Skip to content
yellow · warm

#a5af5d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
165, 175, 93
HSL
67°, 34%, 53%
CMYK
6, 0, 47, 31
Luminance
0.3945

#a5af5d is a balanced soft yellow, 67° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.89:1). As text it scores 2.36:1 on white — use #72793C instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(67 34% 53%)rgb(165 175 93)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a5af5d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a5af5d
Hue
67°
yellow
Saturation
34%
soft
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3945
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.89:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
43.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.728
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 13.2
Web-safe
#999966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue67° of 360°
Saturation34%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a5af5d.

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
Red20%
Green78%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#a5af5d
HEX (8-digit)#a5af5dff
RGBrgb(165, 175, 93)
RGBArgba(165, 175, 93, 1)
HSLhsl(67, 34%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(67, 47%, 69%)
HWBhwb(67 36% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(6%, 0%, 47%, 31%)
LABlab(69.1 -15.9 40.6)
LCHlch(69.1 43.6 111.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.728 0.107 114.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(32.82, 39.45, 16.24)
Decimal10858333
Display P3color(display-p3 0.647 0.686 0.365)
Web-safe#999966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a5af5d;
background-color: #a5af5d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a5af5d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a5af5d] bg-[#a5af5d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a5af5d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.647, green: 0.686, blue: 0.365)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.647, green: 0.686, blue: 0.365, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A5AF5D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA5AF5D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA5AF5D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(93, 175, 165)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(165, 175, 93)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(165, 175, 93)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 165, 175, 93)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6471f, 0.6863f, 0.3647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{165,175,93}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a5af5d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a5af5d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#50552A, #E8EBD6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a5af5d 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: #F9F9F5;
  --brand-100: #F3F4EC;
  --brand-200: #E5E8D4;
  --brand-300: #D5DAB4;
  --brand-400: #C0C78E;
  --brand-500: #a5af5d;
  --brand-600: #9AA451;
  --brand-700: #808943;
  --brand-800: #676D36;
  --brand-900: #4C502A;
  --brand-950: #2F321A;
  --brand: #a5af5d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-border: #E1E4C8;
  --brand-hover: #929B4D;
  --brand-pressed: #7B8341;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #222414;
    --brand-ink: #E8EBD6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F5',
        100: '#F3F4EC',
        200: '#E5E8D4',
        300: '#D5DAB4',
        400: '#C0C78E',
        500: '#a5af5d',
        600: '#9AA451',
        700: '#808943',
        800: '#676D36',
        900: '#4C502A',
        950: '#2F321A',
        DEFAULT: '#a5af5d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F5,
  '100': #F3F4EC,
  '200': #E5E8D4,
  '300': #D5DAB4,
  '400': #C0C78E,
  '500': #a5af5d,
  '600': #9AA451,
  '700': #808943,
  '800': #676D36,
  '900': #4C502A,
  '950': #2F321A,
);
$brand-base: #a5af5d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3F4EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5E8D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5DAB4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C0C78E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#a5af5d", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#9AA451", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#808943", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#676D36", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4C502A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F321A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a5af5d · 8.89:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.89:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #a5af5d as text scores 2.36:1 on white and 8.89:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #50552A at 3.32:1.

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
#72793C · 4.65:1
AA on white−17% L
#72793C
The quick fox
#555A2D · 7.27:1
AAA on white−26% L
#555A2D
The quick fox
#a5af5d · 8.89:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a5af5d
The quick fox
#a5af5d · 8.89:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#a5af5d

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8F984B 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
#a5af5d on white: 2.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a5af5d on black: 8.89:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a5af5d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a5af5d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.36:1AaAa
Slate 502.26:1AaAa
Slate 1002.16:1AaAa
Slate 2001.92:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.09:1AaAa
Slate 5002.01:1AaAa
Slate 6003.21:1AaAa
Slate 7004.38:1AaAa
Slate 8006.19:1AaAa
Slate 9007.56:1AaAa
Black8.89:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9A856
deuteranopia · #B8A961
tritanopia · #ADA79C

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. #a5af5d is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F9F5
#F3F4EC
#E5E8D4
#D5DAB4
#C0C78E
#a5af5d
#9AA451
#808943
#676D36
#4C502A
#2F321A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F5Darkest = 950 · #2F321AText 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 0.027 114.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 114.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.064 114.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.084 114.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.099 114.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.107 114.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.107 114.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.101 114.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.090 114.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.075 114.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.059 114.8);
}

Colors that work with #a5af5d

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#E1E4C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#909A4C
Captions on the surface
Accent#5864B4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#50552A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F7EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#222414
Dark-mode background
Hover#929B4D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7B8341
Two steps down
Disabled#C9CCB0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#B5C15F
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 #a5af5d

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 #50552A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8F984B

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
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#675DAF
Analogous left#AF905D
Analogous right#7CAF5D
Split-complement 1#5D7CAF
Split-complement 2#905DAF
Triadic 1#5DA5AF
Triadic 2#AF5DA5
Tetradic#5DAF90
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°67°

#a5af5d sits at 67°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red64.7%
Green68.6%
Blue36.5%
R · 0–255
165
0xa5
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
93
0x5d

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow46.9%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 84%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a5af5d text on a black background

contrast 8.89:1

Card sample

#a5af5d text on a white background

contrast 2.36:1

Card sample

#a5af5d on grey

2.16:1

#a5af5d on its own surface

2.25:1

#a5af5d on its dark surface

6.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a5af5d;
Background color
Panel with #a5af5d background
background-color: #a5af5d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a5af5d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(165, 175, 93, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(165, 175, 93, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a5af5d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a5af5d, #6EAF5D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a5af5d, #5DAF60);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a5af5d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a5af5d;
caret-color: #a5af5d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a5af5d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F7EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a5af5d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a5af5d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a5af5d 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(165, 175, 93, 0.5)
rgb(165 175 93 / 50%)
#a5af5d80
hsl(67 34% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a5af5d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a5af5d1a#F6F7EF
20%#a5af5d33#EDEFDF
40%#a5af5d66#DBDFBE
60%#a5af5d99#C9CF9E
80%#a5af5dcc#B7BF7D

Gradients from #a5af5d

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, #BCC386, #a5af5d 45%, #50552A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a5af5d, #599F4E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a5af5d, #675DAF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C7CD9A 0%, #a5af5d 45%, #50552A 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%, #C0A27F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #86B971 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #50552A 0%, transparent 65%), #a5af5d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a5af5d

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.

#a5af5d 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 8.89:1.

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.

#a5af5d, answered

What color is #a5af5d?

#a5af5d is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 67° on the hue wheel with 34% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #a5af5d?

rgb(165, 175, 93) — 165 red, 175 green and 93 blue out of 255, or 64.7% / 68.6% / 36.5% by channel.

What is #a5af5d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(67, 34%, 53%) and hsv(67, 47%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a5af5d a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3945 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.89:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a5af5d?

Black. It scores 8.89:1 against #a5af5d, versus 2.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #a5af5d accessible on a white background?

#a5af5d on white scores 2.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #72793C to reach 4.5:1, or #555A2D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a5af5d?

#675DAF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5D7CAF and #905DAF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a5af5d?

For interface work: #F9FAF5 as the surface, #E1E4C8 for borders, #909A4C for secondary text, #5864B4 as an accent and #50552A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AF905D and #7CAF5D stays calm, while #675DAF is the loudest partner.

What is #a5af5d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(6%, 0%, 47%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a5af5d 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 #AF9B5D; nudged cooler, #87B15A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a5af5d?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 13.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a5af5d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a5af5d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a5af5d] or text-[#a5af5d], 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 #a5af5d with 50% opacity?

rgba(165, 175, 93, 0.5), or #a5af5d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D2D7AE; over black, #53582F.

Is #a5af5d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999966, ΔE2000 8.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a5af5d 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 #a5af5d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #BCC386, #a5af5d 45%, #50552A). For more colour, a short hue run to #599F4E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a5af5d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a5af5d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.