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yellow · warm

#cba53f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Straw

RGB
203, 165, 63
HSL
44°, 57%, 52%
CMYK
0, 19, 69, 20
Luminance
0.3997

#cba53f is a balanced vivid yellow, 44° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.99:1). As text it scores 2.34:1 on white — use #8D7126 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(44 57% 52%)rgb(203 165 63)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cba53f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cba53f
Hue
44°
yellow
Saturation
57%
vivid
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3997
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.99:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.5
Chroma
56.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.738
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 7.5
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue44° of 360°
Saturation57%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cba53f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red32%
Green67%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#cba53f
HEX (8-digit)#cba53fff
RGBrgb(203, 165, 63)
RGBArgba(203, 165, 63, 1)
HSLhsl(44, 57%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(44, 69%, 80%)
HWBhwb(44 25% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 19%, 69%, 20%)
LABlab(69.5 3.2 56.0)
LCHlch(69.5 56.1 86.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.738 0.126 88.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.98, 39.97, 10.36)
Decimal13346111
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.647 0.247)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cba53f;
background-color: #cba53f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cba53f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cba53f] bg-[#cba53f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cba53f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.647, blue: 0.247)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.647, blue: 0.247, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBA53F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBA53F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBA53F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(63, 165, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 165, 63)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 165, 63)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 165, 63)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6471f, 0.2471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,165,63}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cba53f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cba53f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#64501B, #EEE7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cba53f 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: #FBF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F3E9;
  --brand-200: #EFE5CD;
  --brand-300: #E7D6A7;
  --brand-400: #DBC17B;
  --brand-500: #cba53f;
  --brand-600: #C19A34;
  --brand-700: #A1812B;
  --brand-800: #806723;
  --brand-900: #5E4C1D;
  --brand-950: #3A2F12;
  --brand: #cba53f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE0C0;
  --brand-hover: #B59131;
  --brand-pressed: #997B29;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F3E9',
        200: '#EFE5CD',
        300: '#E7D6A7',
        400: '#DBC17B',
        500: '#cba53f',
        600: '#C19A34',
        700: '#A1812B',
        800: '#806723',
        900: '#5E4C1D',
        950: '#3A2F12',
        DEFAULT: '#cba53f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F3E9,
  '200': #EFE5CD,
  '300': #E7D6A7,
  '400': #DBC17B,
  '500': #cba53f,
  '600': #C19A34,
  '700': #A1812B,
  '800': #806723,
  '900': #5E4C1D,
  '950': #3A2F12,
);
$brand-base: #cba53f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFE5CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E7D6A7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DBC17B", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cba53f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C19A34", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A1812B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#806723", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5E4C1D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A2F12", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cba53f · 8.99:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.99:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cba53f as text scores 2.34:1 on white and 8.99:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #64501B at 3.32:1.

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
#8D7126 · 4.64:1
AA on white−17% L
#8D7126
The quick fox
#69541C · 7.28:1
AAA on white−26% L
#69541C
The quick fox
#cba53f · 8.99:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cba53f
The quick fox
#cba53f · 8.99:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cba53f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B18E30 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
#cba53f on white: 2.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cba53f on black: 8.99:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cba53f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cba53f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.34:1AaAa
Slate 502.23:1AaAa
Slate 1002.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.89:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.04:1AaAa
Slate 6003.25:1AaAa
Slate 7004.43:1AaAa
Slate 8006.26:1AaAa
Slate 9007.65:1AaAa
Black8.99:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8A432
deuteranopia · #C1AE44
tritanopia · #DC9790

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. #cba53f is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF9F4
#F7F3E9
#EFE5CD
#E7D6A7
#DBC17B
#cba53f
#C19A34
#A1812B
#806723
#5E4C1D
#3A2F12
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3A2F12Text 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 0.031 88.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 88.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.076 88.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.098 88.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.116 88.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.126 88.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.126 88.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.118 88.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.106 88.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.088 88.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.069 88.1);
}

Colors that work with #cba53f

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#EDE0C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B854B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3A88D0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#64501B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF6EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#B59131
One step down in lightness
Pressed#997B29
Two steps down
Disabled#CCC4AF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DBB244
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 #cba53f

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 #64501B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B18E30

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
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#3F65CB
Analogous left#CB5F3F
Analogous right#ABCB3F
Split-complement 1#3FABCB
Split-complement 2#5F3FCB
Triadic 1#3FCBA5
Triadic 2#A53FCB
Tetradic#3FCB5F
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°44°

#cba53f sits at 44°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green64.7%
Blue24.7%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
165
0xa5
B · 0–255
63
0x3f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta18.7%
Yellow69.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 108%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cba53f text on a black background

contrast 8.99:1

Card sample

#cba53f text on a white background

contrast 2.34:1

Card sample

#cba53f on grey

2.13:1

#cba53f on its own surface

2.22:1

#cba53f on its dark surface

6.96:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cba53f;
Background color
Panel with #cba53f background
background-color: #cba53f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cba53f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 165, 63, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 165, 63, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cba53f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cba53f, #94CB3F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba53f, #71CB3F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cba53f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cba53f;
caret-color: #cba53f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cba53f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF6EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cba53f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cba53f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cba53f 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, 165, 63, 0.5)
rgb(203 165 63 / 50%)
#cba53f80
hsl(44 57% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cba53f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cba53f1a#FAF6EC
20%#cba53f33#F5EDD9
40%#cba53f66#EADBB2
60%#cba53f99#E0C98C
80%#cba53fcc#D5B765

Gradients from #cba53f

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, #D8BC6F, #cba53f 45%, #64501B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cba53f, #79B932);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cba53f, #3F65CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DFC787 0%, #cba53f 45%, #64501B 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%, #D67767 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ABD257 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #64501B 0%, transparent 65%), #cba53f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cba53f

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.

#cba53f 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 8.99:1.

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.

#cba53f, answered

What color is #cba53f?

#cba53f is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 44° on the hue wheel with 57% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cba53f?

rgb(203, 165, 63) — 203 red, 165 green and 63 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 64.7% / 24.7% by channel.

What is #cba53f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(44, 57%, 52%) and hsv(44, 69%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cba53f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3997 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.99:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cba53f?

Black. It scores 8.99:1 against #cba53f, versus 2.34:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cba53f accessible on a white background?

#cba53f on white scores 2.34:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8D7126 to reach 4.5:1, or #69541C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cba53f?

#3F65CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3FABCB and #5F3FCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cba53f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE0C0 for borders, #9B854B for secondary text, #3A88D0 as an accent and #64501B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB5F3F and #ABCB3F stays calm, while #3F65CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cba53f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 19%, 69%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cba53f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB8A3F; nudged cooler, #C0CE3D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cba53f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 7.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cba53f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cba53f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cba53f] or text-[#cba53f], 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 #cba53f with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 165, 63, 0.5), or #cba53f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D29F; over black, #665320.

Is #cba53f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cba53f 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 #cba53f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D8BC6F, #cba53f 45%, #64501B). For more colour, a short hue run to #79B932 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cba53f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cba53f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.