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yellow · warm

#8c8821

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

Token name suggestion: Shadow Citron

RGB
140, 136, 33
HSL
58°, 62%, 34%
CMYK
0, 3, 76, 45
Luminance
0.2329

#8c8821 is a dark vivid yellow, 58° on the wheel and 23/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.66:1). As text it scores 3.71:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Olive, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(58 62% 34%)rgb(140 136 33)Base step 800AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8c8821 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8c8821
Hue
58°
yellow
Saturation
62%
vivid
Lightness
34%
dark
Brightness
55%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2329
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
23/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.66:1
Closest name
Olive
ΔE2000 3.7
Chroma
53.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.612
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 21.5
Web-safe
#999933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue58° of 360°
Saturation62%
Lightness34%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8c8821.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool23% 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
Red24%
Green76%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#8c8821
HEX (8-digit)#8c8821ff
RGBrgb(140, 136, 33)
RGBArgba(140, 136, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(58, 62%, 34%)
HSV / HSBhsv(58, 76%, 55%)
HWBhwb(58 13% 45%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 3%, 76%, 45%)
LABlab(55.4 -10.8 52.0)
LCHlch(55.4 53.1 101.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.612 0.119 107.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(19.89, 23.29, 4.89)
Decimal9209889
Display P3color(display-p3 0.549 0.533 0.129)
Web-safe#999933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8c8821;
background-color: #8c8821;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8c8821;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8c8821] bg-[#8c8821]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8c8821;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.549, green: 0.533, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.549, green: 0.533, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8C8821</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8C8821)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8C8821)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 136, 140)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(140, 136, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(140, 136, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 140, 136, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5490f, 0.5333f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{140,136,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8c8821 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8c8821 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#676418, #EEEDD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8c8821 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: #FBFBF4;
  --brand-100: #F7F7E8;
  --brand-200: #F0EFCC;
  --brand-300: #EAE7A4;
  --brand-400: #DFDB77;
  --brand-500: #D4CF49;
  --brand-600: #C6C02F;
  --brand-700: #A5A027;
  --brand-800: #8c8821;
  --brand-900: #605D1A;
  --brand-950: #3C3A11;
  --brand: #8c8821;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EDEBC0;
  --brand-hover: #6F6C1A;
  --brand-pressed: #525013;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EEEDD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFBF4',
        100: '#F7F7E8',
        200: '#F0EFCC',
        300: '#EAE7A4',
        400: '#DFDB77',
        500: '#D4CF49',
        600: '#C6C02F',
        700: '#A5A027',
        800: '#8c8821',
        900: '#605D1A',
        950: '#3C3A11',
        DEFAULT: '#8c8821',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFBF4,
  '100': #F7F7E8,
  '200': #F0EFCC,
  '300': #EAE7A4,
  '400': #DFDB77,
  '500': #D4CF49,
  '600': #C6C02F,
  '700': #A5A027,
  '800': #8c8821,
  '900': #605D1A,
  '950': #3C3A11,
);
$brand-base: #8c8821;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F7E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0EFCC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EAE7A4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DFDB77", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D4CF49", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C6C02F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A5A027", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8c8821", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#605D1A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C3A11", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #8c8821 · 5.66:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.71:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.66:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #8c8821 as text scores 3.71:1 on white and 5.66:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #676418 at 1.66:1.

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
#7B781D · 4.62:1
AA on white−4% L
#7B781D
The quick fox
#5A5815 · 7.39:1
AAA on white−12% L
#5A5815
The quick fox
#8c8821 · 5.66:1
AA on blackalready passes
#8c8821
The quick fox
#A09C26 · 7.28:1
AAA on black+5% L
#A09C26

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8C8821 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
#8c8821 on white: 3.71:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8c8821 on black: 5.66:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8c8821 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8c8821.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.71:1AaAa
Slate 503.55:1AaAa
Slate 1003.39:1AaAa
Slate 2003.01:1AaAa
Slate 3002.50:1AaAa
Slate 4001.45:1AaAa
Slate 5001.28:1AaAa
Slate 6002.04:1AaAa
Slate 7002.79:1AaAa
Slate 8003.94:1AaAa
Slate 9004.81:1AaAa
Black5.66:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #94830A
deuteranopia · #968629
tritanopia · #977F74

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. #8c8821 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.

#FBFBF4
#F7F7E8
#F0EFCC
#EAE7A4
#DFDB77
#D4CF49
#C6C02F
#A5A027
#8c8821
#605D1A
#3C3A11
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #FBFBF4Darkest = 950 · #3C3A11Text step on white = 900
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 0.030 107.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 107.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.072 107.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.093 107.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.110 107.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.119 107.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.119 107.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.112 107.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.100 107.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.084 107.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.066 107.2);
}

Colors that work with #8c8821

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#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#EDEBC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B984B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1E3E8F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#676418
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAFAEA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#6F6C1A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#525013
Two steps down
Disabled#A7A576
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#A6A11B
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 #8c8821

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
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #676418
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
  • Weight66/100
  • 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#21258C
Analogous left#8C5321
Analogous right#5A8C21
Split-complement 1#215A8C
Split-complement 2#53218C
Triadic 1#218C88
Triadic 2#88218C
Tetradic#218C53
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°58°

#8c8821 sits at 58°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red54.9%
Green53.3%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
140
0x8c
G · 0–255
136
0x88
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta2.9%
Yellow76.4%
Key (black)45.1%

Total ink coverage is 124%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8c8821 text on a black background

contrast 5.66:1

Card sample

#8c8821 text on a white background

contrast 3.71:1

Card sample

#8c8821 on grey

3.39:1

#8c8821 on its own surface

3.54:1

#8c8821 on its dark surface

4.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8c8821;
Background color
Panel with #8c8821 background
background-color: #8c8821;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8c8821;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(140, 136, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(140, 136, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8c8821;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8c8821, #498C21);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8c8821, #2E8C21);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8c8821;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8c8821;
caret-color: #8c8821;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8c8821;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAFAEA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8c8821;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8c8821 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8c8821 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(140, 136, 33, 0.5)
rgb(140 136 33 / 50%)
#8c882180
hsl(58 62% 34% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8c8821 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8c88211a#F4F3E9
20%#8c882133#E8E7D3
40%#8c882166#D1CFA6
60%#8c882199#BAB87A
80%#8c8821cc#A3A04D

Gradients from #8c8821

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, #BDB82D, #8c8821 45%, #676418);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8c8821, #34731B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8c8821, #21258C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D0CB39 0%, #8c8821 45%, #676418 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B55F2B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #60A527 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #676418 0%, transparent 65%), #8c8821;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8c8821

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.

#8c8821 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 5.66:1.

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.

#8c8821, answered

What color is #8c8821?

#8c8821 is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Olive (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 58° on the hue wheel with 62% saturation and 34% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #8c8821?

rgb(140, 136, 33) — 140 red, 136 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 54.9% / 53.3% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #8c8821 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(58, 62%, 34%) and hsv(58, 76%, 55%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8c8821 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2329 and perceived brightness is 51%, so black text on it reaches 5.66:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8c8821?

Black. It scores 5.66:1 against #8c8821, versus 3.71:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #8c8821 accessible on a white background?

#8c8821 on white scores 3.71:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #7B781D to reach 4.5:1, or #5A5815 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #8c8821?

#21258C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #215A8C and #53218C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8c8821?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDEBC0 for borders, #9B984B for secondary text, #1E3E8F as an accent and #676418 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8C5321 and #5A8C21 stays calm, while #21258C is the loudest partner.

What is #8c8821 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 3%, 76%, 45%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8c8821 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 23 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8C6121; nudged cooler, #698E1F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8c8821?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 21.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8c8821 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8c8821 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8c8821] or text-[#8c8821], 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 #8c8821 with 50% opacity?

rgba(140, 136, 33, 0.5), or #8c882180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C6C490; over black, #464411.

Is #8c8821 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999933, ΔE2000 5.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8c8821 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 #8c8821?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BDB82D, #8c8821 45%, #676418). For more colour, a short hue run to #34731B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8c8821 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8c8821 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.