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yellow · warm

#babf88

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

Token name suggestion: True Brass

RGB
186, 191, 136
HSL
66°, 30%, 64%
CMYK
3, 0, 29, 25
Luminance
0.4948

#babf88 is a balanced soft yellow, 66° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.90:1). As text it scores 1.93:1 on white — use #737840 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(66 30% 64%)rgb(186 191 136)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #babf88 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#babf88
Hue
66°
yellow
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
75%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4948
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.90:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 5.9
Chroma
29.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.787
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 16.6
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue66° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #babf88.

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
Red21%
Green75%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#babf88
HEX (8-digit)#babf88ff
RGBrgb(186, 191, 136)
RGBArgba(186, 191, 136, 1)
HSLhsl(66, 30%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(65, 29%, 75%)
HWBhwb(66 53% 25%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 29%, 25%)
LABlab(75.8 -10.7 27.3)
LCHlch(75.8 29.3 111.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.787 0.074 112.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.32, 49.48, 30.56)
Decimal12238728
Display P3color(display-p3 0.729 0.749 0.533)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #babf88;
background-color: #babf88;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #babf88;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#babf88] bg-[#babf88]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #babf88;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.729, green: 0.749, blue: 0.533)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.729, green: 0.749, blue: 0.533, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BABF88</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBABF88)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBABF88)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(136, 191, 186)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(186, 191, 136)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(186, 191, 136)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 186, 191, 136)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7294f, 0.7490f, 0.5333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{186,191,136}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #babf88 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #babf88 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4F532D, #E8EAD7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #babf88 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: #F3F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E5E7D5;
  --brand-300: #D5D8B6;
  --brand-400: #babf88;
  --brand-500: #AAB16D;
  --brand-600: #989F56;
  --brand-700: #7F8547;
  --brand-800: #666A39;
  --brand-900: #4B4E2C;
  --brand-950: #2F311C;
  --brand: #babf88;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-border: #E0E2CA;
  --brand-hover: #ACB371;
  --brand-pressed: #9FA659;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #E8EAD7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F6',
        100: '#F3F3EC',
        200: '#E5E7D5',
        300: '#D5D8B6',
        400: '#babf88',
        500: '#AAB16D',
        600: '#989F56',
        700: '#7F8547',
        800: '#666A39',
        900: '#4B4E2C',
        950: '#2F311C',
        DEFAULT: '#babf88',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F6,
  '100': #F3F3EC,
  '200': #E5E7D5,
  '300': #D5D8B6,
  '400': #babf88,
  '500': #AAB16D,
  '600': #989F56,
  '700': #7F8547,
  '800': #666A39,
  '900': #4B4E2C,
  '950': #2F311C,
);
$brand-base: #babf88;
$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": "#F3F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5E7D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5D8B6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#babf88", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AAB16D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#989F56", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7F8547", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#666A39", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4B4E2C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F311C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #babf88 · 10.90:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.93:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.90:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #babf88 as text scores 1.93:1 on white and 10.90:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4F532D at 4.18:1.

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
#737840 · 4.68:1
AA on white−28% L
#737840
The quick fox
#565A30 · 7.24:1
AAA on white−37% L
#565A30
The quick fox
#babf88 · 10.90:1
AA on blackalready passes
#babf88
The quick fox
#babf88 · 10.90:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#babf88

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #929952 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
#babf88 on white: 1.93:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#babf88 on black: 10.90:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #babf88 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #babf88.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.93:1AaAa
Slate 501.84:1AaAa
Slate 1001.76:1AaAa
Slate 2001.56:1AaAa
Slate 3001.30:1AaAa
Slate 4001.33:1AaAa
Slate 5002.47:1AaAa
Slate 6003.93:1AaAa
Slate 7005.37:1AaAa
Slate 8007.59:1AaAa
Slate 9009.26:1AaAa
Black10.90:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C7BA84
deuteranopia · #C7BB8A
tritanopia · #C1B9B1

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. #babf88 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.

#F9F9F6
#F3F3EC
#E5E7D5
#D5D8B6
#babf88
#AAB16D
#989F56
#7F8547
#666A39
#4B4E2C
#2F311C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F6Darkest = 950 · #2F311CText 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 0.018 112.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 112.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.044 112.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.058 112.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.068 112.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.074 112.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.074 112.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.069 112.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.062 112.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.052 112.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.041 112.3);
}

Colors that work with #babf88

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#E0E2CA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8F9550
Captions on the surface
Accent#848EC3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4F532D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#ACB371
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9FA659
Two steps down
Disabled#E2E3D4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C8CE8D
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 #babf88

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 #4F532D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #929952

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
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#8D88BF
Analogous left#BFA988
Analogous right#9EBF88
Split-complement 1#889EBF
Split-complement 2#A988BF
Triadic 1#88BABF
Triadic 2#BF88BA
Tetradic#88BFA9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°66°

#babf88 sits at 66°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red72.9%
Green74.9%
Blue53.3%
R · 0–255
186
0xba
G · 0–255
191
0xbf
B · 0–255
136
0x88

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow28.8%
Key (black)25.1%

Total ink coverage is 57%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#babf88 text on a black background

contrast 10.90:1

Card sample

#babf88 text on a white background

contrast 1.93:1

Card sample

#babf88 on grey

1.76:1

#babf88 on its own surface

1.84:1

#babf88 on its dark surface

8.17:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #babf88;
Background color
Panel with #babf88 background
background-color: #babf88;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #babf88;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(186, 191, 136, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(186, 191, 136, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #babf88;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #babf88, #95BF88);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #babf88, #88BF88);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #babf88;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #babf88;
caret-color: #babf88;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #babf88;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F6EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #babf88;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#babf88 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #babf88 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, 191, 136, 0.5)
rgb(186 191 136 / 50%)
#babf8880
hsl(66 30% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #babf88 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#babf881a#F8F9F3
20%#babf8833#F1F2E7
40%#babf8866#E3E5CF
60%#babf8899#D6D9B8
80%#babf88cc#C8CCA0

Gradients from #babf88

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, #D1D4B0, #babf88 45%, #4F532D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #babf88, #7EB474);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #babf88, #8D88BF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DDDFC4 0%, #babf88 45%, #4F532D 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%, #D1BDA9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ABCA9C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4F532D 0%, transparent 65%), #babf88;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #babf88

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.

#babf88 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 10.90:1.

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.

#babf88, answered

What color is #babf88?

#babf88 is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 66° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #babf88?

rgb(186, 191, 136) — 186 red, 191 green and 136 blue out of 255, or 72.9% / 74.9% / 53.3% by channel.

What is #babf88 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(66, 30%, 64%) and hsv(65, 29%, 75%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #babf88 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4948 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.90:1.

Should I use black or white text on #babf88?

Black. It scores 10.90:1 against #babf88, versus 1.93:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #babf88 accessible on a white background?

#babf88 on white scores 1.93:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #737840 to reach 4.5:1, or #565A30 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #babf88?

#8D88BF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #889EBF and #A988BF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #babf88?

For interface work: #F9FAF5 as the surface, #E0E2CA for borders, #8F9550 for secondary text, #848EC3 as an accent and #4F532D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BFA988 and #9EBF88 stays calm, while #8D88BF is the loudest partner.

What is #babf88 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 29%, 25%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #babf88 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 #BFB088; nudged cooler, #A6C186.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #babf88?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 16.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #babf88 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #babf88 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#babf88] or text-[#babf88], 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 #babf88 with 50% opacity?

rgba(186, 191, 136, 0.5), or #babf8880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDDFC4; over black, #5D6044.

Is #babf88 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 4.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #babf88 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 #babf88?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D1D4B0, #babf88 45%, #4F532D). For more colour, a short hue run to #7EB474 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #babf88 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #babf88 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.