Skip to content
yellow · warm

#acb80c

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow Green

Token name suggestion: Dusk Citron

RGB
172, 184, 12
HSL
64°, 88%, 38%
CMYK
7, 0, 94, 28
Luminance
0.4308

#acb80c is a dark electric yellow, 64° on the wheel and 28/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.62:1). As text it scores 2.18:1 on white — use #727A08 instead. Nearest name is Yellow Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(64 88% 38%)rgb(172 184 12)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #acb80c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#acb80c
Hue
64°
yellow
Saturation
88%
electric
Lightness
38%
dark
Brightness
72%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4308
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
28/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.62:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
74.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.748
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 10.8
Web-safe
#99CC00
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue64° of 360°
Saturation88%
Lightness38%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #acb80c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool28% 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%
Green80%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#acb80c
HEX (8-digit)#acb80cff
RGBrgb(172, 184, 12)
RGBArgba(172, 184, 12, 1)
HSLhsl(64, 88%, 38%)
HSV / HSBhsv(64, 93%, 72%)
HWBhwb(64 5% 28%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 0%, 94%, 28%)
LABlab(71.6 -21.9 71.5)
LCHlch(71.6 74.8 107.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.748 0.167 114.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(34.22, 43.08, 6.86)
Decimal11319308
Display P3color(display-p3 0.675 0.722 0.047)
Web-safe#99CC00

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #acb80c;
background-color: #acb80c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #acb80c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#acb80c] bg-[#acb80c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #acb80c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.675, green: 0.722, blue: 0.047)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.675, green: 0.722, blue: 0.047, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ACB80C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFACB80C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFACB80C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(12, 184, 172)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(172, 184, 12)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(172, 184, 12)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 172, 184, 12)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6745f, 0.7216f, 0.0471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{172,184,12}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #acb80c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #acb80c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#707808, #ECEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #acb80c 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: #FCFDF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FAE5;
  --brand-200: #F4F8C4;
  --brand-300: #F1F896;
  --brand-400: #EAF561;
  --brand-500: #E4F12C;
  --brand-600: #D7E60F;
  --brand-700: #acb80c;
  --brand-800: #8F990A;
  --brand-900: #686F0C;
  --brand-950: #414507;
  --brand: #acb80c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E9EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #8D960A;
  --brand-pressed: #6D7508;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #ECEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFDF2',
        100: '#F9FAE5',
        200: '#F4F8C4',
        300: '#F1F896',
        400: '#EAF561',
        500: '#E4F12C',
        600: '#D7E60F',
        700: '#acb80c',
        800: '#8F990A',
        900: '#686F0C',
        950: '#414507',
        DEFAULT: '#acb80c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFDF2,
  '100': #F9FAE5,
  '200': #F4F8C4,
  '300': #F1F896,
  '400': #EAF561,
  '500': #E4F12C,
  '600': #D7E60F,
  '700': #acb80c,
  '800': #8F990A,
  '900': #686F0C,
  '950': #414507,
);
$brand-base: #acb80c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9FAE5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F4F8C4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F1F896", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EAF561", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E4F12C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D7E60F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#acb80c", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8F990A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#686F0C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#414507", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #acb80c · 9.62:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.18:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.62:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #acb80c as text scores 2.18:1 on white and 9.62:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #707808 at 2.20:1.

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
#727A08 · 4.66:1
AA on white−13% L
#727A08
The quick fox
#575D06 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−19% L
#575D06
The quick fox
#acb80c · 9.62:1
AA on blackalready passes
#acb80c
The quick fox
#acb80c · 9.62:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#acb80c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #919B0A 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
#acb80c on white: 2.18:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#acb80c on black: 9.62:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #acb80c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #acb80c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.18:1AaAa
Slate 502.09:1AaAa
Slate 1001.99:1AaAa
Slate 2001.77:1AaAa
Slate 3001.47:1AaAa
Slate 4001.17:1AaAa
Slate 5002.18:1AaAa
Slate 6003.47:1AaAa
Slate 7004.74:1AaAa
Slate 8006.70:1AaAa
Slate 9008.17:1AaAa
Black9.62:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C6AE00
deuteranopia · #C6B126
tritanopia · #B8AC9C

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. #acb80c 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.

#FCFDF2
#F9FAE5
#F4F8C4
#F1F896
#EAF561
#E4F12C
#D7E60F
#acb80c
#8F990A
#686F0C
#414507
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCFDF2Darkest = 950 · #414507Text 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 0.042 114.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 114.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.100 114.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.130 114.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.153 114.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.167 114.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.167 114.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.157 114.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.140 114.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.117 114.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.092 114.4);
}

Colors that work with #acb80c

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#E9EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#959B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0828BC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#707808
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#8D960A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#6D7508
Two steps down
Disabled#ADB084
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C7D602
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 #acb80c

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

Works well for
  • 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
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #707808
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #919B0A

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight62/100
  • 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#180CB8
Analogous left#B86E0C
Analogous right#56B80C
Split-complement 1#0C56B8
Split-complement 2#6E0CB8
Triadic 1#0CACB8
Triadic 2#B80CAC
Tetradic#0CB86E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°64°

#acb80c sits at 64°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.5%
Green72.2%
Blue4.7%
R · 0–255
172
0xac
G · 0–255
184
0xb8
B · 0–255
12
0x0c

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow93.5%
Key (black)27.8%

Total ink coverage is 128%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#acb80c text on a black background

contrast 9.62:1

Card sample

#acb80c text on a white background

contrast 2.18:1

Card sample

#acb80c on grey

1.99:1

#acb80c on its own surface

2.08:1

#acb80c on its dark surface

7.21:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #acb80c;
Background color
Panel with #acb80c background
background-color: #acb80c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #acb80c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(172, 184, 12, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(172, 184, 12, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #acb80c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #acb80c, #39B80C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acb80c, #0EB80C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #acb80c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #acb80c;
caret-color: #acb80c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #acb80c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCFDE7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #acb80c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#acb80c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #acb80c 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, 184, 12, 0.5)
rgb(172 184 12 / 50%)
#acb80c80
hsl(64 88% 38% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #acb80c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#acb80c1a#F7F8E7
20%#acb80c33#EEF1CE
40%#acb80c66#DEE39E
60%#acb80c99#CDD46D
80%#acb80ccc#BDC63D

Gradients from #acb80c

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, #E0F011, #acb80c 45%, #707808);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #acb80c, #249B0A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #acb80c, #180CB8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E4F12E 0%, #acb80c 45%, #707808 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%, #E8790F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #53D50E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #707808 0%, transparent 65%), #acb80c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #acb80c

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.

#acb80c 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 9.62:1.

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.

#acb80c, answered

What color is #acb80c?

#acb80c is a dark electric yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 64° on the hue wheel with 88% saturation and 38% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #acb80c?

rgb(172, 184, 12) — 172 red, 184 green and 12 blue out of 255, or 67.5% / 72.2% / 4.7% by channel.

What is #acb80c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(64, 88%, 38%) and hsv(64, 93%, 72%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #acb80c a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4308 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 9.62:1.

Should I use black or white text on #acb80c?

Black. It scores 9.62:1 against #acb80c, versus 2.18:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #acb80c accessible on a white background?

#acb80c on white scores 2.18:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #727A08 to reach 4.5:1, or #575D06 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #acb80c?

#180CB8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0C56B8 and #6E0CB8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #acb80c?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E9EDC0 for borders, #959B4B for secondary text, #0828BC as an accent and #707808 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B86E0C and #56B80C stays calm, while #180CB8 is the loudest partner.

What is #acb80c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 0%, 94%, 28%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #acb80c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 28 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B8850C; nudged cooler, #6DBA0A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #acb80c?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 10.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #acb80c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #acb80c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#acb80c] or text-[#acb80c], 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 #acb80c with 50% opacity?

rgba(172, 184, 12, 0.5), or #acb80c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6DC86; over black, #565C06.

Is #acb80c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CC00, ΔE2000 7.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #acb80c 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 #acb80c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E0F011, #acb80c 45%, #707808). For more colour, a short hue run to #249B0A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #acb80c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #acb80c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.