Skip to content
yellow · warm

#ad992c

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

Token name suggestion: Dusk Straw

RGB
173, 153, 44
HSL
51°, 59%, 43%
CMYK
0, 12, 75, 32
Luminance
0.3185

#ad992c is a dark vivid yellow, 51° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.37:1). As text it scores 2.85:1 on white — use #847522 instead. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(51 59% 43%)rgb(173 153 44)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ad992c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ad992c
Hue
51°
yellow
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
43%
dark
Brightness
68%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3185
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.37:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
56.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.681
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 13.4
Web-safe
#999933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue51° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness43%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ad992c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool17% 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
Red28%
Green72%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ad992c
HEX (8-digit)#ad992cff
RGBrgb(173, 153, 44)
RGBArgba(173, 153, 44, 1)
HSLhsl(51, 59%, 43%)
HSV / HSBhsv(51, 75%, 68%)
HWBhwb(51 17% 32%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 12%, 75%, 32%)
LABlab(63.2 -4.5 56.5)
LCHlch(63.2 56.6 94.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.681 0.126 98.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.08, 31.85, 7.00)
Decimal11376940
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.600 0.173)
Web-safe#999933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ad992c;
background-color: #ad992c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ad992c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ad992c] bg-[#ad992c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ad992c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.600, blue: 0.173)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.600, blue: 0.173, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#AD992C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFAD992C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFAD992C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(44, 153, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 153, 44)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 153, 44)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 153, 44)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.6000f, 0.1725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,153,44}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ad992c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ad992c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#665A1A, #EEEAD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ad992c 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: #FBFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F7F5E9;
  --brand-200: #EFEACD;
  --brand-300: #E8DEA6;
  --brand-400: #DDCD79;
  --brand-500: #D1BD4C;
  --brand-600: #C3AD32;
  --brand-700: #ad992c;
  --brand-800: #827321;
  --brand-900: #5F541C;
  --brand-950: #3B3511;
  --brand: #ad992c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE6C0;
  --brand-hover: #908025;
  --brand-pressed: #74661E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242214;
    --brand-ink: #EEEAD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFAF4',
        100: '#F7F5E9',
        200: '#EFEACD',
        300: '#E8DEA6',
        400: '#DDCD79',
        500: '#D1BD4C',
        600: '#C3AD32',
        700: '#ad992c',
        800: '#827321',
        900: '#5F541C',
        950: '#3B3511',
        DEFAULT: '#ad992c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFAF4,
  '100': #F7F5E9,
  '200': #EFEACD,
  '300': #E8DEA6,
  '400': #DDCD79,
  '500': #D1BD4C,
  '600': #C3AD32,
  '700': #ad992c,
  '800': #827321,
  '900': #5F541C,
  '950': #3B3511,
);
$brand-base: #ad992c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFEACD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E8DEA6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DDCD79", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D1BD4C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C3AD32", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ad992c", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#827321", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5F541C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B3511", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ad992c · 7.37:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.85:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.37:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ad992c as text scores 2.85:1 on white and 7.37:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #665A1A at 2.42:1.

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
#847522 · 4.62:1
AA on white−10% L
#847522
The quick fox
#645819 · 7.11:1
AAA on white−18% L
#645819
The quick fox
#ad992c · 7.37:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ad992c
The quick fox
#ad992c · 7.37:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ad992c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A5922A 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
#ad992c on white: 2.85:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ad992c on black: 7.37:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ad992c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ad992c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.85:1AaAa
Slate 502.72:1AaAa
Slate 1002.60:1AaAa
Slate 2002.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.92:1AaAa
Slate 4001.11:1AaAa
Slate 5001.67:1AaAa
Slate 6002.66:1AaAa
Slate 7003.63:1AaAa
Slate 8005.13:1AaAa
Slate 9006.27:1AaAa
Black7.37:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A89519
deuteranopia · #AE9C33
tritanopia · #BB8D84

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. #ad992c 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.

#FBFAF4
#F7F5E9
#EFEACD
#E8DEA6
#DDCD79
#D1BD4C
#C3AD32
#ad992c
#827321
#5F541C
#3B3511
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBFAF4Darkest = 950 · #3B3511Text 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 0.031 98.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 98.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.075 98.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.098 98.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.116 98.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.126 98.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.126 98.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.118 98.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.106 98.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.088 98.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.069 98.4);
}

Colors that work with #ad992c

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#EDE6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#285FB1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#665A1A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF7EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
Hover#908025
One step down in lightness
Pressed#74661E
Two steps down
Disabled#B8B291
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C9AF24
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 #ad992c

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 #665A1A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A5922A

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#2C40AD
Analogous left#AD582C
Analogous right#80AD2C
Split-complement 1#2C80AD
Split-complement 2#582CAD
Triadic 1#2CAD99
Triadic 2#992CAD
Tetradic#2CAD58
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°51°

#ad992c sits at 51°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green60.0%
Blue17.3%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
153
0x99
B · 0–255
44
0x2c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta11.6%
Yellow74.6%
Key (black)32.2%

Total ink coverage is 118%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ad992c text on a black background

contrast 7.37:1

Card sample

#ad992c text on a white background

contrast 2.85:1

Card sample

#ad992c on grey

2.60:1

#ad992c on its own surface

2.70:1

#ad992c on its dark surface

5.61:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ad992c;
Background color
Panel with #ad992c background
background-color: #ad992c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ad992c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 153, 44, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 153, 44, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ad992c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ad992c, #6BAD2C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ad992c, #4BAD2C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ad992c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ad992c;
caret-color: #ad992c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ad992c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF7EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ad992c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ad992c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ad992c 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(173, 153, 44, 0.5)
rgb(173 153 44 / 50%)
#ad992c80
hsl(51 59% 43% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ad992c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ad992c1a#F7F5EA
20%#ad992c33#EFEBD5
40%#ad992c66#DED6AB
60%#ad992c99#CEC280
80%#ad992ccc#BDAD56

Gradients from #ad992c

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, #D0BB46, #ad992c 45%, #665A1A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ad992c, #539426);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ad992c, #2C40AD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D6C45E 0%, #ad992c 45%, #665A1A 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%, #CE643E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #86C532 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #665A1A 0%, transparent 65%), #ad992c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ad992c

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.

#ad992c 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 7.37:1.

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.

#ad992c, answered

What color is #ad992c?

#ad992c is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 51° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 43% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ad992c?

rgb(173, 153, 44) — 173 red, 153 green and 44 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 60% / 17.3% by channel.

What is #ad992c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(51, 59%, 43%) and hsv(51, 75%, 68%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ad992c a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3185 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.37:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ad992c?

Black. It scores 7.37:1 against #ad992c, versus 2.85:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ad992c accessible on a white background?

#ad992c on white scores 2.85:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #847522 to reach 4.5:1, or #645819 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ad992c?

#2C40AD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2C80AD and #582CAD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ad992c?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE6C0 for borders, #9B8E4B for secondary text, #285FB1 as an accent and #665A1A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AD582C and #80AD2C stays calm, while #2C40AD is the loudest partner.

What is #ad992c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 12%, 75%, 32%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ad992c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 17 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AD762C; nudged cooler, #93AF2A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ad992c?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 13.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ad992c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ad992c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ad992c] or text-[#ad992c], 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 #ad992c with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 153, 44, 0.5), or #ad992c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6CC96; over black, #574D16.

Is #ad992c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999933, ΔE2000 6.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ad992c 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 #ad992c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D0BB46, #ad992c 45%, #665A1A). For more colour, a short hue run to #539426 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ad992c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ad992c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.