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yellow · warm

#cabc9a

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Citron

RGB
202, 188, 154
HSL
43°, 31%, 70%
CMYK
0, 7, 24, 21
Luminance
0.5086

#cabc9a is a light soft yellow, 43° on the wheel and 15/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.17:1). As text it scores 1.88:1 on white — use #857346 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(43 31% 70%)rgb(202 188 154)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cabc9a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cabc9a
Hue
43°
yellow
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5086
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.17:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
19.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.798
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 18.8
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue43° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cabc9a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool15% 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
Red25%
Green71%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#cabc9a
HEX (8-digit)#cabc9aff
RGBrgb(202, 188, 154)
RGBArgba(202, 188, 154, 1)
HSLhsl(43, 31%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(43, 24%, 79%)
HWBhwb(43 60% 21%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 24%, 21%)
LABlab(76.6 -0.5 19.0)
LCHlch(76.6 19.0 91.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.798 0.049 88.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.17, 50.86, 37.84)
Decimal13286554
Display P3color(display-p3 0.792 0.737 0.604)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cabc9a;
background-color: #cabc9a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cabc9a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cabc9a] bg-[#cabc9a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cabc9a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.792, green: 0.737, blue: 0.604)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.792, green: 0.737, blue: 0.604, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CABC9A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCABC9A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCABC9A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(154, 188, 202)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(202, 188, 154)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(202, 188, 154)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 202, 188, 154)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7922f, 0.7373f, 0.6039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{202,188,154}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cabc9a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cabc9a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#54482C, #EAE4D7);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cabc9a 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: #F3F1EC;
  --brand-200: #E7E2D5;
  --brand-300: #D8CEB5;
  --brand-400: #cabc9a;
  --brand-500: #B29D6C;
  --brand-600: #A18A54;
  --brand-700: #867346;
  --brand-800: #6B5C38;
  --brand-900: #4F452C;
  --brand-950: #312B1B;
  --brand: #cabc9a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-border: #E3DCC9;
  --brand-hover: #BEAC83;
  --brand-pressed: #B19D6B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EAE4D7;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F8F5',
        100: '#F3F1EC',
        200: '#E7E2D5',
        300: '#D8CEB5',
        400: '#cabc9a',
        500: '#B29D6C',
        600: '#A18A54',
        700: '#867346',
        800: '#6B5C38',
        900: '#4F452C',
        950: '#312B1B',
        DEFAULT: '#cabc9a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F8F5,
  '100': #F3F1EC,
  '200': #E7E2D5,
  '300': #D8CEB5,
  '400': #cabc9a,
  '500': #B29D6C,
  '600': #A18A54,
  '700': #867346,
  '800': #6B5C38,
  '900': #4F452C,
  '950': #312B1B,
);
$brand-base: #cabc9a;
$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": "#F3F1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7E2D5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D8CEB5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cabc9a", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B29D6C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A18A54", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#867346", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6B5C38", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#4F452C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#312B1B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cabc9a · 11.17:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.88:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.17:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cabc9a as text scores 1.88:1 on white and 11.17:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #54482C at 4.77:1.

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
#857346 · 4.63:1
AA on white−30% L
#857346
The quick fox
#645634 · 7.19:1
AAA on white−40% L
#645634
The quick fox
#cabc9a · 11.17:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cabc9a
The quick fox
#cabc9a · 11.17:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cabc9a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A9925A 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
#cabc9a on white: 1.88:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cabc9a on black: 11.17:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cabc9a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cabc9a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.88:1AaAa
Slate 501.80:1AaAa
Slate 1001.72:1AaAa
Slate 2001.52:1AaAa
Slate 3001.27:1AaAa
Slate 4001.36:1AaAa
Slate 5002.53:1AaAa
Slate 6004.03:1AaAa
Slate 7005.51:1AaAa
Slate 8007.78:1AaAa
Slate 9009.50:1AaAa
Black11.17:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C4BB98
deuteranopia · #C8BF9B
tritanopia · #D2B6B3

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. #cabc9a 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
#F3F1EC
#E7E2D5
#D8CEB5
#cabc9a
#B29D6C
#A18A54
#867346
#6B5C38
#4F452C
#312B1B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F8F5Darkest = 950 · #312B1BText 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 0.012 88.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 88.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.029 88.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.038 88.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.045 88.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.049 88.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.049 88.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.046 88.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.041 88.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.034 88.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.027 88.3);
}

Colors that work with #cabc9a

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#97824F
Captions on the surface
Accent#42698A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#54482C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F4EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#BEAC83
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B19D6B
Two steps down
Disabled#EFECE5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D8C8A1
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 #cabc9a

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 #54482C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A9925A

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
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#9AA8CA
Analogous left#CAA49A
Analogous right#C0CA9A
Split-complement 1#9AC0CA
Split-complement 2#A49ACA
Triadic 1#9ACABC
Triadic 2#BC9ACA
Tetradic#9ACAA4
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°43°

#cabc9a sits at 43°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.2%
Green73.7%
Blue60.4%
R · 0–255
202
0xca
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
154
0x9a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta6.9%
Yellow23.8%
Key (black)20.8%

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

Color previews

#cabc9a text on a black background

contrast 11.17:1

Card sample

#cabc9a text on a white background

contrast 1.88:1

Card sample

#cabc9a on grey

1.72:1

#cabc9a on its own surface

1.77:1

#cabc9a on its dark surface

8.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cabc9a;
Background color
Panel with #cabc9a background
background-color: #cabc9a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cabc9a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(202, 188, 154, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(202, 188, 154, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cabc9a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cabc9a, #B8CA9A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cabc9a, #ACCA9A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cabc9a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cabc9a;
caret-color: #cabc9a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cabc9a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F4EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cabc9a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cabc9a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cabc9a 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(202, 188, 154, 0.5)
rgb(202 188 154 / 50%)
#cabc9a80
hsl(43 31% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cabc9a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cabc9a1a#FAF8F5
20%#cabc9a33#F4F2EB
40%#cabc9a66#EAE4D7
60%#cabc9a99#DFD7C2
80%#cabc9acc#D5C9AE

Gradients from #cabc9a

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, #DFD7C2, #cabc9a 45%, #54482C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cabc9a, #A5BF86);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cabc9a, #9AA8CA);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAE4D6 0%, #cabc9a 45%, #54482C 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%, #DCBFBB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C9D5AE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #54482C 0%, transparent 65%), #cabc9a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cabc9a

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.

#cabc9a 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 11.17:1.

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.

#cabc9a, answered

What color is #cabc9a?

#cabc9a is a light soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 43° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cabc9a?

rgb(202, 188, 154) — 202 red, 188 green and 154 blue out of 255, or 79.2% / 73.7% / 60.4% by channel.

What is #cabc9a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(43, 31%, 70%) and hsv(43, 24%, 79%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cabc9a a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5086 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.17:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cabc9a?

Black. It scores 11.17:1 against #cabc9a, versus 1.88:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cabc9a accessible on a white background?

#cabc9a on white scores 1.88:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #857346 to reach 4.5:1, or #645634 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cabc9a?

#9AA8CA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9AC0CA and #A49ACA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cabc9a?

For interface work: #FAF8F5 as the surface, #E3DCC9 for borders, #97824F for secondary text, #42698A as an accent and #54482C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CAA49A and #C0CA9A stays calm, while #9AA8CA is the loudest partner.

What is #cabc9a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 24%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cabc9a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 15 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CAB19A; nudged cooler, #C8CC98.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cabc9a?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 18.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cabc9a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cabc9a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cabc9a] or text-[#cabc9a], 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 #cabc9a with 50% opacity?

rgba(202, 188, 154, 0.5), or #cabc9a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5DECD; over black, #655E4D.

Is #cabc9a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cabc9a 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 #cabc9a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DFD7C2, #cabc9a 45%, #54482C). For more colour, a short hue run to #A5BF86 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cabc9a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cabc9a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.