Skip to content
yellow · warm

#bcba91

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Linen Honey

RGB
188, 186, 145
HSL
57°, 24%, 65%
CMYK
0, 1, 23, 26
Luminance
0.4785

#bcba91 is a light soft yellow, 57° on the wheel and 31/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.57:1). As text it scores 1.99:1 on white — use #79774A instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(57 24% 65%)rgb(188 186 145)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bcba91 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bcba91
Hue
57°
yellow
Saturation
24%
soft
Lightness
65%
light
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4785
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
31/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
10.57:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 7.8
Chroma
22.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.780
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 20
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue57° of 360°
Saturation24%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bcba91.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool31% 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
Red22%
Green73%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#bcba91
HEX (8-digit)#bcba91ff
RGBrgb(188, 186, 145)
RGBArgba(188, 186, 145, 1)
HSLhsl(57, 24%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(57, 23%, 74%)
HWBhwb(57 57% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 1%, 23%, 26%)
LABlab(74.7 -6.0 21.1)
LCHlch(74.7 22.0 106.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.780 0.056 105.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(43.41, 47.85, 33.73)
Decimal12368529
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.729 0.569)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcba91;
background-color: #bcba91;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcba91;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcba91] bg-[#bcba91]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcba91;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.729, blue: 0.569)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.729, blue: 0.569, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCBA91</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCBA91)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCBA91)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(145, 186, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 186, 145)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 186, 145)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 186, 145)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.7294f, 0.5686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,186,145}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcba91 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcba91 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4F4E30, #E8E7D9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcba91 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: #F9F9F6;
  --brand-100: #F3F2ED;
  --brand-200: #E5E4D7;
  --brand-300: #D5D3B9;
  --brand-400: #bcba91;
  --brand-500: #AAA874;
  --brand-600: #98955D;
  --brand-700: #7F7C4D;
  --brand-800: #65643E;
  --brand-900: #4B4A30;
  --brand-950: #2F2E1E;
  --brand: #bcba91;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9F9F5;
  --brand-border: #E0DFCC;
  --brand-hover: #AFAC7B;
  --brand-pressed: #A19E65;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232215;
    --brand-ink: #E8E7D9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F6',
        100: '#F3F2ED',
        200: '#E5E4D7',
        300: '#D5D3B9',
        400: '#bcba91',
        500: '#AAA874',
        600: '#98955D',
        700: '#7F7C4D',
        800: '#65643E',
        900: '#4B4A30',
        950: '#2F2E1E',
        DEFAULT: '#bcba91',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F6,
  '100': #F3F2ED,
  '200': #E5E4D7,
  '300': #D5D3B9,
  '400': #bcba91,
  '500': #AAA874,
  '600': #98955D,
  '700': #7F7C4D,
  '800': #65643E,
  '900': #4B4A30,
  '950': #2F2E1E,
);
$brand-base: #bcba91;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F6", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F3F2ED", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5E4D7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D5D3B9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bcba91", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#AAA874", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#98955D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7F7C4D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#65643E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4B4A30", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2F2E1E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcba91 · 10.57:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.99:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.57:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcba91 as text scores 1.99:1 on white and 10.57:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4F4E30 at 4.29:1.

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
#79774A · 4.61:1
AA on white−27% L
#79774A
The quick fox
#5A5837 · 7.28:1
AAA on white−37% L
#5A5837
The quick fox
#bcba91 · 10.57:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcba91
The quick fox
#bcba91 · 10.57:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcba91

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #99965D 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
#bcba91 on white: 1.99:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcba91 on black: 10.57:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bcba91 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bcba91.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.99:1AaAa
Slate 501.90:1AaAa
Slate 1001.81:1AaAa
Slate 2001.61:1AaAa
Slate 3001.34:1AaAa
Slate 4001.29:1AaAa
Slate 5002.40:1AaAa
Slate 6003.81:1AaAa
Slate 7005.21:1AaAa
Slate 8007.36:1AaAa
Slate 9008.99:1AaAa
Black10.57:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C1B78E
deuteranopia · #C3B992
tritanopia · #C3B5AF

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. #bcba91 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F9F6
#F3F2ED
#E5E4D7
#D5D3B9
#bcba91
#AAA874
#98955D
#7F7C4D
#65643E
#4B4A30
#2F2E1E
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F6Darkest = 950 · #2F2E1EText 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 0.014 105.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 105.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 105.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 105.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.051 105.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.056 105.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.056 105.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 105.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.047 105.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.039 105.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 105.3);
}

Colors that work with #bcba91

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#F9F9F5
Tinted page background
Border#E0DFCC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8F8C57
Captions on the surface
Accent#495A83
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4F4E30
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F5EF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232215
Dark-mode background
Hover#AFAC7B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A19E65
Two steps down
Disabled#E6E5D7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CCC996
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 #bcba91

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #4F4E30
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #99965D

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight35/100
  • 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#9193BC
Analogous left#BCA591
Analogous right#A9BC91
Split-complement 1#91A9BC
Split-complement 2#A591BC
Triadic 1#91BCBA
Triadic 2#BA91BC
Tetradic#91BCA5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°57°

#bcba91 sits at 57°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green72.9%
Blue56.9%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
145
0x91

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta1.1%
Yellow22.9%
Key (black)26.3%

Total ink coverage is 50%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcba91 text on a black background

contrast 10.57:1

Card sample

#bcba91 text on a white background

contrast 1.99:1

Card sample

#bcba91 on grey

1.81:1

#bcba91 on its own surface

1.88:1

#bcba91 on its dark surface

8.06:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bcba91;
Background color
Panel with #bcba91 background
background-color: #bcba91;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bcba91;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 186, 145, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 186, 145, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcba91;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcba91, #A1BC91);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcba91, #97BC91);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcba91;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcba91;
caret-color: #bcba91;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcba91;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F5EF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcba91;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcba91 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcba91 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, 145, 0.5)
rgb(188 186 145 / 50%)
#bcba9180
hsl(57 24% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcba91 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcba911a#F8F8F4
20%#bcba9133#F2F1E9
40%#bcba9166#E4E3D3
60%#bcba9199#D7D6BD
80%#bcba91cc#C9C8A7

Gradients from #bcba91

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, #D3D2B7, #bcba91 45%, #4F4E30);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcba91, #8DB07E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcba91, #9193BC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DFDECA 0%, #bcba91 45%, #4F4E30 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9F9F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CFBCB1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B5C8A4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4F4E30 0%, transparent 65%), #bcba91;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcba91

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.

#bcba91 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 10.57:1.

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.

#bcba91, answered

What color is #bcba91?

#bcba91 is a light soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 7.8). It sits at 57° on the hue wheel with 24% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bcba91?

rgb(188, 186, 145) — 188 red, 186 green and 145 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 72.9% / 56.9% by channel.

What is #bcba91 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(57, 24%, 65%) and hsv(57, 23%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcba91 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4785 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 10.57:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcba91?

Black. It scores 10.57:1 against #bcba91, versus 1.99:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcba91 accessible on a white background?

#bcba91 on white scores 1.99:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #79774A to reach 4.5:1, or #5A5837 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcba91?

#9193BC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #91A9BC and #A591BC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcba91?

For interface work: #F9F9F5 as the surface, #E0DFCC for borders, #8F8C57 for secondary text, #495A83 as an accent and #4F4E30 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BCA591 and #A9BC91 stays calm, while #9193BC is the loudest partner.

What is #bcba91 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 1%, 23%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcba91 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 31 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BCAA91; nudged cooler, #AFBE8F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcba91?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 20 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcba91 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcba91 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bcba91] or text-[#bcba91], 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 #bcba91 with 50% opacity?

rgba(188, 186, 145, 0.5), or #bcba9180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEDDC8; over black, #5E5D49.

Is #bcba91 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcba91 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bcba91?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D3D2B7, #bcba91 45%, #4F4E30). For more colour, a short hue run to #8DB07E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcba91 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bcba91 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.