Skip to content

#c9d310

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow Green

RGB
201, 211, 16
HSL
63°, 86%, 45%
CMYK
5, 0, 92, 17
Luminance
0.5904

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #c9d310 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#c9d310
Hue
63°
yellow
Saturation
86%
electric
Lightness
45%
dark
Brightness
83%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5904
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
28/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.81:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 9.6
Where it sits
Hue63° of 360°
Saturation86%
Lightness45%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool28% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#c9d310
RGBrgb(201, 211, 16)
HSLhsl(63, 86%, 45%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 0%, 92%, 17%)
LABlab(81.3 -22.8 79.4)
LCHlch(81.3 82.6 106.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.831 0.183 113.2)
Decimal13226768
Display P3color(display-p3 0.788 0.827 0.063)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #c9d310;
background-color: #c9d310;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#c9d310] bg-[#c9d310]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #c9d310;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.788, green: 0.827, blue: 0.063)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#c9d310")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFC9D310)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(16, 211, 201)

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 #c9d310 · 12.81:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.64:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.81:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #c9d310 as text scores 1.64:1 on white and 12.81:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#c9d310 on white: 1.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#c9d310 on black: 12.81:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E4C800
deuteranopia · #E4CC2D
tritanopia · #D7C5B4

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #c9d310 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.

#FCFDF2
#F9FAE5
#F4F7C5
#F2F797
#ECF363
#E5EF2E
#c9d310
#B5BE0E
#90980C
#696E0D
#414408
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCFDF2Darkest = 950 · #414408
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFDF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FAE5;
  --brand-200: #F4F7C5;
  --brand-300: #F2F797;
  --brand-400: #ECF363;
  --brand-500: #E5EF2E;
  --brand-600: #c9d310;
  --brand-700: #B5BE0E;
  --brand-800: #90980C;
  --brand-900: #696E0D;
  --brand-950: #414408;
  --brand: #c9d310;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #c9d310

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#EAEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#979B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0B34D7
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#717709
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #c9d310

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#1A10D3
Analogous left#D37C10
Analogous right#67D310
Split-complement 1#1067D3
Split-complement 2#7C10D3
Triadic 1#10C9D3
Triadic 2#D310C9
Tetradic#10D37C

RGB percentages

Red78.8%
Green82.7%
Blue6.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow92.4%
Key (black)17.3%

Color previews

#c9d310 text on a black background

contrast 12.81:1

Card sample

#c9d310 text on a white background

contrast 1.64:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #c9d310;
Background color
Panel with #c9d310 background
background-color: #c9d310;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #c9d310;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(201, 211, 16, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(201, 211, 16, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #c9d310;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #c9d310, #47D310);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #c9d310

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#c9d310 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#c9d310, answered

What color is #c9d310?

#c9d310 is a dark electric yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 9.6). It sits at 63° on the hue wheel with 86% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #c9d310?

rgb(201, 211, 16) — 201 red, 211 green and 16 blue out of 255, or 78.8% / 82.7% / 6.3% by channel.

Is #c9d310 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5904 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.81:1.

Should I use black or white text on #c9d310?

Black. It scores 12.81:1 against #c9d310, versus 1.64:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #c9d310?

#1A10D3 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1067D3 and #7C10D3, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #c9d310?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EAEDC0 for borders, #979B4B for secondary text, #0B34D7 as an accent and #717709 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D37C10 and #67D310 stays calm, while #1A10D3 is the loudest partner.

What is #c9d310 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 0%, 92%, 17%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #c9d310 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 28 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D39910; nudged cooler, #82D50E.

Work with #c9d310 in the Color Lab