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yellow · warm

#bba02b

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Citron

RGB
187, 160, 43
HSL
49°, 63%, 45%
CMYK
0, 14, 77, 27
Luminance
0.3588

#bba02b is a balanced vivid yellow, 49° on the wheel and 16/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.18:1). As text it scores 2.57:1 on white — use #85721F instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(49 63% 45%)rgb(187 160 43)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bba02b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bba02b
Hue
49°
yellow
Saturation
63%
vivid
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3588
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
16/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.18:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 7.7
Chroma
60.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.710
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 10.1
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue49° of 360°
Saturation63%
Lightness45%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bba02b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool16% 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
Red29%
Green70%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#bba02b
HEX (8-digit)#bba02bff
RGBrgb(187, 160, 43)
RGBArgba(187, 160, 43, 1)
HSLhsl(49, 63%, 45%)
HSV / HSBhsv(49, 77%, 73%)
HWBhwb(49 17% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 77%, 27%)
LABlab(66.4 -2.1 60.3)
LCHlch(66.4 60.4 92.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.710 0.132 95.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.50, 35.88, 7.45)
Decimal12296235
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.627 0.169)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bba02b;
background-color: #bba02b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bba02b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bba02b] bg-[#bba02b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bba02b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.627, blue: 0.169)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.627, blue: 0.169, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBA02B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBA02B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBA02B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(43, 160, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 160, 43)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 160, 43)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 160, 43)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.6275f, 0.1686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,160,43}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bba02b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bba02b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#685918, #EEE9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bba02b 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: #FBFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F7F4E8;
  --brand-200: #F0E9CC;
  --brand-300: #EADDA4;
  --brand-400: #E0CC76;
  --brand-500: #D5BB49;
  --brand-600: #bba02b;
  --brand-700: #A68E26;
  --brand-800: #85721F;
  --brand-900: #60531A;
  --brand-950: #3C3410;
  --brand: #bba02b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE4C0;
  --brand-hover: #9E8724;
  --brand-pressed: #816E1E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFAF4',
        100: '#F7F4E8',
        200: '#F0E9CC',
        300: '#EADDA4',
        400: '#E0CC76',
        500: '#D5BB49',
        600: '#bba02b',
        700: '#A68E26',
        800: '#85721F',
        900: '#60531A',
        950: '#3C3410',
        DEFAULT: '#bba02b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFAF4,
  '100': #F7F4E8,
  '200': #F0E9CC,
  '300': #EADDA4,
  '400': #E0CC76,
  '500': #D5BB49,
  '600': #bba02b,
  '700': #A68E26,
  '800': #85721F,
  '900': #60531A,
  '950': #3C3410,
);
$brand-base: #bba02b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F4E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0E9CC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EADDA4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E0CC76", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D5BB49", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bba02b", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A68E26", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#85721F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#60531A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C3410", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bba02b · 8.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.57:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bba02b as text scores 2.57:1 on white and 8.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #685918 at 2.70:1.

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
#85721F · 4.75:1
AA on white−13% L
#85721F
The quick fox
#645617 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−21% L
#645617
The quick fox
#bba02b · 8.18:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bba02b
The quick fox
#bba02b · 8.18:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bba02b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AA9227 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
#bba02b on white: 2.57:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bba02b on black: 8.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bba02b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bba02b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.57:1AaAa
Slate 502.45:1AaAa
Slate 1002.34:1AaAa
Slate 2002.08:1AaAa
Slate 3001.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.00:1AaAa
Slate 5001.85:1AaAa
Slate 6002.95:1AaAa
Slate 7004.03:1AaAa
Slate 8005.70:1AaAa
Slate 9006.95:1AaAa
Black8.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B19D13
deuteranopia · #B8A533
tritanopia · #CA938A

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. #bba02b 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.

#FBFAF4
#F7F4E8
#F0E9CC
#EADDA4
#E0CC76
#D5BB49
#bba02b
#A68E26
#85721F
#60531A
#3C3410
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBFAF4Darkest = 950 · #3C3410Text 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 95.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.053 95.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.079 95.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.103 95.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.122 95.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.132 95.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.132 95.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.124 95.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.111 95.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.093 95.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.073 95.4);
}

Colors that work with #bba02b

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#EDE4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8C4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2669C0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#685918
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF7EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#9E8724
One step down in lightness
Pressed#816E1E
Two steps down
Disabled#BEB799
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D8B622
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 #bba02b

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 #685918
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AA9227

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
  • Weight55/100
  • 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#2B46BB
Analogous left#BB582B
Analogous right#8EBB2B
Split-complement 1#2B8EBB
Split-complement 2#582BBB
Triadic 1#2BBBA0
Triadic 2#A02BBB
Tetradic#2BBB58
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°49°

#bba02b sits at 49°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green62.7%
Blue16.9%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
43
0x2b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta14.4%
Yellow77.0%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 118%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bba02b text on a black background

contrast 8.18:1

Card sample

#bba02b text on a white background

contrast 2.57:1

Card sample

#bba02b on grey

2.34:1

#bba02b on its own surface

2.44:1

#bba02b on its dark surface

6.28:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bba02b;
Background color
Panel with #bba02b background
background-color: #bba02b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bba02b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 160, 43, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 160, 43, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bba02b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bba02b, #76BB2B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bba02b, #52BB2B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bba02b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bba02b;
caret-color: #bba02b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bba02b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF7EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bba02b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bba02b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bba02b 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(187, 160, 43, 0.5)
rgb(187 160 43 / 50%)
#bba02b80
hsl(49 63% 45% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bba02b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bba02b1a#F8F6EA
20%#bba02b33#F1ECD5
40%#bba02b66#E4D9AA
60%#bba02b99#D6C680
80%#bba02bcc#C9B355

Gradients from #bba02b

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, #D6BD4D, #bba02b 45%, #685918);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bba02b, #5CA225);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bba02b, #2B46BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCC666 0%, #bba02b 45%, #685918 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%, #D46645 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #92D034 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #685918 0%, transparent 65%), #bba02b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bba02b

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.

#bba02b 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 8.18:1.

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.

#bba02b, answered

What color is #bba02b?

#bba02b is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 7.7). It sits at 49° on the hue wheel with 63% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bba02b?

rgb(187, 160, 43) — 187 red, 160 green and 43 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 62.7% / 16.9% by channel.

What is #bba02b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(49, 63%, 45%) and hsv(49, 77%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bba02b a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3588 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bba02b?

Black. It scores 8.18:1 against #bba02b, versus 2.57:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bba02b accessible on a white background?

#bba02b on white scores 2.57:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #85721F to reach 4.5:1, or #645617 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bba02b?

#2B46BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2B8EBB and #582BBB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bba02b?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE4C0 for borders, #9B8C4B for secondary text, #2669C0 as an accent and #685918 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB582B and #8EBB2B stays calm, while #2B46BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bba02b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 77%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bba02b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 16 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BB7E2B; nudged cooler, #A3BD29.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bba02b?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 10.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bba02b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bba02b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bba02b] or text-[#bba02b], 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 #bba02b with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 160, 43, 0.5), or #bba02b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDD095; over black, #5E5016.

Is #bba02b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 7.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bba02b 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 #bba02b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D6BD4D, #bba02b 45%, #685918). For more colour, a short hue run to #5CA225 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bba02b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bba02b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.