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yellow · neutral

#838369

a balanced, muted yellow · neutral · closest name: Gray

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
131, 131, 105
HSL
60°, 11%, 46%
CMYK
0, 0, 20, 49
Luminance
0.2208

#838369 is a balanced muted yellow, 60° on the wheel and 42/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.42:1). As text it scores 3.88:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Gray, nearest Tailwind family is stone.

hsl(60 11% 46%)rgb(131 131 105)Base step 600AA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #838369 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#838369
Hue
60°
yellow
Saturation
11%
muted
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
51%
HSV value
Perceived
50%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2208
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
42/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
5.42:1
Closest name
Gray
ΔE2000 11.6
Chroma
14.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.603
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
stone
500 · ΔE 12.5
Web-safe
#999966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue60° of 360°
Saturation11%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #838369.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool42% cool

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

Luminance by channel
Red22%
Green74%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#838369
HEX (8-digit)#838369ff
RGBrgb(131, 131, 105)
RGBArgba(131, 131, 105, 1)
HSLhsl(60, 11%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(60, 20%, 51%)
HWBhwb(60 41% 49%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 0%, 20%, 49%)
LABlab(54.1 -4.7 14.1)
LCHlch(54.1 14.8 108.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.603 0.038 107.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.03, 22.08, 16.57)
Decimal8618857
Display P3color(display-p3 0.514 0.514 0.412)
Web-safe#999966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #838369;
background-color: #838369;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #838369;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#838369] bg-[#838369]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #838369;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.514, green: 0.514, blue: 0.412)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.514, green: 0.514, blue: 0.412, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#838369</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF838369)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF838369)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(105, 131, 131)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(131, 131, 105)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(131, 131, 105)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 131, 131, 105)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5137f, 0.5137f, 0.4118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{131,131,105}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #838369 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #838369 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#474739, #E4E4DD);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #838369 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: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-100: #F1F1EE;
  --brand-200: #E1E1DB;
  --brand-300: #CDCDC1;
  --brand-400: #B4B4A2;
  --brand-500: #9B9B82;
  --brand-600: #838369;
  --brand-700: #71715B;
  --brand-800: #5B5B49;
  --brand-900: #434337;
  --brand-950: #2A2A22;
  --brand: #838369;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-border: #DBDBD2;
  --brand-hover: #6F6F59;
  --brand-pressed: #5B5B49;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F1F19;
    --brand-ink: #E4E4DD;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F8F7',
        100: '#F1F1EE',
        200: '#E1E1DB',
        300: '#CDCDC1',
        400: '#B4B4A2',
        500: '#9B9B82',
        600: '#838369',
        700: '#71715B',
        800: '#5B5B49',
        900: '#434337',
        950: '#2A2A22',
        DEFAULT: '#838369',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F8F7,
  '100': #F1F1EE,
  '200': #E1E1DB,
  '300': #CDCDC1,
  '400': #B4B4A2,
  '500': #9B9B82,
  '600': #838369,
  '700': #71715B,
  '800': #5B5B49,
  '900': #434337,
  '950': #2A2A22,
);
$brand-base: #838369;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1E1DB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CDCDC1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#B4B4A2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9B9B82", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#838369", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#71715B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5B5B49", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#434337", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A2A22", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$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#000000 on #838369 · 5.42:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.88:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #838369 as text scores 3.88:1 on white and 5.42:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #474739 at 2.43:1.

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
#787860 · 4.51:1
AA on white−4% L
#787860
The quick fox
#595947 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−15% L
#595947
The quick fox
#838369 · 5.42:1
AA on blackalready passes
#838369
The quick fox
#97977E · 7.04:1
AAA on black+8% L
#97977E

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #838369 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
#838369 on white: 3.88:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#838369 on black: 5.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #838369 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #838369.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.88:1AaAa
Slate 503.71:1AaAa
Slate 1003.54:1AaAa
Slate 2003.15:1AaAa
Slate 3002.61:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5001.23:1AaAa
Slate 6001.95:1AaAa
Slate 7002.67:1AaAa
Slate 8003.77:1AaAa
Slate 9004.60:1AaAa
Black5.42:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #888167
deuteranopia · #88826A
tritanopia · #87807C

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. #838369 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F8F7
#F1F1EE
#E1E1DB
#CDCDC1
#B4B4A2
#9B9B82
#838369
#71715B
#5B5B49
#434337
#2A2A22
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F8F8F7Darkest = 950 · #2A2A22Text step on white = 700
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 0.009 107.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 107.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 107.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.029 107.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.035 107.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.038 107.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.038 107.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.036 107.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.032 107.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.026 107.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 107.5);
}

Colors that work with #838369

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

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F8F8F7
Tinted page background
Border#DBDBD2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7F7F66
Captions on the surface
Accent#646D88
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#474739
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F4F1
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F1F19
Dark-mode background
Hover#6F6F59
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5B5B49
Two steps down
Disabled#B7B7A5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#9B9B66
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 #838369

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #474739
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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight54/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#696983
Analogous left#837669
Analogous right#768369
Split-complement 1#697683
Split-complement 2#766983
Triadic 1#698383
Triadic 2#836983
Tetradic#698376
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°60°

#838369 sits at 60°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red51.4%
Green51.4%
Blue41.2%
R · 0–255
131
0x83
G · 0–255
131
0x83
B · 0–255
105
0x69

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow19.8%
Key (black)48.6%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#838369 text on a black background

contrast 5.42:1

Card sample

#838369 text on a white background

contrast 3.88:1

Card sample

#838369 on grey

3.54:1

#838369 on its own surface

3.65:1

#838369 on its dark surface

4.27:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #838369;
Background color
Panel with #838369 background
background-color: #838369;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #838369;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(131, 131, 105, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(131, 131, 105, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #838369;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #838369, #728369);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #838369, #6B8369);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #838369;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #838369;
caret-color: #838369;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #838369;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F4F1;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #838369;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#838369 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #838369 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(131, 131, 105, 0.5)
rgb(131 131 105 / 50%)
#83836980
hsl(60 11% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #838369 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8383691a#F3F3F0
20%#83836933#E6E6E1
40%#83836966#CDCDC3
60%#83836999#B5B5A5
80%#838369cc#9C9C87

Gradients from #838369

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, #A0A089, #838369 45%, #474739);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #838369, #61725B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #838369, #696983);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #AEAE9A 0%, #838369 45%, #474739 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F8F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9C8E83 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #839378 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #474739 0%, transparent 65%), #838369;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #838369

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.

#838369 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.42:1.

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.

#838369, answered

What color is #838369?

#838369 is a balanced muted yellow, closest to Gray (ΔE2000 11.6). It sits at 60° on the hue wheel with 11% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #838369?

rgb(131, 131, 105) — 131 red, 131 green and 105 blue out of 255, or 51.4% / 51.4% / 41.2% by channel.

What is #838369 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(60, 11%, 46%) and hsv(60, 20%, 51%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #838369 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2208 and perceived brightness is 50%, so black text on it reaches 5.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #838369?

Black. It scores 5.42:1 against #838369, versus 3.88:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #838369 accessible on a white background?

#838369 on white scores 3.88:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #787860 to reach 4.5:1, or #595947 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #838369?

#696983 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #697683 and #766983, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #838369?

For interface work: #F8F8F7 as the surface, #DBDBD2 for borders, #7F7F66 for secondary text, #646D88 as an accent and #474739 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #837669 and #768369 stays calm, while #696983 is the loudest partner.

What is #838369 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 0%, 20%, 49%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #838369 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 42 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #837A69; nudged cooler, #7A8567.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #838369?

The stone family — its 500 step is #78716c, ΔE2000 12.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #838369 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #838369 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#838369] or text-[#838369], 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 #838369 with 50% opacity?

rgba(131, 131, 105, 0.5), or #83836980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C1C1B4; over black, #424235.

Is #838369 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999966, ΔE2000 9.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #838369 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #838369?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A0A089, #838369 45%, #474739). For more colour, a short hue run to #61725B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #838369 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #838369 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.