Skip to content

#cacb0c

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Gold

RGB
202, 203, 12
HSL
60°, 89%, 42%
CMYK
1, 0, 94, 20
Luminance
0.5529

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cacb0c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cacb0c
Hue
60°
yellow
Saturation
89%
electric
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5529
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.06:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 10.8
Where it sits
Hue60° of 360°
Saturation89%
Lightness42%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool25% 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#cacb0c
RGBrgb(202, 203, 12)
HSLhsl(60, 89%, 42%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 94%, 20%)
LABlab(79.2 -18.4 78.3)
LCHlch(79.2 80.5 103.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.815 0.176 110.1)
Decimal13290252
Display P3color(display-p3 0.792 0.796 0.047)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cacb0c;
background-color: #cacb0c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cacb0c] bg-[#cacb0c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cacb0c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.792, green: 0.796, blue: 0.047)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cacb0c")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCACB0C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(12, 203, 202)

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 #cacb0c · 12.06:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.74:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.06:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cacb0c as text scores 1.74:1 on white and 12.06:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cacb0c on white: 1.74:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cacb0c on black: 12.06:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #DCC200
deuteranopia · #DEC629
tritanopia · #D9BDAD

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cacb0c is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDFDF2
#FAFBE5
#F8F8C4
#F8F995
#F5F660
#F1F22B
#E6E70E
#cacb0c
#999A09
#6F6F0B
#454507
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FDFDF2Darkest = 950 · #454507
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFDF2;
  --brand-100: #FAFBE5;
  --brand-200: #F8F8C4;
  --brand-300: #F8F995;
  --brand-400: #F5F660;
  --brand-500: #F1F22B;
  --brand-600: #E6E70E;
  --brand-700: #cacb0c;
  --brand-800: #999A09;
  --brand-900: #6F6F0B;
  --brand-950: #454507;
  --brand: #cacb0c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cacb0c

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#ECEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0839CF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#787807
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDFEE7
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 #cacb0c

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#0D0CCB
Analogous left#CB6D0C
Analogous right#6BCB0C
Split-complement 1#0C6BCB
Split-complement 2#6D0CCB
Triadic 1#0CCACB
Triadic 2#CB0CCA
Tetradic#0CCB6D

RGB percentages

Red79.2%
Green79.6%
Blue4.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow94.1%
Key (black)20.4%

Color previews

#cacb0c text on a black background

contrast 12.06:1

Card sample

#cacb0c text on a white background

contrast 1.74:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cacb0c;
Background color
Panel with #cacb0c background
background-color: #cacb0c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cacb0c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(202, 203, 12, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(202, 203, 12, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cacb0c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cacb0c, #4BCB0C);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cacb0c

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.

#cacb0c 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.

#cacb0c, answered

What color is #cacb0c?

#cacb0c is a dark electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 10.8). It sits at 60° on the hue wheel with 89% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cacb0c?

rgb(202, 203, 12) — 202 red, 203 green and 12 blue out of 255, or 79.2% / 79.6% / 4.7% by channel.

Is #cacb0c a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5529 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 12.06:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cacb0c?

Black. It scores 12.06:1 against #cacb0c, versus 1.74:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cacb0c?

#0D0CCB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0C6BCB and #6D0CCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cacb0c?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #ECEDC0 for borders, #9B9B4B for secondary text, #0839CF as an accent and #787807 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB6D0C and #6BCB0C stays calm, while #0D0CCB is the loudest partner.

What is #cacb0c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 94%, 20%). 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 #cacb0c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 25 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB8F0C; nudged cooler, #85CD0A.

Work with #cacb0c in the Color Lab