Tan is a pale tone of

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

. The name is derived from tannum (

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

) used in the tanning of

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

. The first recorded use of ''tan'' as a

color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

name in English was in the year 1590. Chestnut Oak Bark

Colors which are similar or may be considered synonymous to tan include: tawny, tenné, and

fulvous Fulvous is a colour, sometimes described as dull orange, brownish-yellow or tawny; it can also be likened to a variation of buff, beige or butterscotch. As an adjective it is used in the names of many species of birds, and occasionally other ...

. __TOC__

Variations of tan

Sandy tan

Displayed at right is the color ''Sandy tan''. This color was formulated by

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in list of art media, art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered ...

in 2000 as a Crayola marker color.

Tan (Crayola)

Displayed at right is the orangish tone of tan called ''tan'' since 1958 in Crayola crayons and 1990 in Crayola markers.

Windsor tan

Displayed at right is the color ''Windsor tan''. The first recorded use of ''Windsor tan'' as a color name in English was in 1925.

Tuscan tan

Displayed at right is the color ''Tuscan tan''. The first recorded use of ''Tuscan tan'' as a color name in English was in 1926. The normalized color coordinates for Tuscan tan are identical to

café au lait ''Café au lait'' (; ; French for "coffee with milk") is coffee with hot milk added. It differs from white coffee, which is coffee with cold milk or other whiteners added. In France, it is typically served as a breakfast drink, often as a la ...

and French beige, which were first recorded as color names in English in 1839 and 1927, respectively.

In human culture

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

* Tan is the color of the

United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

beret as well as Canada's Canadian Special Operations Regiment and Joint Task Force 2.http://www.csor-rosc.forces.gc.ca/index-eng.asp. Sunbathing * When a person sunbathes to make their

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

darker, they are said to be ''getting a tan''. United States politics * The Barack Obama tan suit controversy was an incident when US President Barack Obama wore a tan colored suit during a press conference.

References

{{Authority control Shades of brown