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yellow · warm

#bbaf16

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Forest Brass

RGB
187, 175, 22
HSL
56°, 79%, 41%
CMYK
0, 6, 88, 27
Luminance
0.4128

#bbaf16 is a dark electric yellow, 56° on the wheel and 21/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.26:1). As text it scores 2.27:1 on white — use #80770F instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(56 79% 41%)rgb(187 175 22)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbaf16 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbaf16
Hue
56°
yellow
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4128
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
21/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.26:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 9.2
Chroma
70.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.741
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 11.8
Web-safe
#CC9900
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue56° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness41%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbaf16.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool21% 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
Red26%
Green74%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#bbaf16
HEX (8-digit)#bbaf16ff
RGBrgb(187, 175, 22)
RGBArgba(187, 175, 22, 1)
HSLhsl(56, 79%, 41%)
HSV / HSBhsv(56, 88%, 73%)
HWBhwb(56 9% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 6%, 88%, 27%)
LABlab(70.4 -10.6 69.4)
LCHlch(70.4 70.3 98.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.741 0.152 104.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.97, 41.28, 6.83)
Decimal12300054
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.686 0.086)
Web-safe#CC9900

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbaf16;
background-color: #bbaf16;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbaf16;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbaf16] bg-[#bbaf16]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbaf16;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.686, blue: 0.086)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.686, blue: 0.086, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBAF16</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBAF16)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBAF16)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(22, 175, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 175, 22)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 175, 22)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 175, 22)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.6863f, 0.0863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,175,22}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbaf16 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbaf16 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#726B0D, #EEECD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbaf16 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: #FCFBF3;
  --brand-100: #F9F8E6;
  --brand-200: #F5F1C7;
  --brand-300: #F3ED9B;
  --brand-400: #EDE468;
  --brand-500: #E7DA36;
  --brand-600: #DBCD1A;
  --brand-700: #bbaf16;
  --brand-800: #928911;
  --brand-900: #6A6311;
  --brand-950: #423E0A;
  --brand: #bbaf16;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EDE9C0;
  --brand-hover: #9B9112;
  --brand-pressed: #7B730F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EEECD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFBF3',
        100: '#F9F8E6',
        200: '#F5F1C7',
        300: '#F3ED9B',
        400: '#EDE468',
        500: '#E7DA36',
        600: '#DBCD1A',
        700: '#bbaf16',
        800: '#928911',
        900: '#6A6311',
        950: '#423E0A',
        DEFAULT: '#bbaf16',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFBF3,
  '100': #F9F8E6,
  '200': #F5F1C7,
  '300': #F3ED9B,
  '400': #EDE468,
  '500': #E7DA36,
  '600': #DBCD1A,
  '700': #bbaf16,
  '800': #928911,
  '900': #6A6311,
  '950': #423E0A,
);
$brand-base: #bbaf16;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFBF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9F8E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5F1C7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F3ED9B", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EDE468", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E7DA36", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DBCD1A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#bbaf16", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#928911", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6A6311", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#423E0A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbaf16 · 9.26:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.27:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.26:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbaf16 as text scores 2.27:1 on white and 9.26:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #726B0D at 2.42:1.

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
#80770F · 4.60:1
AA on white−13% L
#80770F
The quick fox
#605A0B · 7.08:1
AAA on white−20% L
#605A0B
The quick fox
#bbaf16 · 9.26:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbaf16
The quick fox
#bbaf16 · 9.26:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbaf16

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A09513 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
#bbaf16 on white: 2.27:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbaf16 on black: 9.26:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbaf16 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbaf16.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.27:1AaAa
Slate 502.17:1AaAa
Slate 1002.07:1AaAa
Slate 2001.84:1AaAa
Slate 3001.53:1AaAa
Slate 4001.13:1AaAa
Slate 5002.10:1AaAa
Slate 6003.34:1AaAa
Slate 7004.56:1AaAa
Slate 8006.45:1AaAa
Slate 9007.87:1AaAa
Black9.26:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C0A900
deuteranopia · #C4AF27
tritanopia · #CAA295

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. #bbaf16 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.

#FCFBF3
#F9F8E6
#F5F1C7
#F3ED9B
#EDE468
#E7DA36
#DBCD1A
#bbaf16
#928911
#6A6311
#423E0A
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCFBF3Darkest = 950 · #423E0AText step on white = 900
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 0.038 104.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 104.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.091 104.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.119 104.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.140 104.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.152 104.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.152 104.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.143 104.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.128 104.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 104.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 104.4);
}

Colors that work with #bbaf16

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#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE9C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B954B
Captions on the surface
Accent#124ABF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#726B0D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFBE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#9B9112
One step down in lightness
Pressed#7B730F
Two steps down
Disabled#B5B28C
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9CA0D
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 #bbaf16

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 #726B0D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A09513

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight59/100
  • 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#1622BB
Analogous left#BB5C16
Analogous right#75BB16
Split-complement 1#1675BB
Split-complement 2#5C16BB
Triadic 1#16BBAF
Triadic 2#AF16BB
Tetradic#16BB5C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°56°

#bbaf16 sits at 56°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green68.6%
Blue8.6%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
22
0x16

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta6.4%
Yellow88.2%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 121%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbaf16 text on a black background

contrast 9.26:1

Card sample

#bbaf16 text on a white background

contrast 2.27:1

Card sample

#bbaf16 on grey

2.07:1

#bbaf16 on its own surface

2.17:1

#bbaf16 on its dark surface

6.98:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbaf16;
Background color
Panel with #bbaf16 background
background-color: #bbaf16;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbaf16;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 175, 22, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 175, 22, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbaf16;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbaf16, #59BB16);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbaf16, #30BB16);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbaf16;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbaf16;
caret-color: #bbaf16;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbaf16;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCFBE8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbaf16;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbaf16 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbaf16 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, 175, 22, 0.5)
rgb(187 175 22 / 50%)
#bbaf1680
hsl(56 79% 41% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbaf16 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbaf161a#F8F7E8
20%#bbaf1633#F1EFD0
40%#bbaf1666#E4DFA2
60%#bbaf1699#D6CF73
80%#bbaf16cc#C9BF45

Gradients from #bbaf16

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, #E6D829, #bbaf16 45%, #726B0D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbaf16, #40A013);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbaf16, #1622BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E9DD44 0%, #bbaf16 45%, #726B0D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E5631F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #76D619 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #726B0D 0%, transparent 65%), #bbaf16;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbaf16

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.

#bbaf16 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 9.26:1.

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.

#bbaf16, answered

What color is #bbaf16?

#bbaf16 is a dark electric yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 9.2). It sits at 56° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bbaf16?

rgb(187, 175, 22) — 187 red, 175 green and 22 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 68.6% / 8.6% by channel.

What is #bbaf16 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(56, 79%, 41%) and hsv(56, 88%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbaf16 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4128 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 9.26:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbaf16?

Black. It scores 9.26:1 against #bbaf16, versus 2.27:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbaf16 accessible on a white background?

#bbaf16 on white scores 2.27:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #80770F to reach 4.5:1, or #605A0B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbaf16?

#1622BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1675BB and #5C16BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbaf16?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE9C0 for borders, #9B954B for secondary text, #124ABF as an accent and #726B0D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB5C16 and #75BB16 stays calm, while #1622BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbaf16 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 6%, 88%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #bbaf16 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 21 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BB7F16; nudged cooler, #8CBD14.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbaf16?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 11.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbaf16 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbaf16 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbaf16] or text-[#bbaf16], 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 #bbaf16 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 175, 22, 0.5), or #bbaf1680 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDD78B; over black, #5E580B.

Is #bbaf16 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9900, ΔE2000 11.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbaf16 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 #bbaf16?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6D829, #bbaf16 45%, #726B0D). For more colour, a short hue run to #40A013 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbaf16 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbaf16 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.