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yellow · warm

#b79621

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

Token name suggestion: Shadow Honey

RGB
183, 150, 33
HSL
47°, 69%, 42%
CMYK
0, 18, 82, 28
Luminance
0.3199

#b79621 is a dark vivid yellow, 47° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.40:1). As text it scores 2.84:1 on white — use #8C7319 instead. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(47 69% 42%)rgb(183 150 33)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b79621 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b79621
Hue
47°
yellow
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
72%
HSV value
Perceived
60%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3199
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.40:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 6.6
Chroma
60.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.684
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 11.2
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue47° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness42%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b79621.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red31%
Green68%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#b79621
HEX (8-digit)#b79621ff
RGBrgb(183, 150, 33)
RGBArgba(183, 150, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(47, 69%, 42%)
HSV / HSBhsv(47, 82%, 72%)
HWBhwb(47 13% 28%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 18%, 82%, 28%)
LABlab(63.3 1.1 60.7)
LCHlch(63.3 60.7 88.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.684 0.131 91.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.71, 31.99, 6.00)
Decimal12031521
Display P3color(display-p3 0.718 0.588 0.129)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b79621;
background-color: #b79621;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b79621;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b79621] bg-[#b79621]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b79621;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.718, green: 0.588, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.718, green: 0.588, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B79621</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB79621)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB79621)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 150, 183)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(183, 150, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(183, 150, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 183, 150, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7176f, 0.5882f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{183,150,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b79621 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b79621 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6C5914, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b79621 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: #FBFAF3;
  --brand-100: #F8F4E7;
  --brand-200: #F2E9CA;
  --brand-300: #EEDDA0;
  --brand-400: #E5CC70;
  --brand-500: #DDBA41;
  --brand-600: #CFAA25;
  --brand-700: #b79621;
  --brand-800: #8A7119;
  --brand-900: #645316;
  --brand-950: #3F340E;
  --brand: #b79621;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE3C0;
  --brand-hover: #997D1C;
  --brand-pressed: #7B6516;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFAF3',
        100: '#F8F4E7',
        200: '#F2E9CA',
        300: '#EEDDA0',
        400: '#E5CC70',
        500: '#DDBA41',
        600: '#CFAA25',
        700: '#b79621',
        800: '#8A7119',
        900: '#645316',
        950: '#3F340E',
        DEFAULT: '#b79621',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFAF3,
  '100': #F8F4E7,
  '200': #F2E9CA,
  '300': #EEDDA0,
  '400': #E5CC70,
  '500': #DDBA41,
  '600': #CFAA25,
  '700': #b79621,
  '800': #8A7119,
  '900': #645316,
  '950': #3F340E,
);
$brand-base: #b79621;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFAF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F4E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F2E9CA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EEDDA0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E5CC70", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#DDBA41", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CFAA25", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#b79621", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8A7119", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#645316", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3F340E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b79621 · 7.40:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.84:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.40:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b79621 as text scores 2.84:1 on white and 7.40:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6C5914 at 2.40:1.

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
#8C7319 · 4.58:1
AA on white−10% L
#8C7319
The quick fox
#695613 · 7.14:1
AAA on white−18% L
#695613
The quick fox
#b79621 · 7.40:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b79621
The quick fox
#b79621 · 7.40:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b79621

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF8F20 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
#b79621 on white: 2.84:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b79621 on black: 7.40:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b79621 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b79621.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.84:1AaAa
Slate 502.71:1AaAa
Slate 1002.59:1AaAa
Slate 2002.30:1AaAa
Slate 3001.91:1AaAa
Slate 4001.11:1AaAa
Slate 5001.68:1AaAa
Slate 6002.67:1AaAa
Slate 7003.65:1AaAa
Slate 8005.15:1AaAa
Slate 9006.29:1AaAa
Black7.40:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A89400
deuteranopia · #B09D29
tritanopia · #C78981

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. #b79621 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.

#FBFAF3
#F8F4E7
#F2E9CA
#EEDDA0
#E5CC70
#DDBA41
#CFAA25
#b79621
#8A7119
#645316
#3F340E
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBFAF3Darkest = 950 · #3F340EText 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 0.033 91.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.052 91.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.078 91.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.102 91.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.120 91.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.131 91.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.131 91.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.123 91.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.110 91.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.092 91.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.072 91.7);
}

Colors that work with #b79621

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#EDE3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B894B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D67BB
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6C5914
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF7E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#997D1C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7B6516
Two steps down
Disabled#B8AF90
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D4AB18
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 #b79621

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 #6C5914
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AF8F20

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#2142B7
Analogous left#B74B21
Analogous right#8DB721
Split-complement 1#218DB7
Split-complement 2#4B21B7
Triadic 1#21B796
Triadic 2#9621B7
Tetradic#21B74B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°47°

#b79621 sits at 47°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red71.8%
Green58.8%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
183
0xb7
G · 0–255
150
0x96
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta18.0%
Yellow82.0%
Key (black)28.2%

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

Color previews

#b79621 text on a black background

contrast 7.40:1

Card sample

#b79621 text on a white background

contrast 2.84:1

Card sample

#b79621 on grey

2.59:1

#b79621 on its own surface

2.69:1

#b79621 on its dark surface

5.68:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b79621;
Background color
Panel with #b79621 background
background-color: #b79621;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b79621;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(183, 150, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(183, 150, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b79621;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b79621, #74B721);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b79621, #4FB721);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b79621;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b79621;
caret-color: #b79621;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b79621;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF7E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b79621;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b79621 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b79621 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(183, 150, 33, 0.5)
rgb(183 150 33 / 50%)
#b7962180
hsl(47 69% 42% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b79621 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b796211a#F8F5E9
20%#b7962133#F1EAD3
40%#b7962166#E2D5A6
60%#b7962199#D4C07A
80%#b79621cc#C5AB4D

Gradients from #b79621

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, #DBB83A, #b79621 45%, #6C5914);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b79621, #599D1C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b79621, #2142B7);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E0C154 0%, #b79621 45%, #6C5914 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%, #DA5331 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #93D126 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6C5914 0%, transparent 65%), #b79621;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b79621

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.

#b79621 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 7.40:1.

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.

#b79621, answered

What color is #b79621?

#b79621 is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 6.6). It sits at 47° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b79621?

rgb(183, 150, 33) — 183 red, 150 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 71.8% / 58.8% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #b79621 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(47, 69%, 42%) and hsv(47, 82%, 72%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b79621 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3199 and perceived brightness is 60%, so black text on it reaches 7.40:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b79621?

Black. It scores 7.40:1 against #b79621, versus 2.84:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b79621 accessible on a white background?

#b79621 on white scores 2.84:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8C7319 to reach 4.5:1, or #695613 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b79621?

#2142B7 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #218DB7 and #4B21B7, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b79621?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE3C0 for borders, #9B894B for secondary text, #1D67BB as an accent and #6C5914 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B74B21 and #8DB721 stays calm, while #2142B7 is the loudest partner.

What is #b79621 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 18%, 82%, 28%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b79621 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B77621; nudged cooler, #A3B91F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b79621?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 11.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b79621 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b79621 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b79621] or text-[#b79621], 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 #b79621 with 50% opacity?

rgba(183, 150, 33, 0.5), or #b7962180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DBCB90; over black, #5C4B11.

Is #b79621 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 6.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b79621 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 #b79621?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBB83A, #b79621 45%, #6C5914). For more colour, a short hue run to #599D1C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b79621 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b79621 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.