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yellow · warm

#816821

a dark, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Olive

Token name suggestion: Shadow Citron

RGB
129, 104, 33
HSL
44°, 59%, 32%
CMYK
0, 19, 74, 49
Luminance
0.1468

#816821 is a dark vivid yellow, 44° on the wheel and 12/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.34:1). As text it scores 5.34:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Olive, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(44 59% 32%)rgb(129 104 33)Base step 800AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #816821 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#816821
Hue
44°
yellow
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
32%
dark
Brightness
51%
HSV value
Perceived
42%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1468
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
5.34:1
Closest name
Olive
ΔE2000 12.3
Chroma
41.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.528
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 19.3
Web-safe
#996633
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue44° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness32%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #816821.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool12% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red32%
Green67%
Blue1%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#816821
HEX (8-digit)#816821ff
RGBrgb(129, 104, 33)
RGBArgba(129, 104, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(44, 59%, 32%)
HSV / HSBhsv(44, 74%, 51%)
HWBhwb(44 13% 49%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 19%, 74%, 49%)
LABlab(45.2 2.0 41.8)
LCHlch(45.2 41.8 87.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.528 0.093 88.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(14.28, 14.68, 3.52)
Decimal8480801
Display P3color(display-p3 0.506 0.408 0.129)
Web-safe#996633

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #816821;
background-color: #816821;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #816821;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#816821] bg-[#816821]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #816821;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.506, green: 0.408, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.506, green: 0.408, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#816821</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF816821)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF816821)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 104, 129)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(129, 104, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(129, 104, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 129, 104, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5059f, 0.4078f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{129,104,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #816821 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #816821 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#66521A, #EEE7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #816821 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #FBF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F3E9;
  --brand-200: #EFE6CD;
  --brand-300: #E8D7A6;
  --brand-400: #DDC379;
  --brand-500: #D1AF4C;
  --brand-600: #C39D32;
  --brand-700: #A2832A;
  --brand-800: #816821;
  --brand-900: #5F4D1C;
  --brand-950: #3B3011;
  --brand: #816821;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE1C0;
  --brand-hover: #65511A;
  --brand-pressed: #483A12;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F3E9',
        200: '#EFE6CD',
        300: '#E8D7A6',
        400: '#DDC379',
        500: '#D1AF4C',
        600: '#C39D32',
        700: '#A2832A',
        800: '#816821',
        900: '#5F4D1C',
        950: '#3B3011',
        DEFAULT: '#816821',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F3E9,
  '200': #EFE6CD,
  '300': #E8D7A6,
  '400': #DDC379,
  '500': #D1AF4C,
  '600': #C39D32,
  '700': #A2832A,
  '800': #816821,
  '900': #5F4D1C,
  '950': #3B3011,
);
$brand-base: #816821;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFE6CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E8D7A6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DDC379", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D1AF4C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C39D32", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A2832A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#816821", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5F4D1C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B3011", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #816821 · 5.34:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.34:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.94:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #816821 as text scores 5.34:1 on white and 3.94:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #FAF6EB at 4.94:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#816821 · 5.34:1
AA on whitealready passes
#816821
The quick fox
#69551B · 7.20:1
AAA on white−6% L
#69551B
The quick fox
#8D7224 · 4.56:1
AA on black+3% L
#8D7224
The quick fox
#B6932E · 7.20:1
AAA on black+13% L
#B6932E

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #816821 is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#816821 on white: 5.34:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#816821 on black: 3.94:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #816821 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #816821.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.34:1AaAa
Slate 505.10:1AaAa
Slate 1004.87:1AaAa
Slate 2004.33:1AaAa
Slate 3003.59:1AaAa
Slate 4002.08:1AaAa
Slate 5001.12:1AaAa
Slate 6001.42:1AaAa
Slate 7001.94:1AaAa
Slate 8002.74:1AaAa
Slate 9003.35:1AaAa
Black3.94:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #746717
deuteranopia · #7A6E25
tritanopia · #8C5F5A

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #816821 is pinned to step 800; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF9F4
#F7F3E9
#EFE6CD
#E8D7A6
#DDC379
#D1AF4C
#C39D32
#A2832A
#816821
#5F4D1C
#3B3011
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3B3011Text step on white = 800
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.023 88.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.037 88.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.056 88.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.073 88.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.086 88.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.093 88.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.093 88.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.087 88.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.078 88.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.065 88.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.051 88.9);
}

Colors that work with #816821

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE1C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B864B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1E5284
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#66521A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF6EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#65511A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#483A12
Two steps down
Disabled#A3966F
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9B7A1C
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #816821

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

optimisticalertcheap-and-cheerfulvisible

The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight68/100
  • TemperatureWarm
  • ApproachabilityHigh

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#213A81
Analogous left#813821
Analogous right#6A8121
Split-complement 1#216A81
Split-complement 2#382181
Triadic 1#218168
Triadic 2#682181
Tetradic#218138
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°44°

#816821 sits at 44°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red50.6%
Green40.8%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
129
0x81
G · 0–255
104
0x68
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta19.4%
Yellow74.4%
Key (black)49.4%

Total ink coverage is 143%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#816821 text on a black background

contrast 3.94:1

Card sample

#816821 text on a white background

contrast 5.34:1

Card sample

#816821 on grey

4.87:1

#816821 on its own surface

5.06:1

#816821 on its dark surface

3.05:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #816821;
Background color
Panel with #816821 background
background-color: #816821;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #816821;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(129, 104, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(129, 104, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #816821;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #816821, #5A8121);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #816821, #428121);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #816821;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #816821;
caret-color: #816821;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #816821;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF6EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #816821;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#816821 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #816821 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(129, 104, 33, 0.5)
rgb(129 104 33 / 50%)
#81682180
hsl(44 59% 32% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #816821 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8168211a#F2F0E9
20%#81682133#E6E1D3
40%#81682166#CDC3A6
60%#81682199#B3A47A
80%#816821cc#9A864D

Gradients from #816821

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #B28F2D, #816821 45%, #66521A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #816821, #43691B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #816821, #213A81);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CAA334 0%, #816821 45%, #66521A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #AA3F2B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #759A27 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #66521A 0%, transparent 65%), #816821;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #816821

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#816821 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
RetailLeisureEnergyWarning systems
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 3.94:1 — lift it to #8D7224 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#816821, answered

What color is #816821?

#816821 is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Olive (ΔE2000 12.3). It sits at 44° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 32% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #816821?

rgb(129, 104, 33) — 129 red, 104 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 50.6% / 40.8% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #816821 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(44, 59%, 32%) and hsv(44, 74%, 51%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #816821 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1468 and perceived brightness is 42%, so white text on it reaches 5.34:1.

Should I use black or white text on #816821?

White. It scores 5.34:1 against #816821, versus 3.94:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #816821 accessible on a white background?

#816821 on white scores 5.34:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #816821?

#213A81 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #216A81 and #382181, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #816821?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE1C0 for borders, #9B864B for secondary text, #1E5284 as an accent and #66521A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #813821 and #6A8121 stays calm, while #213A81 is the loudest partner.

What is #816821 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 19%, 74%, 49%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #816821 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 12 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #815321; nudged cooler, #78831F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #816821?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 19.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #816821 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #816821 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#816821] or text-[#816821], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #816821 with 50% opacity?

rgba(129, 104, 33, 0.5), or #81682180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C0B490; over black, #413411.

Is #816821 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996633, ΔE2000 10.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #816821 mean?

As a yellow, it reads optimistic, alert, cheap-and-cheerful. The most visible hue at low light levels, which is why it owns warnings, hazard tape and value retail. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #816821?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B28F2D, #816821 45%, #66521A). For more colour, a short hue run to #43691B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #816821 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #816821 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.