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yellow · warm

#ba8f39

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
186, 143, 57
HSL
40°, 53%, 48%
CMYK
0, 23, 69, 27
Luminance
0.3038

#ba8f39 is a balanced vivid yellow, 40° on the wheel and 8/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.08:1). As text it scores 2.97:1 on white — use #93712D instead. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(40 53% 48%)rgb(186 143 57)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ba8f39 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ba8f39
Hue
40°
yellow
Saturation
53%
vivid
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3038
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
8/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.08:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.3
Chroma
50.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.675
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 12.6
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue40° of 360°
Saturation53%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ba8f39.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool8% 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
Red34%
Green65%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ba8f39
HEX (8-digit)#ba8f39ff
RGBrgb(186, 143, 57)
RGBArgba(186, 143, 57, 1)
HSLhsl(40, 53%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(40, 69%, 73%)
HWBhwb(40 22% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 69%, 27%)
LABlab(62.0 7.3 50.3)
LCHlch(62.0 50.8 81.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.675 0.115 81.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(30.81, 30.38, 8.11)
Decimal12226361
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.561 0.224)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ba8f39;
background-color: #ba8f39;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ba8f39;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ba8f39] bg-[#ba8f39]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ba8f39;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.561, blue: 0.224)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.561, blue: 0.224, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BA8F39</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBA8F39)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBA8F39)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 143, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 143, 57)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 143, 57)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 143, 57)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.5608f, 0.2235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,143,57}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ba8f39 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ba8f39 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#624B1E, #EEE5D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ba8f39 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: #FBF8F4;
  --brand-100: #F6F2E9;
  --brand-200: #EDE3CE;
  --brand-300: #E5D1A9;
  --brand-400: #D8BA7E;
  --brand-500: #CAA353;
  --brand-600: #ba8f39;
  --brand-700: #9C7830;
  --brand-800: #7D6026;
  --brand-900: #5B471F;
  --brand-950: #392C14;
  --brand: #ba8f39;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #ECDDC1;
  --brand-hover: #9F7A31;
  --brand-pressed: #836528;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE5D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF8F4',
        100: '#F6F2E9',
        200: '#EDE3CE',
        300: '#E5D1A9',
        400: '#D8BA7E',
        500: '#CAA353',
        600: '#ba8f39',
        700: '#9C7830',
        800: '#7D6026',
        900: '#5B471F',
        950: '#392C14',
        DEFAULT: '#ba8f39',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF8F4,
  '100': #F6F2E9,
  '200': #EDE3CE,
  '300': #E5D1A9,
  '400': #D8BA7E,
  '500': #CAA353,
  '600': #ba8f39,
  '700': #9C7830,
  '800': #7D6026,
  '900': #5B471F,
  '950': #392C14,
);
$brand-base: #ba8f39;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF8F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F2E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDE3CE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E5D1A9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D8BA7E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#CAA353", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#ba8f39", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9C7830", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7D6026", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5B471F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#392C14", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ba8f39 · 7.08:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.97:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ba8f39 as text scores 2.97:1 on white and 7.08:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #624B1E at 2.78:1.

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
#93712D · 4.53:1
AA on white−10% L
#93712D
The quick fox
#6C5321 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−20% L
#6C5321
The quick fox
#ba8f39 · 7.08:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ba8f39
The quick fox
#ba8f39 · 7.08:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ba8f39

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B68C38 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
#ba8f39 on white: 2.97:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ba8f39 on black: 7.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ba8f39 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ba8f39.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.97:1AaAa
Slate 502.84:1AaAa
Slate 1002.71:1AaAa
Slate 2002.41:1AaAa
Slate 3002.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5001.60:1AaAa
Slate 6002.55:1AaAa
Slate 7003.49:1AaAa
Slate 8004.93:1AaAa
Slate 9006.02:1AaAa
Black7.08:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A18F2F
deuteranopia · #AB9A3C
tritanopia · #CA827D

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. #ba8f39 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF8F4
#F6F2E9
#EDE3CE
#E5D1A9
#D8BA7E
#CAA353
#ba8f39
#9C7830
#7D6026
#5B471F
#392C14
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF8F4Darkest = 950 · #392C14Text 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 0.029 81.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 81.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 81.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 81.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.105 81.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.115 81.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.115 81.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.108 81.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.096 81.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.080 81.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.063 81.7);
}

Colors that work with #ba8f39

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#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#ECDDC1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B804B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3485BF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#624B1E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F5EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F7A31
One step down in lightness
Pressed#836528
Two steps down
Disabled#C3B7A0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D19E36
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 #ba8f39

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #624B1E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B68C38

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 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-high
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#3964BA
Analogous left#BA4E39
Analogous right#A4BA39
Split-complement 1#39A4BA
Split-complement 2#4E39BA
Triadic 1#39BA8F
Triadic 2#8F39BA
Tetradic#39BA4E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°40°

#ba8f39 sits at 40°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green56.1%
Blue22.4%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
143
0x8f
B · 0–255
57
0x39

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta23.1%
Yellow69.4%
Key (black)27.1%

Total ink coverage is 120%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ba8f39 text on a black background

contrast 7.08:1

Card sample

#ba8f39 text on a white background

contrast 2.97:1

Card sample

#ba8f39 on grey

2.71:1

#ba8f39 on its own surface

2.80:1

#ba8f39 on its dark surface

5.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ba8f39;
Background color
Panel with #ba8f39 background
background-color: #ba8f39;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ba8f39;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 143, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 143, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ba8f39;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ba8f39, #8FBA39);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ba8f39, #6FBA39);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ba8f39;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ba8f39;
caret-color: #ba8f39;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ba8f39;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F5EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ba8f39;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ba8f39 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ba8f39 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(186, 143, 57, 0.5)
rgb(186 143 57 / 50%)
#ba8f3980
hsl(40 53% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ba8f39 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ba8f391a#F8F4EB
20%#ba8f3933#F1E9D7
40%#ba8f3966#E3D2B0
60%#ba8f3999#D6BC88
80%#ba8f39cc#C8A561

Gradients from #ba8f39

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, #CFAA61, #ba8f39 45%, #624B1E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ba8f39, #73A232);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ba8f39, #3964BA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D6B779 0%, #ba8f39 45%, #624B1E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CC6359 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A8C84A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #624B1E 0%, transparent 65%), #ba8f39;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ba8f39

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.

#ba8f39 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 7.08:1.

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.

#ba8f39, answered

What color is #ba8f39?

#ba8f39 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 40° on the hue wheel with 53% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ba8f39?

rgb(186, 143, 57) — 186 red, 143 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 56.1% / 22.4% by channel.

What is #ba8f39 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(40, 53%, 48%) and hsv(40, 69%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ba8f39 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3038 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ba8f39?

Black. It scores 7.08:1 against #ba8f39, versus 2.97:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ba8f39 accessible on a white background?

#ba8f39 on white scores 2.97:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #93712D to reach 4.5:1, or #6C5321 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ba8f39?

#3964BA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39A4BA and #4E39BA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ba8f39?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #ECDDC1 for borders, #9B804B for secondary text, #3485BF as an accent and #624B1E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BA4E39 and #A4BA39 stays calm, while #3964BA is the loudest partner.

What is #ba8f39 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 69%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ba8f39 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 8 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BA7B39; nudged cooler, #B8BC36.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ba8f39?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 12.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ba8f39 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ba8f39 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ba8f39] or text-[#ba8f39], 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 #ba8f39 with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 143, 57, 0.5), or #ba8f3980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDC79C; over black, #5D481D.

Is #ba8f39 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 4.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ba8f39 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 #ba8f39?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CFAA61, #ba8f39 45%, #624B1E). For more colour, a short hue run to #73A232 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ba8f39 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ba8f39 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.