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yellow · neutral

#adaf98

a balanced, muted yellow · neutral · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: True Brass

RGB
173, 175, 152
HSL
65°, 13%, 64%
CMYK
1, 0, 13, 31
Luminance
0.4181

#adaf98 is a balanced muted yellow, 65° on the wheel and 43/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.36:1). As text it scores 2.24:1 on white — use #74765C instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is emerald.

hsl(65 13% 64%)rgb(173 175 152)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adaf98 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adaf98
Hue
65°
yellow
Saturation
13%
muted
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4181
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
43/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
9.36:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 10.5
Chroma
12.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.746
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
emerald
500 · ΔE 21.7
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue65° of 360°
Saturation13%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adaf98.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool43% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red21%
Green73%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#adaf98
HEX (8-digit)#adaf98ff
RGBrgb(173, 175, 152)
RGBArgba(173, 175, 152, 1)
HSLhsl(65, 13%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(65, 13%, 69%)
HWBhwb(65 60% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 13%, 31%)
LABlab(70.7 -4.8 11.6)
LCHlch(70.7 12.5 112.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.746 0.032 111.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.23, 41.81, 35.76)
Decimal11382680
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.686 0.596)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adaf98;
background-color: #adaf98;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adaf98;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adaf98] bg-[#adaf98]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adaf98;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.686, blue: 0.596)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.686, blue: 0.596, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADAF98</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADAF98)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADAF98)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(152, 175, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 175, 152)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 175, 152)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 175, 152)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.6863f, 0.5961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,175,152}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adaf98 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adaf98 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#464838, #E4E4DD);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adaf98 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: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-100: #F1F1EE;
  --brand-200: #E1E2DA;
  --brand-300: #CDCEC0;
  --brand-400: #adaf98;
  --brand-500: #9A9D81;
  --brand-600: #878A6B;
  --brand-700: #717359;
  --brand-800: #5A5C47;
  --brand-900: #434436;
  --brand-950: #2A2B22;
  --brand: #adaf98;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F8F6;
  --brand-border: #DADBD1;
  --brand-hover: #9D9F84;
  --brand-pressed: #8D9070;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1F2019;
    --brand-ink: #E4E4DD;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F8F7',
        100: '#F1F1EE',
        200: '#E1E2DA',
        300: '#CDCEC0',
        400: '#adaf98',
        500: '#9A9D81',
        600: '#878A6B',
        700: '#717359',
        800: '#5A5C47',
        900: '#434436',
        950: '#2A2B22',
        DEFAULT: '#adaf98',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F8F7,
  '100': #F1F1EE,
  '200': #E1E2DA,
  '300': #CDCEC0,
  '400': #adaf98,
  '500': #9A9D81,
  '600': #878A6B,
  '700': #717359,
  '800': #5A5C47,
  '900': #434436,
  '950': #2A2B22,
);
$brand-base: #adaf98;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E1E2DA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CDCEC0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#adaf98", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#9A9D81", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#878A6B", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#717359", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#5A5C47", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#434436", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2A2B22", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adaf98 · 9.36:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.24:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adaf98 as text scores 2.24:1 on white and 9.36:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #464838 at 4.17:1.

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
#74765C · 4.68:1
AA on white−23% L
#74765C
The quick fox
#585945 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−33% L
#585945
The quick fox
#adaf98 · 9.36:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adaf98
The quick fox
#adaf98 · 9.36:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adaf98

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #949678 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
#adaf98 on white: 2.24:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adaf98 on black: 9.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adaf98 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adaf98.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.24:1AaAa
Slate 502.14:1AaAa
Slate 1002.05:1AaAa
Slate 2001.82:1AaAa
Slate 3001.51:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5002.12:1AaAa
Slate 6003.38:1AaAa
Slate 7004.62:1AaAa
Slate 8006.52:1AaAa
Slate 9007.96:1AaAa
Black9.36:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B3AD97
deuteranopia · #B3AD99
tritanopia · #B0ACA8

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. #adaf98 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F8F7
#F1F1EE
#E1E2DA
#CDCEC0
#adaf98
#9A9D81
#878A6B
#717359
#5A5C47
#434436
#2A2B22
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F8F7Darkest = 950 · #2A2B22Text step on white = 700
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 0.008 111.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.013 111.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.019 111.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.025 111.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.030 111.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.032 111.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.032 111.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.030 111.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.027 111.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.022 111.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.018 111.2);
}

Colors that work with #adaf98

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#F8F8F6
Tinted page background
Border#DADBD1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7F8164
Captions on the surface
Accent#555A77
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#464838
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F4F1
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1F2019
Dark-mode background
Hover#9D9F84
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8D9070
Two steps down
Disabled#DFE0D7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BDC09B
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 #adaf98

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
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 #464838
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #949678

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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight36/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#9A98AF
Analogous left#AFA598
Analogous right#A1AF98
Split-complement 1#98A1AF
Split-complement 2#A598AF
Triadic 1#98ADAF
Triadic 2#AF98AD
Tetradic#98AFA5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°65°

#adaf98 sits at 65°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green68.6%
Blue59.6%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
152
0x98

CMYK percentages

Cyan1.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow13.1%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 46%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#adaf98 text on a black background

contrast 9.36:1

Card sample

#adaf98 text on a white background

contrast 2.24:1

Card sample

#adaf98 on grey

2.05:1

#adaf98 on its own surface

2.11:1

#adaf98 on its dark surface

7.32:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adaf98;
Background color
Panel with #adaf98 background
background-color: #adaf98;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adaf98;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 175, 152, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 175, 152, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adaf98;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adaf98, #9EAF98);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adaf98, #98AF98);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adaf98;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adaf98;
caret-color: #adaf98;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adaf98;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F4F1;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adaf98;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adaf98 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adaf98 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, 175, 152, 0.5)
rgb(173 175 152 / 50%)
#adaf9880
hsl(65 13% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adaf98 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adaf981a#F7F7F5
20%#adaf9833#EFEFEA
40%#adaf9866#DEDFD6
60%#adaf9899#CECFC1
80%#adaf98cc#BDBFAD

Gradients from #adaf98

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, #C8CABA, #adaf98 45%, #464838);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adaf98, #8BA287);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adaf98, #9A98AF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D6D7CC 0%, #adaf98 45%, #464838 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F8F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #C5BDB5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AFBCA9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #464838 0%, transparent 65%), #adaf98;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adaf98

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.

#adaf98 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 9.36:1.

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.

#adaf98, answered

What color is #adaf98?

#adaf98 is a balanced muted yellow, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 10.5). It sits at 65° on the hue wheel with 13% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #adaf98?

rgb(173, 175, 152) — 173 red, 175 green and 152 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 68.6% / 59.6% by channel.

What is #adaf98 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(65, 13%, 64%) and hsv(65, 13%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adaf98 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4181 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adaf98?

Black. It scores 9.36:1 against #adaf98, versus 2.24:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adaf98 accessible on a white background?

#adaf98 on white scores 2.24:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #74765C to reach 4.5:1, or #585945 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adaf98?

#9A98AF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #98A1AF and #A598AF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adaf98?

For interface work: #F8F8F6 as the surface, #DADBD1 for borders, #7F8164 for secondary text, #555A77 as an accent and #464838 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #AFA598 and #A1AF98 stays calm, while #9A98AF is the loudest partner.

What is #adaf98 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 13%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #adaf98 warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 43 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #AFA998; nudged cooler, #A5B196.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adaf98?

The emerald family — its 500 step is #10b981, ΔE2000 21.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adaf98 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adaf98 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adaf98] or text-[#adaf98], 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 #adaf98 with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 175, 152, 0.5), or #adaf9880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6D7CC; over black, #57584C.

Is #adaf98 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 12 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adaf98 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #adaf98?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C8CABA, #adaf98 45%, #464838). For more colour, a short hue run to #8BA287 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adaf98 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adaf98 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.