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yellow · warm

#adb577

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Straw

RGB
173, 181, 119
HSL
68°, 30%, 59%
CMYK
4, 0, 34, 29
Luminance
0.4326

#adb577 is a balanced soft yellow, 68° on the wheel and 34/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.65:1). As text it scores 2.18:1 on white — use #727A42 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(68 30% 59%)rgb(173 181 119)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #adb577 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#adb577
Hue
68°
yellow
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4326
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
34/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.65:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
33.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.752
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 15.3
Web-safe
#99CC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue68° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness59%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #adb577.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool34% 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
Red21%
Green76%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#adb577
HEX (8-digit)#adb577ff
RGBrgb(173, 181, 119)
RGBArgba(173, 181, 119, 1)
HSLhsl(68, 30%, 59%)
HSV / HSBhsv(68, 34%, 71%)
HWBhwb(68 47% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 0%, 34%, 29%)
LABlab(71.7 -12.8 30.7)
LCHlch(71.7 33.3 112.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.752 0.084 114.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.09, 43.26, 23.85)
Decimal11384183
Display P3color(display-p3 0.678 0.710 0.467)
Web-safe#99CC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #adb577;
background-color: #adb577;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #adb577;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#adb577] bg-[#adb577]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #adb577;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.678, green: 0.710, blue: 0.467)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.678, green: 0.710, blue: 0.467, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ADB577</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFADB577)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFADB577)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(119, 181, 173)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(173, 181, 119)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(173, 181, 119)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 173, 181, 119)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6784f, 0.7098f, 0.4667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{173,181,119}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #adb577 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #adb577 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4E532D, #E7E9D7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #adb577 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: #F9F9F6;
  --brand-100: #F2F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E4E6D5;
  --brand-300: #D3D7B6;
  --brand-400: #BDC492;
  --brand-500: #adb577;
  --brand-600: #959F56;
  --brand-700: #7C8448;
  --brand-800: #636A3A;
  --brand-900: #4A4E2D;
  --brand-950: #2E311C;
  --brand: #adb577;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-border: #DFE2CA;
  --brand-hover: #9FA860;
  --brand-pressed: #8B9451;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #222414;
    --brand-ink: #E7E9D7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F6',
        100: '#F2F3EC',
        200: '#E4E6D5',
        300: '#D3D7B6',
        400: '#BDC492',
        500: '#adb577',
        600: '#959F56',
        700: '#7C8448',
        800: '#636A3A',
        900: '#4A4E2D',
        950: '#2E311C',
        DEFAULT: '#adb577',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F6,
  '100': #F2F3EC,
  '200': #E4E6D5,
  '300': #D3D7B6,
  '400': #BDC492,
  '500': #adb577,
  '600': #959F56,
  '700': #7C8448,
  '800': #636A3A,
  '900': #4A4E2D,
  '950': #2E311C,
);
$brand-base: #adb577;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E4E6D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D3D7B6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#BDC492", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#adb577", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#959F56", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7C8448", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#636A3A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4A4E2D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2E311C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #adb577 · 9.65:1
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 · 9.65:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #adb577 as text scores 2.18:1 on white and 9.65:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4E532D at 3.71:1.

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
#727A42 · 4.59:1
AA on white−22% L
#727A42
The quick fox
#565C32 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−31% L
#565C32
The quick fox
#adb577 · 9.65:1
AA on blackalready passes
#adb577
The quick fox
#adb577 · 9.65:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#adb577

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8E9752 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
#adb577 on white: 2.18:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#adb577 on black: 9.65:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #adb577 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #adb577.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.18:1AaAa
Slate 502.08:1AaAa
Slate 1001.99:1AaAa
Slate 2001.76:1AaAa
Slate 3001.47:1AaAa
Slate 4001.18:1AaAa
Slate 5002.19:1AaAa
Slate 6003.48:1AaAa
Slate 7004.76:1AaAa
Slate 8006.72:1AaAa
Slate 9008.21:1AaAa
Black9.65:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BEAF73
deuteranopia · #BDB07A
tritanopia · #B4AEA5

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. #adb577 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.

#F9F9F6
#F2F3EC
#E4E6D5
#D3D7B6
#BDC492
#adb577
#959F56
#7C8448
#636A3A
#4A4E2D
#2E311C
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F6Darkest = 950 · #2E311CText 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 0.021 114.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 114.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.050 114.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.065 114.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.077 114.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.084 114.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.084 114.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.078 114.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.070 114.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.058 114.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.046 114.4);
}

Colors that work with #adb577

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#DFE2CA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8C9551
Captions on the surface
Accent#737BB9
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4E532D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#222414
Dark-mode background
Hover#9FA860
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8B9451
Two steps down
Disabled#D6D9C3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#BCC67B
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 #adb577

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 #4E532D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8E9752

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
  • Weight41/100
  • 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#7F77B5
Analogous left#B59E77
Analogous right#8EB577
Split-complement 1#778EB5
Split-complement 2#9E77B5
Triadic 1#77ADB5
Triadic 2#B577AD
Tetradic#77B59E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°68°

#adb577 sits at 68°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red67.8%
Green71.0%
Blue46.7%
R · 0–255
173
0xad
G · 0–255
181
0xb5
B · 0–255
119
0x77

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow34.3%
Key (black)29.0%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#adb577 text on a black background

contrast 9.65:1

Card sample

#adb577 text on a white background

contrast 2.18:1

Card sample

#adb577 on grey

1.99:1

#adb577 on its own surface

2.07:1

#adb577 on its dark surface

7.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #adb577;
Background color
Panel with #adb577 background
background-color: #adb577;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #adb577;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(173, 181, 119, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(173, 181, 119, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #adb577;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #adb577, #84B577);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adb577, #77B57A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #adb577;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #adb577;
caret-color: #adb577;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #adb577;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F6EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #adb577;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#adb577 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #adb577 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, 181, 119, 0.5)
rgb(173 181 119 / 50%)
#adb57780
hsl(68 30% 59% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #adb577 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#adb5771a#F7F8F1
20%#adb57733#EFF0E4
40%#adb57766#DEE1C9
60%#adb57799#CED3AD
80%#adb577cc#BDC492

Gradients from #adb577

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, #C5CB9F, #adb577 45%, #4E532D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #adb577, #6CAA63);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #adb577, #7F77B5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D1D5B2 0%, #adb577 45%, #4E532D 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%, #C7B298 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9AC08B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4E532D 0%, transparent 65%), #adb577;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #adb577

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.

#adb577 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 9.65:1.

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.

#adb577, answered

What color is #adb577?

#adb577 is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 68° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #adb577?

rgb(173, 181, 119) — 173 red, 181 green and 119 blue out of 255, or 67.8% / 71% / 46.7% by channel.

What is #adb577 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(68, 30%, 59%) and hsv(68, 34%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #adb577 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4326 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.65:1.

Should I use black or white text on #adb577?

Black. It scores 9.65:1 against #adb577, versus 2.18:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #adb577 accessible on a white background?

#adb577 on white scores 2.18:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #727A42 to reach 4.5:1, or #565C32 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #adb577?

#7F77B5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #778EB5 and #9E77B5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #adb577?

For interface work: #F9FAF5 as the surface, #DFE2CA for borders, #8C9551 for secondary text, #737BB9 as an accent and #4E532D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B59E77 and #8EB577 stays calm, while #7F77B5 is the loudest partner.

What is #adb577 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 0%, 34%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #adb577 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 34 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B5A677; nudged cooler, #96B775.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #adb577?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 15.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #adb577 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #adb577 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#adb577] or text-[#adb577], 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 #adb577 with 50% opacity?

rgba(173, 181, 119, 0.5), or #adb57780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D6DABB; over black, #575B3C.

Is #adb577 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #99CC66, ΔE2000 10.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #adb577 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 #adb577?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #C5CB9F, #adb577 45%, #4E532D). For more colour, a short hue run to #6CAA63 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #adb577 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #adb577 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.