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yellow · warm

#bcba3d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Honey

RGB
188, 186, 61
HSL
59°, 51%, 49%
CMYK
0, 1, 68, 26
Luminance
0.4615

#bcba3d is a balanced vivid yellow, 59° on the wheel and 24/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.23:1). As text it scores 2.05:1 on white — use #7A7928 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(59 51% 49%)rgb(188 186 61)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcba3d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcba3d
Hue
59°
yellow
Saturation
51%
vivid
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4615
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
24/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
10.23:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
62.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.768
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 13.4
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue59° of 360°
Saturation51%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcba3d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool24% 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
Red23%
Green76%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bcba3d
HEX (8-digit)#bcba3dff
RGBrgb(188, 186, 61)
RGBArgba(188, 186, 61, 1)
HSLhsl(59, 51%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(59, 68%, 74%)
HWBhwb(59 24% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 1%, 68%, 26%)
LABlab(73.6 -14.4 60.7)
LCHlch(73.6 62.4 103.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.768 0.143 108.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.14, 46.15, 11.26)
Decimal12368445
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.729 0.239)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcba3d;
background-color: #bcba3d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcba3d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcba3d] bg-[#bcba3d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcba3d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.729, blue: 0.239)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.729, blue: 0.239, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCBA3D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCBA3D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCBA3D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(61, 186, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 186, 61)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 186, 61)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 186, 61)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.7294f, 0.2392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,186,61}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcba3d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcba3d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#605F1F, #EEEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcba3d 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: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F6F6EA;
  --brand-200: #EDECCF;
  --brand-300: #E4E3AA;
  --brand-400: #D6D480;
  --brand-500: #C8C656;
  --brand-600: #bcba3d;
  --brand-700: #9A9832;
  --brand-800: #7B7A28;
  --brand-900: #5A5920;
  --brand-950: #383814;
  --brand: #bcba3d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EBEAC1;
  --brand-hover: #A19F34;
  --brand-pressed: #86852B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EEEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFAF4',
        100: '#F6F6EA',
        200: '#EDECCF',
        300: '#E4E3AA',
        400: '#D6D480',
        500: '#C8C656',
        600: '#bcba3d',
        700: '#9A9832',
        800: '#7B7A28',
        900: '#5A5920',
        950: '#383814',
        DEFAULT: '#bcba3d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFAF4,
  '100': #F6F6EA,
  '200': #EDECCF,
  '300': #E4E3AA,
  '400': #D6D480,
  '500': #C8C656,
  '600': #bcba3d,
  '700': #9A9832,
  '800': #7B7A28,
  '900': #5A5920,
  '950': #383814,
);
$brand-base: #bcba3d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F6EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDECCF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E4E3AA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D6D480", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C8C656", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bcba3d", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9A9832", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7B7A28", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5A5920", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#383814", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcba3d · 10.23:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.05:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.23:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcba3d as text scores 2.05:1 on white and 10.23:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #605F1F at 3.24:1.

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
#7A7928 · 4.57:1
AA on white−17% L
#7A7928
The quick fox
#5C5B1E · 7.07:1
AAA on white−25% L
#5C5B1E
The quick fox
#bcba3d · 10.23:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcba3d
The quick fox
#bcba3d · 10.23:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcba3d

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #999832 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
#bcba3d on white: 2.05:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcba3d on black: 10.23:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcba3d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcba3d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.05:1AaAa
Slate 501.96:1AaAa
Slate 1001.87:1AaAa
Slate 2001.67:1AaAa
Slate 3001.38:1AaAa
Slate 4001.25:1AaAa
Slate 5002.32:1AaAa
Slate 6003.69:1AaAa
Slate 7005.04:1AaAa
Slate 8007.13:1AaAa
Slate 9008.70:1AaAa
Black10.23:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C9B32A
deuteranopia · #CBB745
tritanopia · #C9AEA1

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. #bcba3d 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.

#FAFAF4
#F6F6EA
#EDECCF
#E4E3AA
#D6D480
#C8C656
#bcba3d
#9A9832
#7B7A28
#5A5920
#383814
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAFAF4Darkest = 950 · #383814Text 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 0.036 108.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.057 108.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.086 108.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.112 108.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.132 108.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.143 108.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.143 108.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.135 108.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.120 108.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.100 108.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.079 108.4);
}

Colors that work with #bcba3d

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#EBEAC1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B9A4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#385CC1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#605F1F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F9EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#A19F34
One step down in lightness
Pressed#86852B
Two steps down
Disabled#C5C4A4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D0CE3D
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 #bcba3d

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 #605F1F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #999832

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#3D3FBC
Analogous left#BC7B3D
Analogous right#7EBC3D
Split-complement 1#3D7EBC
Split-complement 2#7B3DBC
Triadic 1#3DBCBA
Triadic 2#BA3DBC
Tetradic#3DBC7B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°59°

#bcba3d sits at 59°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green72.9%
Blue23.9%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
61
0x3d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta1.1%
Yellow67.6%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 95%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcba3d text on a black background

contrast 10.23:1

Card sample

#bcba3d text on a white background

contrast 2.05:1

Card sample

#bcba3d on grey

1.87:1

#bcba3d on its own surface

1.96:1

#bcba3d on its dark surface

7.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcba3d;
Background color
Panel with #bcba3d background
background-color: #bcba3d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcba3d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 186, 61, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 186, 61, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcba3d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcba3d, #69BC3D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcba3d, #49BC3D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcba3d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcba3d;
caret-color: #bcba3d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcba3d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F9EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcba3d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcba3d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcba3d 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, 186, 61, 0.5)
rgb(188 186 61 / 50%)
#bcba3d80
hsl(59 51% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcba3d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcba3d1a#F8F8EC
20%#bcba3d33#F2F1D8
40%#bcba3d66#E4E3B1
60%#bcba3d99#D7D68B
80%#bcba3dcc#C9C864

Gradients from #bcba3d

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, #CECC68, #bcba3d 45%, #605F1F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcba3d, #53A535);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcba3d, #3D3FBC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D6D47F 0%, #bcba3d 45%, #605F1F 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%, #CC8B60 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #84C751 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #605F1F 0%, transparent 65%), #bcba3d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcba3d

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.

#bcba3d 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 10.23:1.

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.

#bcba3d, answered

What color is #bcba3d?

#bcba3d is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 59° on the hue wheel with 51% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bcba3d?

rgb(188, 186, 61) — 188 red, 186 green and 61 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 72.9% / 23.9% by channel.

What is #bcba3d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(59, 51%, 49%) and hsv(59, 68%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcba3d a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4615 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 10.23:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcba3d?

Black. It scores 10.23:1 against #bcba3d, versus 2.05:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcba3d accessible on a white background?

#bcba3d on white scores 2.05:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7A7928 to reach 4.5:1, or #5C5B1E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcba3d?

#3D3FBC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3D7EBC and #7B3DBC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcba3d?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEAC1 for borders, #9B9A4B for secondary text, #385CC1 as an accent and #605F1F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BC7B3D and #7EBC3D stays calm, while #3D3FBC is the loudest partner.

What is #bcba3d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 1%, 68%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcba3d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 24 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BC8C3D; nudged cooler, #90BE3A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcba3d?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 13.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcba3d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcba3d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcba3d] or text-[#bcba3d], 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 #bcba3d with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 186, 61, 0.5), or #bcba3d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEDD9E; over black, #5E5D1F.

Is #bcba3d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 5.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcba3d 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 #bcba3d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CECC68, #bcba3d 45%, #605F1F). For more colour, a short hue run to #53A535 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcba3d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcba3d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.