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yellow · warm

#b6af97

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Meadow Brass

RGB
182, 175, 151
HSL
47°, 18%, 65%
CMYK
0, 4, 17, 29
Luminance
0.4284

#b6af97 is a light soft yellow, 47° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.57:1). As text it scores 2.19:1 on white — use #7F7659 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(47 18% 65%)rgb(182 175 151)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b6af97 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b6af97
Hue
47°
yellow
Saturation
18%
soft
Lightness
65%
light
Brightness
71%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4284
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.57:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 9.5
Chroma
13.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.753
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 22
Web-safe
#CC9999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue47° of 360°
Saturation18%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b6af97.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool32% 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
Red23%
Green72%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#b6af97
HEX (8-digit)#b6af97ff
RGBrgb(182, 175, 151)
RGBArgba(182, 175, 151, 1)
HSLhsl(47, 18%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(46, 17%, 71%)
HWBhwb(47 59% 29%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 4%, 17%, 29%)
LABlab(71.5 -1.6 13.2)
LCHlch(71.5 13.3 96.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.753 0.034 93.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(40.21, 42.84, 35.42)
Decimal11972503
Display P3color(display-p3 0.714 0.686 0.592)
Web-safe#CC9999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b6af97;
background-color: #b6af97;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b6af97;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b6af97] bg-[#b6af97]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b6af97;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.714, green: 0.686, blue: 0.592)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.714, green: 0.686, blue: 0.592, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B6AF97</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB6AF97)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB6AF97)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(151, 175, 182)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(182, 175, 151)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(182, 175, 151)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 182, 175, 151)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7137f, 0.6863f, 0.5922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{182,175,151}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b6af97 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b6af97 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4B4635, #E6E3DB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b6af97 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: #F8F8F6;
  --brand-100: #F2F1EE;
  --brand-200: #E3E1D9;
  --brand-300: #D1CCBD;
  --brand-400: #b6af97;
  --brand-500: #A29A7B;
  --brand-600: #908665;
  --brand-700: #787054;
  --brand-800: #605943;
  --brand-900: #474333;
  --brand-950: #2C2A20;
  --brand: #b6af97;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F8F6;
  --brand-border: #DDDACF;
  --brand-hover: #A79F82;
  --brand-pressed: #998F6D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #211F17;
    --brand-ink: #E6E3DB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F8F6',
        100: '#F2F1EE',
        200: '#E3E1D9',
        300: '#D1CCBD',
        400: '#b6af97',
        500: '#A29A7B',
        600: '#908665',
        700: '#787054',
        800: '#605943',
        900: '#474333',
        950: '#2C2A20',
        DEFAULT: '#b6af97',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F8F6,
  '100': #F2F1EE,
  '200': #E3E1D9,
  '300': #D1CCBD,
  '400': #b6af97,
  '500': #A29A7B,
  '600': #908665,
  '700': #787054,
  '800': #605943,
  '900': #474333,
  '950': #2C2A20,
);
$brand-base: #b6af97;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F8F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F2F1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E3E1D9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D1CCBD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#b6af97", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A29A7B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#908665", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#787054", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#605943", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#474333", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2C2A20", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b6af97 · 9.57:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.19:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.57:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b6af97 as text scores 2.19:1 on white and 9.57:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4B4635 at 4.30:1.

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
#7F7659 · 4.53:1
AA on white−23% L
#7F7659
The quick fox
#5E5742 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−34% L
#5E5742
The quick fox
#b6af97 · 9.57:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b6af97
The quick fox
#b6af97 · 9.57:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b6af97

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9D9373 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
#b6af97 on white: 2.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b6af97 on black: 9.57:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b6af97 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b6af97.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.19:1AaAa
Slate 502.10:1AaAa
Slate 1002.00:1AaAa
Slate 2001.78:1AaAa
Slate 3001.48:1AaAa
Slate 4001.17:1AaAa
Slate 5002.17:1AaAa
Slate 6003.45:1AaAa
Slate 7004.72:1AaAa
Slate 8006.67:1AaAa
Slate 9008.13:1AaAa
Black9.57:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B4AE96
deuteranopia · #B6B098
tritanopia · #BBABA8

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. #b6af97 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.

#F8F8F6
#F2F1EE
#E3E1D9
#D1CCBD
#b6af97
#A29A7B
#908665
#787054
#605943
#474333
#2C2A20
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F8F6Darkest = 950 · #2C2A20Text 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 0.009 93.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 93.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.021 93.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.027 93.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.031 93.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.034 93.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.034 93.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.032 93.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.029 93.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.024 93.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 93.6);
}

Colors that work with #b6af97

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#F9F8F6
Tinted page background
Border#DDDACF
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#877E5F
Captions on the surface
Accent#50657C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4B4635
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F4F3F0
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#211F17
Dark-mode background
Hover#A79F82
One step down in lightness
Pressed#998F6D
Two steps down
Disabled#E4E2D9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C6BD9B
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 #b6af97

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White 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 #4B4635
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9D9373

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#979EB6
Analogous left#B6A097
Analogous right#ADB697
Split-complement 1#97ADB6
Split-complement 2#A097B6
Triadic 1#97B6AF
Triadic 2#AF97B6
Tetradic#97B6A0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°47°

#b6af97 sits at 47°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.4%
Green68.6%
Blue59.2%
R · 0–255
182
0xb6
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
151
0x97

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta3.8%
Yellow17.0%
Key (black)28.6%

Total ink coverage is 49%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b6af97 text on a black background

contrast 9.57:1

Card sample

#b6af97 text on a white background

contrast 2.19:1

Card sample

#b6af97 on grey

2.00:1

#b6af97 on its own surface

2.07:1

#b6af97 on its dark surface

7.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b6af97;
Background color
Panel with #b6af97 background
background-color: #b6af97;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b6af97;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(182, 175, 151, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(182, 175, 151, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b6af97;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b6af97, #A8B697);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6af97, #A1B697);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b6af97;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b6af97;
caret-color: #b6af97;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b6af97;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F4F3F0;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b6af97;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b6af97 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b6af97 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(182, 175, 151, 0.5)
rgb(182 175 151 / 50%)
#b6af9780
hsl(47 18% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b6af97 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b6af971a#F8F7F5
20%#b6af9733#F0EFEA
40%#b6af9766#E2DFD5
60%#b6af9799#D3CFC1
80%#b6af97cc#C5BFAC

Gradients from #b6af97

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, #CFCBBB, #b6af97 45%, #4B4635);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b6af97, #96A985);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b6af97, #979EB6);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCD9CD 0%, #b6af97 45%, #4B4635 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F8F6, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CBB9B5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B9C3A9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4B4635 0%, transparent 65%), #b6af97;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b6af97

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.

#b6af97 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 9.57:1.

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.

#b6af97, answered

What color is #b6af97?

#b6af97 is a light soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 9.5). It sits at 47° on the hue wheel with 18% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b6af97?

rgb(182, 175, 151) — 182 red, 175 green and 151 blue out of 255, or 71.4% / 68.6% / 59.2% by channel.

What is #b6af97 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(47, 18%, 65%) and hsv(46, 17%, 71%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b6af97 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4284 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.57:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b6af97?

Black. It scores 9.57:1 against #b6af97, versus 2.19:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b6af97 accessible on a white background?

#b6af97 on white scores 2.19:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7F7659 to reach 4.5:1, or #5E5742 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b6af97?

#979EB6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #97ADB6 and #A097B6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b6af97?

For interface work: #F9F8F6 as the surface, #DDDACF for borders, #877E5F for secondary text, #50657C as an accent and #4B4635 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B6A097 and #ADB697 stays calm, while #979EB6 is the loudest partner.

What is #b6af97 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 4%, 17%, 29%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b6af97 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 32 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B6A597; nudged cooler, #B3B895.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b6af97?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 22 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b6af97 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b6af97 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b6af97] or text-[#b6af97], 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 #b6af97 with 50% opacity?

rgba(182, 175, 151, 0.5), or #b6af9780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBD7CB; over black, #5B584C.

Is #b6af97 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9999, ΔE2000 22.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b6af97 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 #b6af97?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CFCBBB, #b6af97 45%, #4B4635). For more colour, a short hue run to #96A985 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b6af97 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b6af97 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.