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yellow · warm

#bda044

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

Token name suggestion: True Citron

RGB
189, 160, 68
HSL
46°, 48%, 50%
CMYK
0, 15, 64, 26
Luminance
0.3638

#bda044 is a balanced vivid yellow, 46° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.28:1). As text it scores 2.54:1 on white — use #897430 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(46 48% 50%)rgb(189 160 68)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bda044 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bda044
Hue
46°
yellow
Saturation
48%
vivid
Lightness
50%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3638
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.28:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 7.6
Chroma
50.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.714
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 10.6
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue46° of 360°
Saturation48%
Lightness50%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bda044.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool13% 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
Red30%
Green69%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#bda044
HEX (8-digit)#bda044ff
RGBrgb(189, 160, 68)
RGBArgba(189, 160, 68, 1)
HSLhsl(46, 48%, 50%)
HSV / HSBhsv(46, 64%, 74%)
HWBhwb(46 27% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 15%, 64%, 26%)
LABlab(66.8 0.1 50.6)
LCHlch(66.8 50.6 89.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.714 0.116 91.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(34.60, 36.38, 10.67)
Decimal12427332
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.627 0.267)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bda044;
background-color: #bda044;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bda044;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bda044] bg-[#bda044]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bda044;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.627, blue: 0.267)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.741, green: 0.627, blue: 0.267, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BDA044</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBDA044)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDA044)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(68, 160, 189)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(189, 160, 68)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(189, 160, 68)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 189, 160, 68)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7412f, 0.6275f, 0.2667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{189,160,68}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bda044 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bda044 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5E5021, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bda044 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: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F5F3EA;
  --brand-200: #ECE5D0;
  --brand-300: #E2D5AC;
  --brand-400: #D3C083;
  --brand-500: #C4AB59;
  --brand-600: #bda044;
  --brand-700: #977F35;
  --brand-800: #79662B;
  --brand-900: #584B22;
  --brand-950: #372F15;
  --brand: #bda044;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EAE0C3;
  --brand-hover: #A48A3A;
  --brand-pressed: #897430;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF9F4',
        100: '#F5F3EA',
        200: '#ECE5D0',
        300: '#E2D5AC',
        400: '#D3C083',
        500: '#C4AB59',
        600: '#bda044',
        700: '#977F35',
        800: '#79662B',
        900: '#584B22',
        950: '#372F15',
        DEFAULT: '#bda044',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF9F4,
  '100': #F5F3EA,
  '200': #ECE5D0,
  '300': #E2D5AC,
  '400': #D3C083,
  '500': #C4AB59,
  '600': #bda044,
  '700': #977F35,
  '800': #79662B,
  '900': #584B22,
  '950': #372F15,
);
$brand-base: #bda044;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F3EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECE5D0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E2D5AC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D3C083", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C4AB59", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#bda044", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#977F35", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#79662B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#584B22", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#372F15", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bda044 · 8.28:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.54:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.28:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bda044 as text scores 2.54:1 on white and 8.28:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5E5021 at 3.13:1.

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
#897430 · 4.56:1
AA on white−14% L
#897430
The quick fox
#675724 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−23% L
#675724
The quick fox
#bda044 · 8.28:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bda044
The quick fox
#bda044 · 8.28:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bda044

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AB913C 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
#bda044 on white: 2.54:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bda044 on black: 8.28:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bda044 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bda044.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.54:1AaAa
Slate 502.43:1AaAa
Slate 1002.32:1AaAa
Slate 2002.06:1AaAa
Slate 3001.71:1AaAa
Slate 4001.01:1AaAa
Slate 5001.88:1AaAa
Slate 6002.99:1AaAa
Slate 7004.08:1AaAa
Slate 8005.76:1AaAa
Slate 9007.04:1AaAa
Black8.28:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B09E3A
deuteranopia · #B7A648
tritanopia · #CC948C

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. #bda044 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.

#FAF9F4
#F5F3EA
#ECE5D0
#E2D5AC
#D3C083
#C4AB59
#bda044
#977F35
#79662B
#584B22
#372F15
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FAF9F4Darkest = 950 · #372F15Text 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 0.029 91.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 91.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 91.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.090 91.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.106 91.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.116 91.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.116 91.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.109 91.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.097 91.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.081 91.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.064 91.7);
}

Colors that work with #bda044

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#EAE0C3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B884B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3F7FC2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5E5021
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F5EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#A48A3A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#897430
Two steps down
Disabled#C8C1A9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CEAE48
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 #bda044

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 #5E5021
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AB913C

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
  • Weight50/100
  • 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#4461BD
Analogous left#BD6444
Analogous right#9EBD44
Split-complement 1#449EBD
Split-complement 2#6444BD
Triadic 1#44BDA0
Triadic 2#A044BD
Tetradic#44BD64
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°46°

#bda044 sits at 46°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green62.7%
Blue26.7%
R · 0–255
189
0xbd
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
68
0x44

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta15.3%
Yellow64.0%
Key (black)25.9%

Total ink coverage is 105%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bda044 text on a black background

contrast 8.28:1

Card sample

#bda044 text on a white background

contrast 2.54:1

Card sample

#bda044 on grey

2.32:1

#bda044 on its own surface

2.41:1

#bda044 on its dark surface

6.41:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bda044;
Background color
Panel with #bda044 background
background-color: #bda044;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bda044;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 160, 68, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 160, 68, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bda044;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bda044, #89BD44);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bda044, #6BBD44);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bda044;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bda044;
caret-color: #bda044;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bda044;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F5EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bda044;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bda044 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bda044 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(189, 160, 68, 0.5)
rgb(189 160 68 / 50%)
#bda04480
hsl(46 48% 50% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bda044 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bda0441a#F8F6EC
20%#bda04433#F2ECDA
40%#bda04466#E5D9B4
60%#bda04499#D7C68F
80%#bda044cc#CAB369

Gradients from #bda044

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, #CDB771, #bda044 45%, #5E5021);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bda044, #70A73B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bda044, #4461BD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #D5C288 0%, #bda044 45%, #5E5021 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%, #CA7B6A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A0C55B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5E5021 0%, transparent 65%), #bda044;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bda044

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.

#bda044 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 8.28:1.

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.

#bda044, answered

What color is #bda044?

#bda044 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 7.6). It sits at 46° on the hue wheel with 48% saturation and 50% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bda044?

rgb(189, 160, 68) — 189 red, 160 green and 68 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 62.7% / 26.7% by channel.

What is #bda044 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(46, 48%, 50%) and hsv(46, 64%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bda044 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3638 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 8.28:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bda044?

Black. It scores 8.28:1 against #bda044, versus 2.54:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bda044 accessible on a white background?

#bda044 on white scores 2.54:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #897430 to reach 4.5:1, or #675724 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bda044?

#4461BD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #449EBD and #6444BD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bda044?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EAE0C3 for borders, #9B884B for secondary text, #3F7FC2 as an accent and #5E5021 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BD6444 and #9EBD44 stays calm, while #4461BD is the loudest partner.

What is #bda044 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 15%, 64%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bda044 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 13 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BD8544; nudged cooler, #B0C042.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bda044?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 10.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bda044 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bda044 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bda044] or text-[#bda044], 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 #bda044 with 50% opacity?

rgba(189, 160, 68, 0.5), or #bda04480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DED0A2; over black, #5F5022.

Is #bda044 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 6.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bda044 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 #bda044?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #CDB771, #bda044 45%, #5E5021). For more colour, a short hue run to #70A73B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bda044 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bda044 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.