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yellow · warm

#bc902b

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Citron

RGB
188, 144, 43
HSL
42°, 63%, 45%
CMYK
0, 23, 77, 26
Luminance
0.3081

#bc902b is a balanced vivid yellow, 42° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.16:1). As text it scores 2.93:1 on white — use #937021 instead. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(42 63% 45%)rgb(188 144 43)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bc902b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bc902b
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
63%
vivid
Lightness
45%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3081
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.16:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.5
Chroma
57.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.678
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 11.9
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue42° 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 #bc902b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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
Red35%
Green65%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bc902b
HEX (8-digit)#bc902bff
RGBrgb(188, 144, 43)
RGBArgba(188, 144, 43, 1)
HSLhsl(42, 63%, 45%)
HSV / HSBhsv(42, 77%, 74%)
HWBhwb(42 17% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 77%, 26%)
LABlab(62.4 7.0 56.5)
LCHlch(62.4 57.0 82.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.678 0.124 83.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(31.15, 30.81, 6.59)
Decimal12357675
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.565 0.169)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bc902b;
background-color: #bc902b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bc902b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bc902b] bg-[#bc902b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bc902b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.565, blue: 0.169)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.565, blue: 0.169, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BC902B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBC902B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBC902B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(43, 144, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 144, 43)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 144, 43)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 144, 43)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.5647f, 0.1686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,144,43}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bc902b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bc902b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#684F18, #EEE6D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bc902b 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: #FBF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F3E8;
  --brand-200: #F0E5CC;
  --brand-300: #EAD5A4;
  --brand-400: #E0C076;
  --brand-500: #D5AB48;
  --brand-600: #bc902b;
  --brand-700: #A67F26;
  --brand-800: #85661E;
  --brand-900: #614B1A;
  --brand-950: #3C2F10;
  --brand: #bc902b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDFC0;
  --brand-hover: #9F7A24;
  --brand-pressed: #82641E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE6D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F3E8',
        200: '#F0E5CC',
        300: '#EAD5A4',
        400: '#E0C076',
        500: '#D5AB48',
        600: '#bc902b',
        700: '#A67F26',
        800: '#85661E',
        900: '#614B1A',
        950: '#3C2F10',
        DEFAULT: '#bc902b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F3E8,
  '200': #F0E5CC,
  '300': #EAD5A4,
  '400': #E0C076,
  '500': #D5AB48,
  '600': #bc902b,
  '700': #A67F26,
  '800': #85661E,
  '900': #614B1A,
  '950': #3C2F10,
);
$brand-base: #bc902b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F3E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F0E5CC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EAD5A4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E0C076", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D5AB48", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bc902b", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A67F26", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#85661E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#614B1A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3C2F10", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bc902b · 7.16:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.93:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.16:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bc902b as text scores 2.93:1 on white and 7.16:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #684F18 at 2.63:1.

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
#937021 · 4.58:1
AA on white−10% L
#937021
The quick fox
#6D5419 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−19% L
#6D5419
The quick fox
#bc902b · 7.16:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bc902b
The quick fox
#bc902b · 7.16:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bc902b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B88D2A 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
#bc902b on white: 2.93:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bc902b on black: 7.16:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bc902b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bc902b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.93:1AaAa
Slate 502.80:1AaAa
Slate 1002.68:1AaAa
Slate 2002.38:1AaAa
Slate 3001.97:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5001.62:1AaAa
Slate 6002.58:1AaAa
Slate 7003.53:1AaAa
Slate 8004.99:1AaAa
Slate 9006.09:1AaAa
Black7.16:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A3901A
deuteranopia · #AD9B30
tritanopia · #CC827C

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. #bc902b 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.

#FBF9F4
#F7F3E8
#F0E5CC
#EAD5A4
#E0C076
#D5AB48
#bc902b
#A67F26
#85661E
#614B1A
#3C2F10
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3C2F10Text 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 0.031 83.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 83.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.075 83.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.097 83.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.115 83.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.124 83.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.124 83.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.117 83.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.105 83.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.087 83.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.068 83.7);
}

Colors that work with #bc902b

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#EDDFC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B834B
Captions on the surface
Accent#267CC1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#684F18
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF5EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#9F7A24
One step down in lightness
Pressed#82641E
Two steps down
Disabled#BEB399
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9A222
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 #bc902b

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 #684F18
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B88D2A

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#2B57BC
Analogous left#BC482B
Analogous right#A0BC2B
Split-complement 1#2BA0BC
Split-complement 2#482BBC
Triadic 1#2BBC90
Triadic 2#902BBC
Tetradic#2BBC48
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°42°

#bc902b sits at 42°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green56.5%
Blue16.9%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
144
0x90
B · 0–255
43
0x2b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta23.4%
Yellow77.1%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 127%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bc902b text on a black background

contrast 7.16:1

Card sample

#bc902b text on a white background

contrast 2.93:1

Card sample

#bc902b on grey

2.68:1

#bc902b on its own surface

2.78:1

#bc902b on its dark surface

5.59:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bc902b;
Background color
Panel with #bc902b background
background-color: #bc902b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bc902b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 144, 43, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 144, 43, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bc902b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bc902b, #87BC2B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc902b, #63BC2B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bc902b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bc902b;
caret-color: #bc902b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bc902b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF5EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bc902b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bc902b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bc902b 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(188, 144, 43, 0.5)
rgb(188 144 43 / 50%)
#bc902b80
hsl(42 63% 45% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bc902b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bc902b1a#F8F4EA
20%#bc902b33#F2E9D5
40%#bc902b66#E4D3AA
60%#bc902b99#D7BC80
80%#bc902bcc#C9A655

Gradients from #bc902b

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, #D6AD4E, #bc902b 45%, #684F18);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bc902b, #6BA325);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bc902b, #2B57BC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCB967 0%, #bc902b 45%, #684F18 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%, #D55645 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A5D135 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #684F18 0%, transparent 65%), #bc902b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bc902b

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.

#bc902b 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 7.16:1.

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.

#bc902b, answered

What color is #bc902b?

#bc902b is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.5). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 63% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bc902b?

rgb(188, 144, 43) — 188 red, 144 green and 43 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 56.5% / 16.9% by channel.

What is #bc902b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(42, 63%, 45%) and hsv(42, 77%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bc902b a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3081 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.16:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bc902b?

Black. It scores 7.16:1 against #bc902b, versus 2.93:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bc902b accessible on a white background?

#bc902b on white scores 2.93:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #937021 to reach 4.5:1, or #6D5419 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bc902b?

#2B57BC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2BA0BC and #482BBC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bc902b?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDDFC0 for borders, #9B834B for secondary text, #267CC1 as an accent and #684F18 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC482B and #A0BC2B stays calm, while #2B57BC is the loudest partner.

What is #bc902b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 77%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bc902b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC782B; nudged cooler, #B5BE29.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bc902b?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 11.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bc902b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bc902b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bc902b] or text-[#bc902b], 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 #bc902b with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 144, 43, 0.5), or #bc902b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEC895; over black, #5E4816.

Is #bc902b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 3.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bc902b 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 #bc902b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D6AD4E, #bc902b 45%, #684F18). For more colour, a short hue run to #6BA325 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bc902b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bc902b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.