Skip to content
yellow · warm

#bbd821

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Citron

RGB
187, 216, 33
HSL
70°, 74%, 49%
CMYK
13, 0, 85, 15
Luminance
0.5979

#bbd821 is a balanced vivid yellow, 70° on the wheel and 33/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.96:1). As text it scores 1.62:1 on white — use #6A7B13 instead. Nearest name is Yellow Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(70 74% 49%)rgb(187 216 33)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbd821 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbd821
Hue
70°
yellow
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5979
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
33/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.96:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 6.3
Chroma
82.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.832
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 8.7
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue70° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbd821.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool33% 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
Red18%
Green82%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#bbd821
HEX (8-digit)#bbd821ff
RGBrgb(187, 216, 33)
RGBArgba(187, 216, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(70, 74%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(70, 85%, 85%)
HWBhwb(70 13% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(13%, 0%, 85%, 15%)
LABlab(81.7 -30.6 76.5)
LCHlch(81.7 82.4 111.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.832 0.189 119.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.32, 59.79, 10.59)
Decimal12310561
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.847 0.129)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbd821;
background-color: #bbd821;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbd821;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbd821] bg-[#bbd821]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbd821;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.847, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.847, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBD821</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBD821)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBD821)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 216, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 216, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 216, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 216, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.8471f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,216,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbd821 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbd821 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#606F11, #EAEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbd821 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: #FAFCF3;
  --brand-100: #F6F8E7;
  --brand-200: #EDF3C8;
  --brand-300: #E3F09E;
  --brand-400: #D5E96D;
  --brand-500: #C7E13C;
  --brand-600: #bbd821;
  --brand-700: #99B11B;
  --brand-800: #7B8E16;
  --brand-900: #596714;
  --brand-950: #38400C;
  --brand: #bbd821;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF4;
  --brand-border: #E6EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #A0B91C;
  --brand-pressed: #859A18;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #222414;
    --brand-ink: #EAEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFCF3',
        100: '#F6F8E7',
        200: '#EDF3C8',
        300: '#E3F09E',
        400: '#D5E96D',
        500: '#C7E13C',
        600: '#bbd821',
        700: '#99B11B',
        800: '#7B8E16',
        900: '#596714',
        950: '#38400C',
        DEFAULT: '#bbd821',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFCF3,
  '100': #F6F8E7,
  '200': #EDF3C8,
  '300': #E3F09E,
  '400': #D5E96D,
  '500': #C7E13C,
  '600': #bbd821,
  '700': #99B11B,
  '800': #7B8E16,
  '900': #596714,
  '950': #38400C,
);
$brand-base: #bbd821;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F8E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDF3C8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E3F09E", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D5E96D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C7E13C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bbd821", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#99B11B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7B8E16", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#596714", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#38400C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbd821 · 12.96:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.62:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.96:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbd821 as text scores 1.62:1 on white and 12.96:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #606F11 at 3.43:1.

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
#6A7B13 · 4.71:1
AA on white−21% L
#6A7B13
The quick fox
#505C0E · 7.30:1
AAA on white−28% L
#505C0E
The quick fox
#bbd821 · 12.96:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbd821
The quick fox
#bbd821 · 12.96:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbd821

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #899E18 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
#bbd821 on white: 1.62:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbd821 on black: 12.96:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbd821 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbd821.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.62:1AaAa
Slate 501.55:1AaAa
Slate 1001.48:1AaAa
Slate 2001.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5002.94:1AaAa
Slate 6004.68:1AaAa
Slate 7006.39:1AaAa
Slate 8009.03:1AaAa
Slate 90011.02:1AaAa
Black12.96:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E7CB00
deuteranopia · #E3CC37
tritanopia · #C7CCB8

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. #bbd821 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.

#FAFCF3
#F6F8E7
#EDF3C8
#E3F09E
#D5E96D
#C7E13C
#bbd821
#99B11B
#7B8E16
#596714
#38400C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAFCF3Darkest = 950 · #38400CText 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 0.047 119.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.076 119.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.113 119.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.147 119.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.174 119.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.189 119.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.189 119.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.178 119.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.159 119.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.132 119.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.104 119.2);
}

Colors that work with #bbd821

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#F9FAF4
Tinted page background
Border#E6EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8E9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1C2EDD
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#606F11
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9FCE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#222414
Dark-mode background
Hover#A0B91C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#859A18
Two steps down
Disabled#C0C5A4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CBEB22
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 #bbd821

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 #606F11
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #899E18

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
  • Weight51/100
  • 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#3E21D8
Analogous left#D89921
Analogous right#5FD821
Split-complement 1#215FD8
Split-complement 2#9921D8
Triadic 1#21BBD8
Triadic 2#D821BB
Tetradic#21D899
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°70°

#bbd821 sits at 70°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green84.7%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
216
0xd8
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan13.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow84.7%
Key (black)15.3%

Total ink coverage is 113%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbd821 text on a black background

contrast 12.96:1

Card sample

#bbd821 text on a white background

contrast 1.62:1

Card sample

#bbd821 on grey

1.48:1

#bbd821 on its own surface

1.54:1

#bbd821 on its dark surface

9.74:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbd821;
Background color
Panel with #bbd821 background
background-color: #bbd821;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbd821;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 216, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 216, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbd821;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbd821, #41D821);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbd821, #21D82F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbd821;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbd821;
caret-color: #bbd821;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbd821;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9FCE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbd821;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbd821 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbd821 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, 216, 33, 0.5)
rgb(187 216 33 / 50%)
#bbd82180
hsl(70 74% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbd821 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbd8211a#F8FBE9
20%#bbd82133#F1F7D3
40%#bbd82166#E4EFA6
60%#bbd82199#D6E87A
80%#bbd821cc#C9E04D

Gradients from #bbd821

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, #CDE552, #bbd821 45%, #606F11);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbd821, #2CBD1D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbd821, #3E21D8);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D5E96C 0%, #bbd821 45%, #606F11 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9FAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E3A249 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #63E037 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #606F11 0%, transparent 65%), #bbd821;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbd821

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.

#bbd821 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 12.96:1.

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.

#bbd821, answered

What color is #bbd821?

#bbd821 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 6.3). It sits at 70° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bbd821?

rgb(187, 216, 33) — 187 red, 216 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 84.7% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #bbd821 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(70, 74%, 49%) and hsv(70, 85%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbd821 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5979 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 12.96:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbd821?

Black. It scores 12.96:1 against #bbd821, versus 1.62:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbd821 accessible on a white background?

#bbd821 on white scores 1.62:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6A7B13 to reach 4.5:1, or #505C0E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbd821?

#3E21D8 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #215FD8 and #9921D8, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbd821?

For interface work: #F9FAF4 as the surface, #E6EDC0 for borders, #8E9B4B for secondary text, #1C2EDD as an accent and #606F11 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D89921 and #5FD821 stays calm, while #3E21D8 is the loudest partner.

What is #bbd821 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(13%, 0%, 85%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbd821 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 33 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D8B221; nudged cooler, #78DA1E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbd821?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 8.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbd821 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbd821 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbd821] or text-[#bbd821], 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 #bbd821 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 216, 33, 0.5), or #bbd82180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDEC90; over black, #5E6C11.

Is #bbd821 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 6.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbd821 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 #bbd821?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDE552, #bbd821 45%, #606F11). For more colour, a short hue run to #2CBD1D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbd821 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbd821 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.