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yellow · warm

#9ba059

a balanced, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Studio Citron

RGB
155, 160, 89
HSL
64°, 29%, 49%
CMYK
3, 0, 44, 37
Luminance
0.3283

#9ba059 is a balanced soft yellow, 64° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.57:1). As text it scores 2.78:1 on white — use #757943 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(64 29% 49%)rgb(155 160 89)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #9ba059 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#9ba059
Hue
64°
yellow
Saturation
29%
soft
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
63%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3283
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.57:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 8
Chroma
38.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.685
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 16.7
Web-safe
#999966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue64° of 360°
Saturation29%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #9ba059.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool32% 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
Red21%
Green77%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#9ba059
HEX (8-digit)#9ba059ff
RGBrgb(155, 160, 89)
RGBArgba(155, 160, 89, 1)
HSLhsl(64, 29%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(64, 44%, 63%)
HWBhwb(64 35% 37%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 44%, 37%)
LABlab(64.0 -12.7 36.3)
LCHlch(64.0 38.4 109.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.685 0.094 112.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.89, 32.83, 14.32)
Decimal10199129
Display P3color(display-p3 0.608 0.627 0.349)
Web-safe#999966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #9ba059;
background-color: #9ba059;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #9ba059;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#9ba059] bg-[#9ba059]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #9ba059;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.608, green: 0.627, blue: 0.349)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.608, green: 0.627, blue: 0.349, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#9BA059</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF9BA059)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF9BA059)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(89, 160, 155)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(155, 160, 89)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(155, 160, 89)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 155, 160, 89)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6078f, 0.6275f, 0.3490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{155,160,89}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #9ba059 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #9ba059 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4F522E, #E8E9D8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #9ba059 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: #F9F9F6;
  --brand-100: #F3F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E5E6D6;
  --brand-300: #D5D7B7;
  --brand-400: #BFC393;
  --brand-500: #AAAF6F;
  --brand-600: #9ba059;
  --brand-700: #7F8349;
  --brand-800: #66693A;
  --brand-900: #4B4D2D;
  --brand-950: #2F301C;
  --brand: #9ba059;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-border: #E0E2CB;
  --brand-hover: #85894C;
  --brand-pressed: #6E723F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #E8E9D8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F6',
        100: '#F3F3EC',
        200: '#E5E6D6',
        300: '#D5D7B7',
        400: '#BFC393',
        500: '#AAAF6F',
        600: '#9ba059',
        700: '#7F8349',
        800: '#66693A',
        900: '#4B4D2D',
        950: '#2F301C',
        DEFAULT: '#9ba059',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F6,
  '100': #F3F3EC,
  '200': #E5E6D6,
  '300': #D5D7B7,
  '400': #BFC393,
  '500': #AAAF6F,
  '600': #9ba059,
  '700': #7F8349,
  '800': #66693A,
  '900': #4B4D2D,
  '950': #2F301C,
);
$brand-base: #9ba059;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5E6D6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5D7B7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BFC393", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AAAF6F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9ba059", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7F8349", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#66693A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4B4D2D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F301C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #9ba059 · 7.57:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.78:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.57:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #9ba059 as text scores 2.78:1 on white and 7.57:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4F522E at 2.93:1.

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
#757943 · 4.59:1
AA on white−12% L
#757943
The quick fox
#585B33 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−21% L
#585B33
The quick fox
#9ba059 · 7.57:1
AA on blackalready passes
#9ba059
The quick fox
#9ba059 · 7.57:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#9ba059

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #959955 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
#9ba059 on white: 2.78:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#9ba059 on black: 7.57:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #9ba059 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #9ba059.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.78:1AaAa
Slate 502.65:1AaAa
Slate 1002.53:1AaAa
Slate 2002.25:1AaAa
Slate 3001.87:1AaAa
Slate 4001.08:1AaAa
Slate 5001.71:1AaAa
Slate 6002.73:1AaAa
Slate 7003.73:1AaAa
Slate 8005.27:1AaAa
Slate 9006.43:1AaAa
Black7.57:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AA9A53
deuteranopia · #AA9C5C
tritanopia · #A3988F

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. #9ba059 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.

#F9F9F6
#F3F3EC
#E5E6D6
#D5D7B7
#BFC393
#AAAF6F
#9ba059
#7F8349
#66693A
#4B4D2D
#2F301C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F6Darkest = 950 · #2F301CText 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 0.024 112.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.038 112.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.057 112.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.074 112.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.087 112.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.094 112.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.094 112.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.089 112.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.079 112.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.066 112.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.052 112.1);
}

Colors that work with #9ba059

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#F9FAF5
Tinted page background
Border#E0E2CB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8F9352
Captions on the surface
Accent#5463A5
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4F522E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F6EF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#85894C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6E723F
Two steps down
Disabled#C3C5A4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#AEB558
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 #9ba059

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #4F522E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #959955

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight51/100
  • 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#5E59A0
Analogous left#A08159
Analogous right#77A059
Split-complement 1#5977A0
Split-complement 2#8159A0
Triadic 1#599BA0
Triadic 2#A0599B
Tetradic#59A081
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°64°

#9ba059 sits at 64°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red60.8%
Green62.7%
Blue34.9%
R · 0–255
155
0x9b
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
89
0x59

CMYK percentages

Cyan3.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow44.4%
Key (black)37.3%

Total ink coverage is 85%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#9ba059 text on a black background

contrast 7.57:1

Card sample

#9ba059 text on a white background

contrast 2.78:1

Card sample

#9ba059 on grey

2.53:1

#9ba059 on its own surface

2.65:1

#9ba059 on its dark surface

5.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #9ba059;
Background color
Panel with #9ba059 background
background-color: #9ba059;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #9ba059;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(155, 160, 89, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(155, 160, 89, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #9ba059;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #9ba059, #6CA059);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9ba059, #5AA059);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #9ba059;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #9ba059;
caret-color: #9ba059;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #9ba059;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F6EF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #9ba059;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#9ba059 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #9ba059 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(155, 160, 89, 0.5)
rgb(155 160 89 / 50%)
#9ba05980
hsl(64 29% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #9ba059 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#9ba0591a#F5F6EE
20%#9ba05933#EBECDE
40%#9ba05966#D7D9BD
60%#9ba05999#C3C69B
80%#9ba059cc#AFB37A

Gradients from #9ba059

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, #B4B87F, #9ba059 45%, #4F522E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #9ba059, #598C4E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #9ba059, #5E59A0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #BFC292 0%, #9ba059 45%, #4F522E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9FAF5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #B49578 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #82AD6B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4F522E 0%, transparent 65%), #9ba059;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #9ba059

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.

#9ba059 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 7.57:1.

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.

#9ba059, answered

What color is #9ba059?

#9ba059 is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 64° on the hue wheel with 29% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #9ba059?

rgb(155, 160, 89) — 155 red, 160 green and 89 blue out of 255, or 60.8% / 62.7% / 34.9% by channel.

What is #9ba059 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(64, 29%, 49%) and hsv(64, 44%, 63%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #9ba059 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3283 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 7.57:1.

Should I use black or white text on #9ba059?

Black. It scores 7.57:1 against #9ba059, versus 2.78:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #9ba059 accessible on a white background?

#9ba059 on white scores 2.78:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #757943 to reach 4.5:1, or #585B33 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #9ba059?

#5E59A0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5977A0 and #8159A0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #9ba059?

For interface work: #F9FAF5 as the surface, #E0E2CB for borders, #8F9352 for secondary text, #5463A5 as an accent and #4F522E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A08159 and #77A059 stays calm, while #5E59A0 is the loudest partner.

What is #9ba059 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 44%, 37%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #9ba059 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 32 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #A08B59; nudged cooler, #81A256.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #9ba059?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 16.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #9ba059 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #9ba059 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#9ba059] or text-[#9ba059], 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 #9ba059 with 50% opacity?

rgba(155, 160, 89, 0.5), or #9ba05980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #CDD0AC; over black, #4E502D.

Is #9ba059 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999966, ΔE2000 4.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #9ba059 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #9ba059?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B4B87F, #9ba059 45%, #4F522E). For more colour, a short hue run to #598C4E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #9ba059 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #9ba059 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.