multimeter if you are unsure. Some manufacturers also print a wider tolerance band as a secondary cue.

Exception: Older 5-Band Military-Style Resistors

An older variant of the 5-band system uses two significant digits rather than three. In that layout, bands 1 and 2 are the digits, band 3 is the multiplier, band 4 is the tolerance, and band 5 is either a temperature coefficient or a reliability/failure-rate band (expressed as failure percentage per 1,000 hours of service). This format was common on components built to military specifications and is still occasionally found in legacy or surplus inventory. If you encounter a 5-band resistor with a gold or silver fourth band, it is likely following this older scheme rather than the standard 3-digit precision format.

6-Band Resistor Color Code

A 6-band resistor follows the same structure as a 5-band resistor but adds a sixth band to specify the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), expressed in parts per million per degree Kelvin (ppm/K). This tells you how much the resistance value drifts for each 1 °C change in ambient temperature. For most consumer circuits, this level of detail is unnecessary, but for precision instrumentation, measurement equipment, aerospace, and medical devices, TCR is a critical specification that directly affects long-term accuracy.

Band layout:

• Band 1: 1st significant digit
• Band 2: 2nd significant digit
• Band 3: 3rd significant digit
• Band 4: Multiplier
• Band 5: Tolerance
• Band 6: Temperature coefficient (ppm/K)

The most common TCR colors and their values are:

• Brown = 100 ppm/K
• Red = 50 ppm/K
• Orange = 15 ppm/K
• Yellow = 25 ppm/K
• Blue = 10 ppm/K
• Violet = 5 ppm/K
• Black = 250 ppm/K

Lower ppm/K values indicate better temperature stability. A resistor rated at 5 ppm/K will drift far less across a wide operating temperature range than one rated at 250 ppm/K, making it suitable for reference circuits where precision must be maintained regardless of thermal conditions.

Worked Example: 6-Band Resistor

Band colors: Brown – Black – Orange – Red – Gold – Brown

• Brown = 1 (1st digit)
• Black = 0 (2nd digit)
• Orange = 3 (3rd digit)
• Red = ×100 (multiplier)
• Gold = ±5% (tolerance)
• Brown = 100 ppm/K (temperature coefficient)

Result: 103 × 100 = 10,300 Ω (10.3 kΩ) ±5%, 100 ppm/K

To put the TCR in practical terms: at 25 °C above the reference temperature, this 10.3 kΩ resistor could measure between approximately 10.274 kΩ and 10.326 kΩ due to temperature effects alone. For a circuit operating over a wide industrial temperature range, that drift could matter. Selecting a resistor with a 50 ppm/K or 15 ppm/K rating would reduce that error proportionally.

Special Cases and Exceptions

Zero-Ohm Resistors

A resistor with a single black band is a zero-ohm resistor, also called a zero-ohm link or jumper resistor. It is electrically a wire — it connects two points on a PCB with essentially no resistance. The reason it is packaged in a resistor body rather than simply using a wire is practical: automated pick-and-place and insertion machines are set up to handle resistor-format components. Using a zero-ohm resistor allows a jumper to be placed by the same machine that places all other axial components, eliminating the need for a separate process. Zero-ohm resistors also simplify rework, since they can be removed and replaced with actual components if the design changes after manufacturing.

High-Voltage Resistors

On high-voltage resistors, the metallic gold and silver bands are sometimes replaced with yellow and gray respectively. This is done to prevent metal particles from contaminating the resistor’s protective coating during manufacturing. The digit and multiplier values for yellow and gray remain the same as in the standard chart (4 and 8), but their use as substitutes for gold and silver tolerance bands is a known exception worth keeping in mind when working with high-voltage components.

3-Band Resistors

Three-band resistors are rare in modern production but still appear in older equipment and legacy designs. They follow the same logic as the first three bands of a 4-band resistor — two significant digits and a multiplier — but have no tolerance band. The implied tolerance for a 3-band resistor is ±20%. If you are working on legacy or end-of-life hardware and encounter components without a tolerance band, ±20% is the correct assumption. For sourcing End-of-Life (EOL) components or Hard-to-Find components from older designs, having this baseline knowledge helps verify you have the right part in hand.

Common Mistakes and Practical Tips

Even experienced engineers occasionally misread a resistor, particularly under poor lighting or when working with aged components. The following issues come up most frequently:

• Reading from the wrong end: This is the most common error. Always anchor your reading direction using a gold or silver tolerance band (right side) before reading digit bands. If no metallic band is present, look for the band closest to a lead.
• Confusing brown and red: Under warm-toned or dim lighting, brown (digit 1) and red (digit 2) can look similar. Under the same conditions, orange and yellow can also be difficult to distinguish. Use daylight-balanced lighting or a color-corrected lamp when reading bands on components.
• Mistaking a 4-band for a 5-band: On some metal film resistors, the body color and a closely spaced band can make it look like there is one more band than there actually is. Count carefully before starting your calculation.
• Ignoring faded or burnt bands: Heat damage or age can wash out band colors entirely, making accurate reading impossible. In these cases, measure the resistance directly with a multimeter — do not guess.
• Using the wrong chart for precision resistors: On a 5-band resistor, a brown fifth band means ±1% tolerance — not digit 1. Context (band position and count) determines how a color is interpreted.

For any situation where color identification is uncertain, a digital multimeter set to resistance mode gives you a definitive answer in seconds. It is good practice to verify component values with a multimeter before soldering into a circuit, especially when working with loose parts from mixed or unlabeled bins. A multimeter reading also lets you check whether a soldered resistor’s in-circuit value makes sense, which can quickly flag a misplaced component during troubleshooting.

Sourcing Resistors with Confidence

Resistors are the most commoditized of the passive components, and even so, procurement challenges do arise — particularly with precision or high-stability types, obsolete values from legacy designs, or during periods of market shortage. Knowing exactly what you need (resistance value, tolerance, TCR, power rating, and package type) before you source is essential to avoid substitutions that change circuit behavior.

For parts still in normal production — which covers most resistor values — the authorized channel and the high-volume catalog distributors are the straightforward route, and for commodity quantities the cheaper one. Where a design relies on specific resistance values no longer in active production, or standard distribution cannot meet demand, an independent distributor holding hard-to-find and end-of-life stock covers the gap.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which end of the resistor do I start reading from?

Start from the end where the bands are grouped closest together, and keep the tolerance band — gold, silver, or the wider band with a gap before it — on the right. Gold and silver are only ever tolerance or fractional-multiplier bands, never leading digits, so spotting one immediately tells you which way round the part goes.

How do I tell a 4-band resistor from a 5-band one?

Count the bands, then sanity-check the result. A 4-band reading gives two significant digits, a 5-band reading gives three. If a supposed 4-band reading produces a value that is not close to a standard E-series value, you have probably missed a faded band or misread a color. Measuring the part settles it.

Why do surface-mount resistors have no color bands?

There is no room for them. SMD resistors carry a printed numeric code instead — three or four digits, or the EIA-96 code on very small parts — where the last digit is the multiplier. The color band system applies to through-hole components.

What does the sixth band mean?

Temperature coefficient of resistance, in ppm/K: how much the value drifts as the part heats up. A lower number is a more stable resistor. It appears on precision types specified for circuits where drift matters — reference dividers, instrumentation front ends, and similar.

The bands are faded or the colors are ambiguous. Now what?

Measure it. An ohmmeter reading on a resistor out of circuit is definitive, and it takes less time than arguing about whether a band is red or orange under warm light. If the part is still installed, remember that parallel paths in the circuit can pull the reading below the true value.

Summary

The resistor color code system has been in use for over a century because it works reliably at scale. Once you internalize the digit-to-color mapping and understand how band count determines the information encoded, reading any through-hole resistor becomes a quick mechanical process. The 4-band format covers most general-purpose applications with two significant digits and a tolerance value. The 5-band format adds a third digit for precision metal film resistors. The 6-band format layers in a temperature coefficient rating for applications where resistance stability across temperature matters. In all cases, the reading approach is the same: orient correctly, read left to right, apply the formula, and verify with a multimeter when in doubt.

Keep this chart bookmarked as a reference, and refer back to the worked examples whenever you encounter an unfamiliar band combination. With a little practice, you will be reading resistor color codes as naturally as any other component marking in your parts catalog.

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