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yellow · warm

#ac902a

a dark, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Forest Citron

RGB
172, 144, 42
HSL
47°, 61%, 42%
CMYK
0, 16, 76, 33
Luminance
0.2888

#ac902a is a dark vivid yellow, 47° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.78:1). As text it scores 3.10:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(47 61% 42%)rgb(172 144 42)Base step 700AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ac902a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ac902a
Hue
47°
yellow
Saturation
61%
vivid
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2888
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
6.78:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
54.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.661
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 14
Web-safe
#999933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue47° of 360°
Saturation61%
Lightness42%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ac902a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red30%
Green69%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ac902a
HEX (8-digit)#ac902aff
RGBrgb(172, 144, 42)
RGBArgba(172, 144, 42, 1)
HSLhsl(47, 61%, 42%)
HSV / HSBhsv(47, 76%, 67%)
HWBhwb(47 16% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 16%, 76%, 33%)
LABlab(60.7 -0.2 54.8)
LCHlch(60.7 54.8 90.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.661 0.121 93.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.41, 28.89, 6.32)
Decimal11309098
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.565 0.165)
Web-safe#999933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ac902a;
background-color: #ac902a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ac902a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ac902a] bg-[#ac902a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ac902a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.565, blue: 0.165)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.565, blue: 0.165, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AC902A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAC902A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAC902A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(42, 144, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 144, 42)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 144, 42)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 144, 42)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.5647f, 0.1647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,144,42}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ac902a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ac902a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#665619, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ac902a 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: #F7F4E8;
  --brand-200: #F0E8CC;
  --brand-300: #E9DAA5;
  --brand-400: #DEC878;
  --brand-500: #D3B64B;
  --brand-600: #C5A530;
  --brand-700: #ac902a;
  --brand-800: #836E20;
  --brand-900: #5F511B;
  --brand-950: #3C3211;
  --brand: #ac902a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE3C0;
  --brand-hover: #8F7823;
  --brand-pressed: #73601C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F4E8',
        200: '#F0E8CC',
        300: '#E9DAA5',
        400: '#DEC878',
        500: '#D3B64B',
        600: '#C5A530',
        700: '#ac902a',
        800: '#836E20',
        900: '#5F511B',
        950: '#3C3211',
        DEFAULT: '#ac902a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F4E8,
  '200': #F0E8CC,
  '300': #E9DAA5,
  '400': #DEC878,
  '500': #D3B64B,
  '600': #C5A530,
  '700': #ac902a,
  '800': #836E20,
  '900': #5F511B,
  '950': #3C3211,
);
$brand-base: #ac902a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F4E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0E8CC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E9DAA5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DEC878", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D3B64B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C5A530", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ac902a", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#836E20", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5F511B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C3211", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ac902a · 6.78:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.10:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.78:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #ac902a as text scores 3.10:1 on white and 6.78:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #665619 at 2.33:1.

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
#8B7522 · 4.50:1
AA on white−8% L
#8B7522
The quick fox
#665619 · 7.22:1
AAA on white−17% L
#665619
The quick fox
#ac902a · 6.78:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ac902a
The quick fox
#B0942B · 7.12:1
AAA on black+1% L
#B0942B

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC902A 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
#ac902a on white: 3.10:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ac902a on black: 6.78:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ac902a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ac902a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.10:1AaAa
Slate 502.96:1AaAa
Slate 1002.83:1AaAa
Slate 2002.51:1AaAa
Slate 3002.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.21:1AaAa
Slate 5001.54:1AaAa
Slate 6002.45:1AaAa
Slate 7003.34:1AaAa
Slate 8004.72:1AaAa
Slate 9005.76:1AaAa
Black6.78:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A08E18
deuteranopia · #A79630
tritanopia · #BA847C

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. #ac902a is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF9F4
#F7F4E8
#F0E8CC
#E9DAA5
#DEC878
#D3B64B
#C5A530
#ac902a
#836E20
#5F511B
#3C3211
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3C3211Text 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 0.030 93.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 93.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.072 93.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.094 93.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.111 93.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.121 93.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.121 93.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.113 93.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.101 93.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.084 93.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.066 93.0);
}

Colors that work with #ac902a

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#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8A4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2666B0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#665619
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF7EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#8F7823
One step down in lightness
Pressed#73601C
Two steps down
Disabled#B7AF8F
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C8A522
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 #ac902a

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 #665619
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
  • Weight58/100
  • 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#2A46AC
Analogous left#AC4F2A
Analogous right#87AC2A
Split-complement 1#2A87AC
Split-complement 2#4F2AAC
Triadic 1#2AAC90
Triadic 2#902AAC
Tetradic#2AAC4F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°47°

#ac902a sits at 47°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green56.5%
Blue16.5%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
144
0x90
B · 0–255
42
0x2a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta16.3%
Yellow75.6%
Key (black)32.5%

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

Color previews

#ac902a text on a black background

contrast 6.78:1

Card sample

#ac902a text on a white background

contrast 3.10:1

Card sample

#ac902a on grey

2.83:1

#ac902a on its own surface

2.94:1

#ac902a on its dark surface

5.20:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ac902a;
Background color
Panel with #ac902a background
background-color: #ac902a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ac902a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 144, 42, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 144, 42, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ac902a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ac902a, #71AC2A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac902a, #51AC2A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ac902a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ac902a;
caret-color: #ac902a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ac902a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF7EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ac902a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ac902a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ac902a 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(172, 144, 42, 0.5)
rgb(172 144 42 / 50%)
#ac902a80
hsl(47 61% 42% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ac902a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ac902a1a#F7F4EA
20%#ac902a33#EEE9D4
40%#ac902a66#DED3AA
60%#ac902a99#CDBC7F
80%#ac902acc#BDA655

Gradients from #ac902a

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, #D1B242, #ac902a 45%, #665619);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ac902a, #589424);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ac902a, #2A46AC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D7BC5B 0%, #ac902a 45%, #665619 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%, #CF583A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8EC530 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #665619 0%, transparent 65%), #ac902a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ac902a

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.

#ac902a 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 6.78:1.

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.

#ac902a, answered

What color is #ac902a?

#ac902a is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 47° on the hue wheel with 61% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ac902a?

rgb(172, 144, 42) — 172 red, 144 green and 42 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 56.5% / 16.5% by channel.

What is #ac902a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(47, 61%, 42%) and hsv(47, 76%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ac902a a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2888 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 6.78:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ac902a?

Black. It scores 6.78:1 against #ac902a, versus 3.10:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #ac902a accessible on a white background?

#ac902a on white scores 3.10:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #8B7522 to reach 4.5:1, or #665619 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ac902a?

#2A46AC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2A87AC and #4F2AAC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ac902a?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE3C0 for borders, #9B8A4B for secondary text, #2666B0 as an accent and #665619 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AC4F2A and #87AC2A stays calm, while #2A46AC is the loudest partner.

What is #ac902a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 16%, 76%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ac902a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AC722A; nudged cooler, #9AAE28.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ac902a?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 14 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ac902a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ac902a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ac902a] or text-[#ac902a], 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 #ac902a with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 144, 42, 0.5), or #ac902a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6C895; over black, #564815.

Is #ac902a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999933, ΔE2000 8.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ac902a 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 #ac902a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D1B242, #ac902a 45%, #665619). For more colour, a short hue run to #589424 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ac902a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ac902a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.