Brown is a colour. It can be considered a composite colour, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK colour model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colours orange and black. In the RGB color model used to project colours onto television screens and computer monitors, brown combines red and green.

According to public opinion surveys in Europe and the United States, brown is the least favorite colour of the public; it is often associated with plainness, the rustic, feces, and poverty, although it does also have positive associations, including baking, warmth, wildlife and autumn.

The colour brown is seen widely in nature, wood, soil, human hair colour, eye color and skin pigmentation. Brown is the colour of dark wood or rich soil.

As proven by the variety of colours in the flora and fauna that surround the earth, brown pairs with every colour. Most often, it is used as an accessory colour to one of the more primary colours and their offshoots.

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Southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) threatened species. Other common names short nosed bandicoot, southern short nosed bandicoot closeClose description

Image Credit: Ken Stepnell/DCCEEW