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yellow · warm

#bbce40

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow Green

Token name suggestion: True Honey

RGB
187, 206, 64
HSL
68°, 59%, 53%
CMYK
9, 0, 69, 19
Luminance
0.5508

#bbce40 is a balanced vivid yellow, 68° on the wheel and 32/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.02:1). As text it scores 1.75:1 on white — use #717D20 instead. Nearest name is Yellow Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(68 59% 53%)rgb(187 206 64)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbce40 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbce40
Hue
68°
yellow
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5508
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
32/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.02:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
69.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.811
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 8.9
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue68° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbce40.

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
Red19%
Green80%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bbce40
HEX (8-digit)#bbce40ff
RGBrgb(187, 206, 64)
RGBArgba(187, 206, 64, 1)
HSLhsl(68, 59%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(68, 69%, 81%)
HWBhwb(68 25% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(9%, 0%, 69%, 19%)
LABlab(79.1 -24.6 65.0)
LCHlch(79.1 69.5 110.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.811 0.163 116.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.49, 55.08, 13.19)
Decimal12308032
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.808 0.251)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbce40;
background-color: #bbce40;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbce40;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbce40] bg-[#bbce40]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbce40;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.808, blue: 0.251)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.808, blue: 0.251, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBCE40</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBCE40)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBCE40)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(64, 206, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 206, 64)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 206, 64)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 206, 64)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.8078f, 0.2510f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,206,64}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbce40 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbce40 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5B651A, #EAEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbce40 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: #FAFBF4;
  --brand-100: #F5F7E9;
  --brand-200: #EBEFCD;
  --brand-300: #DFE8A6;
  --brand-400: #CFDD79;
  --brand-500: #bbce40;
  --brand-600: #B0C332;
  --brand-700: #92A22A;
  --brand-800: #758221;
  --brand-900: #565F1C;
  --brand-950: #363B11;
  --brand: #bbce40;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E7EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #A8BA30;
  --brand-pressed: #8E9E28;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #222414;
    --brand-ink: #EAEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFBF4',
        100: '#F5F7E9',
        200: '#EBEFCD',
        300: '#DFE8A6',
        400: '#CFDD79',
        500: '#bbce40',
        600: '#B0C332',
        700: '#92A22A',
        800: '#758221',
        900: '#565F1C',
        950: '#363B11',
        DEFAULT: '#bbce40',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFBF4,
  '100': #F5F7E9,
  '200': #EBEFCD,
  '300': #DFE8A6,
  '400': #CFDD79,
  '500': #bbce40,
  '600': #B0C332,
  '700': #92A22A,
  '800': #758221,
  '900': #565F1C,
  '950': #363B11,
);
$brand-base: #bbce40;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F7E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBEFCD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DFE8A6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CFDD79", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#bbce40", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B0C332", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#92A22A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#758221", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#565F1C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#363B11", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbce40 · 12.02:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.75:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbce40 as text scores 1.75:1 on white and 12.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5B651A at 3.62:1.

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
#717D20 · 4.51:1
AA on white−22% L
#717D20
The quick fox
#545D18 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−30% L
#545D18
The quick fox
#bbce40 · 12.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbce40
The quick fox
#bbce40 · 12.02:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbce40

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8B9A27 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
#bbce40 on white: 1.75:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbce40 on black: 12.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbce40 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbce40.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.75:1AaAa
Slate 501.67:1AaAa
Slate 1001.60:1AaAa
Slate 2001.42:1AaAa
Slate 3001.18:1AaAa
Slate 4001.47:1AaAa
Slate 5002.72:1AaAa
Slate 6004.34:1AaAa
Slate 7005.92:1AaAa
Slate 8008.37:1AaAa
Slate 90010.21:1AaAa
Black12.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DCC329
deuteranopia · #DAC54B
tritanopia · #C6C3B2

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. #bbce40 is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAFBF4
#F5F7E9
#EBEFCD
#DFE8A6
#CFDD79
#bbce40
#B0C332
#92A22A
#758221
#565F1C
#363B11
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAFBF4Darkest = 950 · #363B11Text 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 0.041 116.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.065 116.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.098 116.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.127 116.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.150 116.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.163 116.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.163 116.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.153 116.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.137 116.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.114 116.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.090 116.8);
}

Colors that work with #bbce40

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#E7EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#909B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3B4DD3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5B651A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8FAEB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#222414
Dark-mode background
Hover#A8BA30
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E9E28
Two steps down
Disabled#C9CDB1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C9DD45
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 #bbce40

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 #5B651A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8B9A27

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
  • Weight47/100
  • 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#5340CE
Analogous left#CE9A40
Analogous right#74CE40
Split-complement 1#4074CE
Split-complement 2#9A40CE
Triadic 1#40BBCE
Triadic 2#CE40BB
Tetradic#40CE9A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°68°

#bbce40 sits at 68°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green80.8%
Blue25.1%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
206
0xce
B · 0–255
64
0x40

CMYK percentages

Cyan9.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow68.9%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 97%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbce40 text on a black background

contrast 12.02:1

Card sample

#bbce40 text on a white background

contrast 1.75:1

Card sample

#bbce40 on grey

1.60:1

#bbce40 on its own surface

1.67:1

#bbce40 on its dark surface

9.03:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbce40;
Background color
Panel with #bbce40 background
background-color: #bbce40;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbce40;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 206, 64, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 206, 64, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbce40;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbce40, #5CCE40);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbce40, #40CE47);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbce40;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbce40;
caret-color: #bbce40;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbce40;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8FAEB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbce40;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbce40 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbce40 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, 206, 64, 0.5)
rgb(187 206 64 / 50%)
#bbce4080
hsl(68 59% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbce40 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbce401a#F8FAEC
20%#bbce4033#F1F5D9
40%#bbce4066#E4EBB3
60%#bbce4099#D6E28C
80%#bbce40cc#C9D866

Gradients from #bbce40

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, #CCDA71, #bbce40 45%, #5B651A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbce40, #41BE31);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbce40, #5340CE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D5E189 0%, #bbce40 45%, #5B651A 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%, #D8A668 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7BD458 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5B651A 0%, transparent 65%), #bbce40;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbce40

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.

#bbce40 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 12.02:1.

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.

#bbce40, answered

What color is #bbce40?

#bbce40 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 68° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bbce40?

rgb(187, 206, 64) — 187 red, 206 green and 64 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 80.8% / 25.1% by channel.

What is #bbce40 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(68, 59%, 53%) and hsv(68, 69%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbce40 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5508 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 12.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbce40?

Black. It scores 12.02:1 against #bbce40, versus 1.75:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbce40 accessible on a white background?

#bbce40 on white scores 1.75:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #717D20 to reach 4.5:1, or #545D18 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbce40?

#5340CE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4074CE and #9A40CE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbce40?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E7EDC0 for borders, #909B4B for secondary text, #3B4DD3 as an accent and #5B651A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CE9A40 and #74CE40 stays calm, while #5340CE is the loudest partner.

What is #bbce40 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(9%, 0%, 69%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbce40 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 #CEAD40; nudged cooler, #87D03D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbce40?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 8.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbce40 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbce40 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbce40] or text-[#bbce40], 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 #bbce40 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 206, 64, 0.5), or #bbce4080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDE7A0; over black, #5E6720.

Is #bbce40 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbce40 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 #bbce40?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CCDA71, #bbce40 45%, #5B651A). For more colour, a short hue run to #41BE31 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbce40 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbce40 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.