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yellow · warm

#bdab7f

a balanced, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Atlas Brass

RGB
189, 171, 127
HSL
43°, 32%, 62%
CMYK
0, 10, 33, 26
Luminance
0.4148

#bdab7f is a balanced soft yellow, 43° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.30:1). As text it scores 2.26:1 on white — use #877445 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(43 32% 62%)rgb(189 171 127)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bdab7f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bdab7f
Hue
43°
yellow
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
74%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4148
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.30:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 5.9
Chroma
25.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.746
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 16.8
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue43° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bdab7f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red26%
Green70%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#bdab7f
HEX (8-digit)#bdab7fff
RGBrgb(189, 171, 127)
RGBArgba(189, 171, 127, 1)
HSLhsl(43, 32%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(43, 33%, 74%)
HWBhwb(43 50% 26%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 10%, 33%, 26%)
LABlab(70.5 -0.1 25.1)
LCHlch(70.5 25.1 90.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.746 0.063 88.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.38, 41.48, 26.01)
Decimal12430207
Display P3color(display-p3 0.741 0.671 0.498)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bdab7f;
background-color: #bdab7f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bdab7f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bdab7f] bg-[#bdab7f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bdab7f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.741, green: 0.671, blue: 0.498)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.741, green: 0.671, blue: 0.498, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BDAB7F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBDAB7F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBDAB7F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(127, 171, 189)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(189, 171, 127)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(189, 171, 127)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 189, 171, 127)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7412f, 0.6706f, 0.4980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{189,171,127}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bdab7f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bdab7f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#54482B, #EAE5D7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bdab7f 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: #F9F8F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F1EC;
  --brand-200: #E7E2D5;
  --brand-300: #D9CEB5;
  --brand-400: #bdab7f;
  --brand-500: #B39E6B;
  --brand-600: #A28B53;
  --brand-700: #877445;
  --brand-800: #6C5D37;
  --brand-900: #4F452B;
  --brand-950: #322B1B;
  --brand: #bdab7f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E3DCC9;
  --brand-hover: #B19C68;
  --brand-pressed: #A28B53;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EAE5D7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F8F5',
        100: '#F4F1EC',
        200: '#E7E2D5',
        300: '#D9CEB5',
        400: '#bdab7f',
        500: '#B39E6B',
        600: '#A28B53',
        700: '#877445',
        800: '#6C5D37',
        900: '#4F452B',
        950: '#322B1B',
        DEFAULT: '#bdab7f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F8F5,
  '100': #F4F1EC,
  '200': #E7E2D5,
  '300': #D9CEB5,
  '400': #bdab7f,
  '500': #B39E6B,
  '600': #A28B53,
  '700': #877445,
  '800': #6C5D37,
  '900': #4F452B,
  '950': #322B1B,
);
$brand-base: #bdab7f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7E2D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D9CEB5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bdab7f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B39E6B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A28B53", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#877445", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6C5D37", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4F452B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#322B1B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bdab7f · 9.30:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.26:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.30:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bdab7f as text scores 2.26:1 on white and 9.30:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #54482B at 3.97:1.

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
#877445 · 4.55:1
AA on white−22% L
#877445
The quick fox
#655734 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−32% L
#655734
The quick fox
#bdab7f · 9.30:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bdab7f
The quick fox
#bdab7f · 9.30:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bdab7f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A89157 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
#bdab7f on white: 2.26:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bdab7f on black: 9.30:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bdab7f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bdab7f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.26:1AaAa
Slate 502.16:1AaAa
Slate 1002.06:1AaAa
Slate 2001.83:1AaAa
Slate 3001.52:1AaAa
Slate 4001.13:1AaAa
Slate 5002.11:1AaAa
Slate 6003.35:1AaAa
Slate 7004.58:1AaAa
Slate 8006.48:1AaAa
Slate 9007.90:1AaAa
Black9.30:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B5AA7C
deuteranopia · #BAAF80
tritanopia · #C7A49F

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. #bdab7f 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.

#F9F8F5
#F4F1EC
#E7E2D5
#D9CEB5
#bdab7f
#B39E6B
#A28B53
#877445
#6C5D37
#4F452B
#322B1B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F8F5Darkest = 950 · #322B1BText step on white = 700
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 0.016 88.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 88.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 88.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 88.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 88.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.063 88.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.063 88.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.059 88.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 88.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 88.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 88.3);
}

Colors that work with #bdab7f

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#FAF8F5
Tinted page background
Border#E3DCC9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#97824E
Captions on the surface
Accent#41698B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#54482B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F4EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#B19C68
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A28B53
Two steps down
Disabled#DFDACD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CDB884
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 #bdab7f

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #54482B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A89157

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 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
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#7F91BD
Analogous left#BD8C7F
Analogous right#B0BD7F
Split-complement 1#7FB0BD
Split-complement 2#8C7FBD
Triadic 1#7FBDAB
Triadic 2#AB7FBD
Tetradic#7FBD8C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°43°

#bdab7f sits at 43°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.1%
Green67.1%
Blue49.8%
R · 0–255
189
0xbd
G · 0–255
171
0xab
B · 0–255
127
0x7f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta9.5%
Yellow32.8%
Key (black)25.9%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bdab7f text on a black background

contrast 9.30:1

Card sample

#bdab7f text on a white background

contrast 2.26:1

Card sample

#bdab7f on grey

2.06:1

#bdab7f on its own surface

2.13:1

#bdab7f on its dark surface

7.20:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bdab7f;
Background color
Panel with #bdab7f background
background-color: #bdab7f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bdab7f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(189, 171, 127, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(189, 171, 127, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bdab7f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bdab7f, #A6BD7F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdab7f, #96BD7F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bdab7f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bdab7f;
caret-color: #bdab7f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bdab7f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F4EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bdab7f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bdab7f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bdab7f 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, 171, 127, 0.5)
rgb(189 171 127 / 50%)
#bdab7f80
hsl(43 32% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bdab7f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bdab7f1a#F8F7F2
20%#bdab7f33#F2EEE5
40%#bdab7f66#E5DDCC
60%#bdab7f99#D7CDB2
80%#bdab7fcc#CABC99

Gradients from #bdab7f

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, #D2C6A7, #bdab7f 45%, #54482B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bdab7f, #92B36B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bdab7f, #7F91BD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCD3BC 0%, #bdab7f 45%, #54482B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CEA7A1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B8C893 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #54482B 0%, transparent 65%), #bdab7f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bdab7f

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.

#bdab7f 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 9.30:1.

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.

#bdab7f, answered

What color is #bdab7f?

#bdab7f is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 43° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bdab7f?

rgb(189, 171, 127) — 189 red, 171 green and 127 blue out of 255, or 74.1% / 67.1% / 49.8% by channel.

What is #bdab7f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(43, 32%, 62%) and hsv(43, 33%, 74%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bdab7f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4148 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.30:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bdab7f?

Black. It scores 9.30:1 against #bdab7f, versus 2.26:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bdab7f accessible on a white background?

#bdab7f on white scores 2.26:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #877445 to reach 4.5:1, or #655734 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bdab7f?

#7F91BD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7FB0BD and #8C7FBD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bdab7f?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E3DCC9 for borders, #97824E for secondary text, #41698B as an accent and #54482B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BD8C7F and #B0BD7F stays calm, while #7F91BD is the loudest partner.

What is #bdab7f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 10%, 33%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bdab7f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BD9D7F; nudged cooler, #BABF7D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bdab7f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 16.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bdab7f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bdab7f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bdab7f] or text-[#bdab7f], 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 #bdab7f with 50% opacity?

rgba(189, 171, 127, 0.5), or #bdab7f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DED5BF; over black, #5F5640.

Is #bdab7f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 10.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bdab7f 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 #bdab7f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D2C6A7, #bdab7f 45%, #54482B). For more colour, a short hue run to #92B36B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bdab7f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bdab7f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.