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#bbc015

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow Green

RGB
187, 192, 21
HSL
62°, 80%, 42%
CMYK
3, 0, 89, 25
Luminance
0.4832

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbc015 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbc015
Hue
62°
yellow
Saturation
80%
electric
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
75%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4832
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
27/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.66:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 9.7
Where it sits
Hue62° of 360°
Saturation80%
Lightness42%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool27% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#bbc015
RGBrgb(187, 192, 21)
HSLhsl(62, 80%, 42%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 89%, 25%)
LABlab(75.0 -19.3 73.3)
LCHlch(75.0 75.8 104.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.778 0.168 111.6)
Decimal12304405
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.753 0.082)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #bbc015;
background-color: #bbc015;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbc015] bg-[#bbc015]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbc015;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.753, blue: 0.082)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#bbc015")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBC015)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(21, 192, 187)

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 #bbc015 · 10.66:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.97:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.66:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbc015 as text scores 1.97:1 on white and 10.66:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#bbc015 on white: 1.97:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbc015 on black: 10.66:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D0B700
deuteranopia · #D1BB2B
tritanopia · #C9B3A4

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #bbc015 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.

#FCFCF3
#F9F9E6
#F4F5C6
#F1F49A
#EAEE67
#E3E935
#D7DD18
#bbc015
#8F9310
#686A10
#41430A
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCFCF3Darkest = 950 · #41430A
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFCF3;
  --brand-100: #F9F9E6;
  --brand-200: #F4F5C6;
  --brand-300: #F1F49A;
  --brand-400: #EAEE67;
  --brand-500: #E3E935;
  --brand-600: #D7DD18;
  --brand-700: #bbc015;
  --brand-800: #8F9310;
  --brand-900: #686A10;
  --brand-950: #41430A;
  --brand: #bbc015;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #bbc015

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#EBEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#999B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1138C4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#70730D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFCE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #bbc015

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

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#1A15C0
Analogous left#C07015
Analogous right#65C015
Split-complement 1#1565C0
Split-complement 2#7015C0
Triadic 1#15BBC0
Triadic 2#C015BB
Tetradic#15C070

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green75.3%
Blue8.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.6%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow89.1%
Key (black)24.7%

Color previews

#bbc015 text on a black background

contrast 10.66:1

Card sample

#bbc015 text on a white background

contrast 1.97:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbc015;
Background color
Panel with #bbc015 background
background-color: #bbc015;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbc015;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 192, 21, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 192, 21, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbc015;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbc015, #49C015);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbc015

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#bbc015 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.

#bbc015, answered

What color is #bbc015?

#bbc015 is a dark electric yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 9.7). It sits at 62° on the hue wheel with 80% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bbc015?

rgb(187, 192, 21) — 187 red, 192 green and 21 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 75.3% / 8.2% by channel.

Is #bbc015 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4832 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 10.66:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbc015?

Black. It scores 10.66:1 against #bbc015, versus 1.97:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #bbc015?

#1A15C0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1565C0 and #7015C0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbc015?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEDC0 for borders, #999B4B for secondary text, #1138C4 as an accent and #70730D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C07015 and #65C015 stays calm, while #1A15C0 is the loudest partner.

What is #bbc015 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 89%, 25%). 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 #bbc015 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 27 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C08915; nudged cooler, #7DC213.

Work with #bbc015 in the Color Lab