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yellow · warm

#cba01f

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Atlas Citron

RGB
203, 160, 31
HSL
45°, 74%, 46%
CMYK
0, 21, 85, 20
Luminance
0.3794

#cba01f is a balanced vivid yellow, 45° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.59:1). As text it scores 2.45:1 on white — use #8D6F16 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(45 74% 46%)rgb(203 160 31)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cba01f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cba01f
Hue
45°
yellow
Saturation
74%
vivid
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3794
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.59:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.3
Chroma
66.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.726
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 6.7
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue45° of 360°
Saturation74%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cba01f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool13% 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
Red33%
Green66%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#cba01f
HEX (8-digit)#cba01fff
RGBrgb(203, 160, 31)
RGBArgba(203, 160, 31, 1)
HSLhsl(45, 74%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(45, 85%, 80%)
HWBhwb(45 12% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 21%, 85%, 20%)
LABlab(68.0 4.6 66.0)
LCHlch(68.0 66.2 86.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.726 0.141 88.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.45, 37.94, 6.65)
Decimal13344799
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.627 0.122)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cba01f;
background-color: #cba01f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cba01f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba01f] bg-[#cba01f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba01f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.627, blue: 0.122)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.627, blue: 0.122, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBA01F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBA01F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA01F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(31, 160, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 160, 31)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 160, 31)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 160, 31)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6275f, 0.1216f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,160,31}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cba01f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cba01f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6F5711, #EEE7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cba01f 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: #FCFAF3;
  --brand-100: #F8F4E7;
  --brand-200: #F3E9C8;
  --brand-300: #F0DC9E;
  --brand-400: #E9CA6D;
  --brand-500: #E1B83C;
  --brand-600: #cba01f;
  --brand-700: #B18B1B;
  --brand-800: #8E7016;
  --brand-900: #675214;
  --brand-950: #40330C;
  --brand: #cba01f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE1C0;
  --brand-hover: #AC881A;
  --brand-pressed: #8D6F16;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFAF3',
        100: '#F8F4E7',
        200: '#F3E9C8',
        300: '#F0DC9E',
        400: '#E9CA6D',
        500: '#E1B83C',
        600: '#cba01f',
        700: '#B18B1B',
        800: '#8E7016',
        900: '#675214',
        950: '#40330C',
        DEFAULT: '#cba01f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFAF3,
  '100': #F8F4E7,
  '200': #F3E9C8,
  '300': #F0DC9E,
  '400': #E9CA6D,
  '500': #E1B83C,
  '600': #cba01f,
  '700': #B18B1B,
  '800': #8E7016,
  '900': #675214,
  '950': #40330C,
);
$brand-base: #cba01f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFAF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F4E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3E9C8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F0DC9E", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E9CA6D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E1B83C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#cba01f", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B18B1B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8E7016", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#675214", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#40330C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cba01f · 8.59:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.59:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cba01f as text scores 2.45:1 on white and 8.59:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6F5711 at 2.82:1.

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
#8D6F16 · 4.75:1
AA on white−14% L
#8D6F16
The quick fox
#6A5310 · 7.35:1
AAA on white−22% L
#6A5310
The quick fox
#cba01f · 8.59:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cba01f
The quick fox
#cba01f · 8.59:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cba01f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B58F1C 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
#cba01f on white: 2.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cba01f on black: 8.59:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cba01f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cba01f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.45:1AaAa
Slate 502.34:1AaAa
Slate 1002.23:1AaAa
Slate 2001.98:1AaAa
Slate 3001.65:1AaAa
Slate 4001.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.95:1AaAa
Slate 6003.10:1AaAa
Slate 7004.23:1AaAa
Slate 8005.98:1AaAa
Slate 9007.30:1AaAa
Black8.59:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B49F00
deuteranopia · #BFAA28
tritanopia · #DD9189

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. #cba01f 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.

#FCFAF3
#F8F4E7
#F3E9C8
#F0DC9E
#E9CA6D
#E1B83C
#cba01f
#B18B1B
#8E7016
#675214
#40330C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCFAF3Darkest = 950 · #40330CText 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 0.035 88.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.056 88.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.085 88.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.110 88.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.130 88.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.141 88.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.141 88.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.132 88.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.118 88.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.099 88.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.077 88.1);
}

Colors that work with #cba01f

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#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE1C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B874B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1A75D0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6F5711
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCF7E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#AC881A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8D6F16
Two steps down
Disabled#BFB69B
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E9B415
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 #cba01f

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #6F5711
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B58F1C

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • Weight54/100
  • 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#1F4ACB
Analogous left#CB4A1F
Analogous right#A0CB1F
Split-complement 1#1FA0CB
Split-complement 2#4A1FCB
Triadic 1#1FCBA0
Triadic 2#A01FCB
Tetradic#1FCB4A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°45°

#cba01f sits at 45°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green62.7%
Blue12.2%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
160
0xa0
B · 0–255
31
0x1f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta21.2%
Yellow84.7%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 126%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cba01f text on a black background

contrast 8.59:1

Card sample

#cba01f text on a white background

contrast 2.45:1

Card sample

#cba01f on grey

2.23:1

#cba01f on its own surface

2.32:1

#cba01f on its dark surface

6.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cba01f;
Background color
Panel with #cba01f background
background-color: #cba01f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba01f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 160, 31, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 160, 31, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cba01f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba01f, #83CB1F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba01f, #58CB1F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cba01f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cba01f;
caret-color: #cba01f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cba01f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCF7E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cba01f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cba01f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cba01f 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(203, 160, 31, 0.5)
rgb(203 160 31 / 50%)
#cba01f80
hsl(45 74% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cba01f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cba01f1a#FAF6E9
20%#cba01f33#F5ECD2
40%#cba01f66#EAD9A5
60%#cba01f99#E0C679
80%#cba01fcc#D5B34C

Gradients from #cba01f

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, #E3BB45, #cba01f 45%, #6F5711);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cba01f, #66B11B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba01f, #1F4ACB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E7C55F 0%, #cba01f 45%, #6F5711 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E1573C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A2DE2A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6F5711 0%, transparent 65%), #cba01f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cba01f

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.

#cba01f 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 8.59:1.

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.

#cba01f, answered

What color is #cba01f?

#cba01f is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.3). It sits at 45° on the hue wheel with 74% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cba01f?

rgb(203, 160, 31) — 203 red, 160 green and 31 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 62.7% / 12.2% by channel.

What is #cba01f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(45, 74%, 46%) and hsv(45, 85%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cba01f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3794 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.59:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cba01f?

Black. It scores 8.59:1 against #cba01f, versus 2.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cba01f accessible on a white background?

#cba01f on white scores 2.45:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8D6F16 to reach 4.5:1, or #6A5310 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cba01f?

#1F4ACB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1FA0CB and #4A1FCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cba01f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE1C0 for borders, #9B874B for secondary text, #1A75D0 as an accent and #6F5711 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB4A1F and #A0CB1F stays calm, while #1F4ACB is the loudest partner.

What is #cba01f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 21%, 85%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cba01f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 13 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB801F; nudged cooler, #B9CD1D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cba01f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 6.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cba01f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cba01f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cba01f] or text-[#cba01f], 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 #cba01f with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 160, 31, 0.5), or #cba01f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D08F; over black, #665010.

Is #cba01f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 4.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cba01f 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #cba01f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3BB45, #cba01f 45%, #6F5711). For more colour, a short hue run to #66B11B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cba01f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cba01f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.