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yellow · warm

#bec491

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Citron

RGB
190, 196, 145
HSL
67°, 30%, 67%
CMYK
3, 0, 26, 23
Luminance
0.5247

#bec491 is a light soft yellow, 67° on the wheel and 34/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.49:1). As text it scores 1.83:1 on white — use #747B42 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(67 30% 67%)rgb(190 196 145)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bec491 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bec491
Hue
67°
yellow
Saturation
30%
soft
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
77%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5247
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
34/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.49:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 7.3
Chroma
27.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.803
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 17.3
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue67° of 360°
Saturation30%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bec491.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool34% 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
Red21%
Green75%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#bec491
HEX (8-digit)#bec491ff
RGBrgb(190, 196, 145)
RGBArgba(190, 196, 145, 1)
HSLhsl(67, 30%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(67, 26%, 77%)
HWBhwb(67 57% 23%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 26%, 23%)
LABlab(77.6 -10.5 25.0)
LCHlch(77.6 27.1 112.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.803 0.069 113.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(46.09, 52.47, 34.48)
Decimal12502161
Display P3color(display-p3 0.745 0.769 0.569)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bec491;
background-color: #bec491;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bec491;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bec491] bg-[#bec491]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bec491;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.745, green: 0.769, blue: 0.569)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.745, green: 0.769, blue: 0.569, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BEC491</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBEC491)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBEC491)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(145, 196, 190)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(190, 196, 145)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(190, 196, 145)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 190, 196, 145)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7451f, 0.7686f, 0.5686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{190,196,145}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bec491 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bec491 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#4E532C, #E7EAD7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bec491 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: #F2F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E5E7D5;
  --brand-300: #D4D8B6;
  --brand-400: #bec491;
  --brand-500: #A9B16D;
  --brand-600: #979F55;
  --brand-700: #7E8547;
  --brand-800: #646A39;
  --brand-900: #4A4E2C;
  --brand-950: #2E311C;
  --brand: #bec491;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-border: #E0E3CA;
  --brand-hover: #B0B87A;
  --brand-pressed: #A3AB63;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #222414;
    --brand-ink: #E7EAD7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F6',
        100: '#F2F3EC',
        200: '#E5E7D5',
        300: '#D4D8B6',
        400: '#bec491',
        500: '#A9B16D',
        600: '#979F55',
        700: '#7E8547',
        800: '#646A39',
        900: '#4A4E2C',
        950: '#2E311C',
        DEFAULT: '#bec491',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F6,
  '100': #F2F3EC,
  '200': #E5E7D5,
  '300': #D4D8B6,
  '400': #bec491,
  '500': #A9B16D,
  '600': #979F55,
  '700': #7E8547,
  '800': #646A39,
  '900': #4A4E2C,
  '950': #2E311C,
);
$brand-base: #bec491;
$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": "#F2F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E5E7D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D4D8B6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bec491", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#A9B16D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#979F55", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#7E8547", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#646A39", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4A4E2C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#2E311C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bec491 · 11.49:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.83:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.49:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bec491 as text scores 1.83:1 on white and 11.49:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #4E532C at 4.42:1.

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
#747B42 · 4.51:1
AA on white−30% L
#747B42
The quick fox
#545930 · 7.37:1
AAA on white−40% L
#545930
The quick fox
#bec491 · 11.49:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bec491
The quick fox
#bec491 · 11.49:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bec491

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #909852 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
#bec491 on white: 1.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bec491 on black: 11.49:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bec491 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bec491.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.83:1AaAa
Slate 501.75:1AaAa
Slate 1001.67:1AaAa
Slate 2001.48:1AaAa
Slate 3001.23:1AaAa
Slate 4001.40:1AaAa
Slate 5002.60:1AaAa
Slate 6004.15:1AaAa
Slate 7005.67:1AaAa
Slate 8008.01:1AaAa
Slate 9009.77:1AaAa
Black11.49:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #CCBF8E
deuteranopia · #CBC093
tritanopia · #C4BEB6

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. #bec491 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
#F2F3EC
#E5E7D5
#D4D8B6
#bec491
#A9B16D
#979F55
#7E8547
#646A39
#4A4E2C
#2E311C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F6Darkest = 950 · #2E311CText 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 0.017 113.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.027 113.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.041 113.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.054 113.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.063 113.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.069 113.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.069 113.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.065 113.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.058 113.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.048 113.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 113.4);
}

Colors that work with #bec491

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#F9FAF5
Tinted page background
Border#E0E3CA
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8D9550
Captions on the surface
Accent#444C88
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#4E532C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F5F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#222414
Dark-mode background
Hover#B0B87A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A3AB63
Two steps down
Disabled#E7E9DC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CCD397
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 #bec491

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 #4E532C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #909852

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
  • Weight33/100
  • 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#9791C4
Analogous left#C4B191
Analogous right#A5C491
Split-complement 1#91A5C4
Split-complement 2#B191C4
Triadic 1#91BEC4
Triadic 2#C491BE
Tetradic#91C4B1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°67°

#bec491 sits at 67°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red74.5%
Green76.9%
Blue56.9%
R · 0–255
190
0xbe
G · 0–255
196
0xc4
B · 0–255
145
0x91

CMYK percentages

Cyan3.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow26.0%
Key (black)23.1%

Total ink coverage is 52%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bec491 text on a black background

contrast 11.49:1

Card sample

#bec491 text on a white background

contrast 1.83:1

Card sample

#bec491 on grey

1.67:1

#bec491 on its own surface

1.74:1

#bec491 on its dark surface

8.64:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bec491;
Background color
Panel with #bec491 background
background-color: #bec491;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bec491;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(190, 196, 145, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(190, 196, 145, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bec491;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bec491, #9CC491);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bec491, #91C493);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bec491;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bec491;
caret-color: #bec491;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bec491;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F5F6EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bec491;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bec491 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bec491 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(190, 196, 145, 0.5)
rgb(190 196 145 / 50%)
#bec49180
hsl(67 30% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bec491 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bec4911a#F9F9F4
20%#bec49133#F2F3E9
40%#bec49166#E5E7D3
60%#bec49199#D8DCBD
80%#bec491cc#CBD0A7

Gradients from #bec491

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, #D6D9B9, #bec491 45%, #4E532C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bec491, #85B97D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bec491, #9791C4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E1E4CD 0%, #bec491 45%, #4E532C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9FAF5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D6C5B2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B1CFA5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #4E532C 0%, transparent 65%), #bec491;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bec491

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.

#bec491 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 11.49:1.

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.

#bec491, answered

What color is #bec491?

#bec491 is a light soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 67° on the hue wheel with 30% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bec491?

rgb(190, 196, 145) — 190 red, 196 green and 145 blue out of 255, or 74.5% / 76.9% / 56.9% by channel.

What is #bec491 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(67, 30%, 67%) and hsv(67, 26%, 77%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bec491 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5247 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.49:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bec491?

Black. It scores 11.49:1 against #bec491, versus 1.83:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bec491 accessible on a white background?

#bec491 on white scores 1.83:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #747B42 to reach 4.5:1, or #545930 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bec491?

#9791C4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #91A5C4 and #B191C4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bec491?

For interface work: #F9FAF5 as the surface, #E0E3CA for borders, #8D9550 for secondary text, #444C88 as an accent and #4E532C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #C4B191 and #A5C491 stays calm, while #9791C4 is the loudest partner.

What is #bec491 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 26%, 23%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bec491 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 34 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #C4B791; nudged cooler, #ABC68F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bec491?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 17.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bec491 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bec491 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bec491] or text-[#bec491], 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 #bec491 with 50% opacity?

rgba(190, 196, 145, 0.5), or #bec49180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DFE2C8; over black, #5F6249.

Is #bec491 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bec491 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 #bec491?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D6D9B9, #bec491 45%, #4E532C). For more colour, a short hue run to #85B97D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bec491 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bec491 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.