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yellow · warm

#cbac6d

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Burly Wood

Token name suggestion: Studio Citron

RGB
203, 172, 109
HSL
40°, 48%, 61%
CMYK
0, 15, 46, 20
Luminance
0.4331

#cbac6d is a balanced vivid yellow, 40° on the wheel and 8/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.66:1). As text it scores 2.17:1 on white — use #907133 instead. Nearest name is Burly Wood, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(40 48% 61%)rgb(203 172 109)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbac6d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbac6d
Hue
40°
yellow
Saturation
48%
vivid
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4331
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
8/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.66:1
Closest name
Burly Wood
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
36.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.758
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 12
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue40° of 360°
Saturation48%
Lightness61%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbac6d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool8% 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
Red29%
Green68%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#cbac6d
HEX (8-digit)#cbac6dff
RGBrgb(203, 172, 109)
RGBArgba(203, 172, 109, 1)
HSLhsl(40, 48%, 61%)
HSV / HSBhsv(40, 46%, 80%)
HWBhwb(40 43% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 15%, 46%, 20%)
LABlab(71.8 3.0 36.5)
LCHlch(71.8 36.6 85.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.758 0.089 84.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(42.14, 43.31, 20.60)
Decimal13347949
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.675 0.427)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbac6d;
background-color: #cbac6d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbac6d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbac6d] bg-[#cbac6d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbac6d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.675, blue: 0.427)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.675, blue: 0.427, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBAC6D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBAC6D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBAC6D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(109, 172, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 172, 109)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 172, 109)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 172, 109)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6745f, 0.4275f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,172,109}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbac6d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbac6d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5E4A21, #EEE5D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbac6d 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: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F5F2EA;
  --brand-200: #ECE3D0;
  --brand-300: #E2D0AC;
  --brand-400: #D3B883;
  --brand-500: #cbac6d;
  --brand-600: #B58E40;
  --brand-700: #967636;
  --brand-800: #785F2B;
  --brand-900: #584622;
  --brand-950: #372C16;
  --brand: #cbac6d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EADDC3;
  --brand-hover: #C29D53;
  --brand-pressed: #B28C3F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE5D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F2EA',
        200: '#ECE3D0',
        300: '#E2D0AC',
        400: '#D3B883',
        500: '#cbac6d',
        600: '#B58E40',
        700: '#967636',
        800: '#785F2B',
        900: '#584622',
        950: '#372C16',
        DEFAULT: '#cbac6d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F2EA,
  '200': #ECE3D0,
  '300': #E2D0AC,
  '400': #D3B883,
  '500': #cbac6d,
  '600': #B58E40,
  '700': #967636,
  '800': #785F2B,
  '900': #584622,
  '950': #372C16,
);
$brand-base: #cbac6d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F2EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECE3D0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E2D0AC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D3B883", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cbac6d", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B58E40", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#967636", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#785F2B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#584622", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#372C16", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbac6d · 9.66:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.66:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbac6d as text scores 2.17:1 on white and 9.66:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5E4A21 at 3.90:1.

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
#907133 · 4.57:1
AA on white−23% L
#907133
The quick fox
#6A5426 · 7.22:1
AAA on white−33% L
#6A5426
The quick fox
#cbac6d · 9.66:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbac6d
The quick fox
#cbac6d · 9.66:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbac6d

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B58F41 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
#cbac6d on white: 2.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbac6d on black: 9.66:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbac6d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbac6d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.17:1AaAa
Slate 502.08:1AaAa
Slate 1001.98:1AaAa
Slate 2001.76:1AaAa
Slate 3001.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.18:1AaAa
Slate 5002.19:1AaAa
Slate 6003.49:1AaAa
Slate 7004.76:1AaAa
Slate 8006.73:1AaAa
Slate 9008.21:1AaAa
Black9.66:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BAAB68
deuteranopia · #C2B36F
tritanopia · #D9A29C

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. #cbac6d 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.

#FAF8F5
#F5F2EA
#ECE3D0
#E2D0AC
#D3B883
#cbac6d
#B58E40
#967636
#785F2B
#584622
#372C16
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #372C16Text 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 0.022 84.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.036 84.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.053 84.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.069 84.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.082 84.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.089 84.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.089 84.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.084 84.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.075 84.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.062 84.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.049 84.2);
}

Colors that work with #cbac6d

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#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#EADDC3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B804B
Captions on the surface
Accent#316E9B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5E4A21
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F4EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#C29D53
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B28C3F
Two steps down
Disabled#DED7CB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D9B873
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 #cbac6d

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 #5E4A21
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B58F41

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
  • Weight39/100
  • 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#6D8CCB
Analogous left#CB7D6D
Analogous right#BBCB6D
Split-complement 1#6DBBCB
Split-complement 2#7D6DCB
Triadic 1#6DCBAC
Triadic 2#AC6DCB
Tetradic#6DCB7D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°40°

#cbac6d sits at 40°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green67.5%
Blue42.7%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
109
0x6d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta15.3%
Yellow46.3%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 82%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbac6d text on a black background

contrast 9.66:1

Card sample

#cbac6d text on a white background

contrast 2.17:1

Card sample

#cbac6d on grey

1.98:1

#cbac6d on its own surface

2.05:1

#cbac6d on its dark surface

7.54:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbac6d;
Background color
Panel with #cbac6d background
background-color: #cbac6d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbac6d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 172, 109, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 172, 109, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbac6d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbac6d, #ABCB6D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbac6d, #94CB6D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbac6d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbac6d;
caret-color: #cbac6d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbac6d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F4EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbac6d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbac6d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbac6d 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, 172, 109, 0.5)
rgb(203 172 109 / 50%)
#cbac6d80
hsl(40 48% 61% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbac6d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbac6d1a#FAF7F0
20%#cbac6d33#F5EEE2
40%#cbac6d66#EADEC5
60%#cbac6d99#E0CDA7
80%#cbac6dcc#D5BD8A

Gradients from #cbac6d

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, #DBC69A, #cbac6d 45%, #5E4A21);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbac6d, #95C356);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbac6d, #6D8CCB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E3D3B1 0%, #cbac6d 45%, #5E4A21 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D89993 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BFD384 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5E4A21 0%, transparent 65%), #cbac6d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbac6d

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.

#cbac6d 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 9.66:1.

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.

#cbac6d, answered

What color is #cbac6d?

#cbac6d is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Burly Wood (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 40° on the hue wheel with 48% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cbac6d?

rgb(203, 172, 109) — 203 red, 172 green and 109 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 67.5% / 42.7% by channel.

What is #cbac6d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(40, 48%, 61%) and hsv(40, 46%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbac6d a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4331 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.66:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbac6d?

Black. It scores 9.66:1 against #cbac6d, versus 2.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbac6d accessible on a white background?

#cbac6d on white scores 2.17:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #907133 to reach 4.5:1, or #6A5426 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbac6d?

#6D8CCB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #6DBBCB and #7D6DCB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbac6d?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EADDC3 for borders, #9B804B for secondary text, #316E9B as an accent and #5E4A21 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB7D6D and #BBCB6D stays calm, while #6D8CCB is the loudest partner.

What is #cbac6d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 15%, 46%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbac6d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 8 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CB9C6D; nudged cooler, #C9CD6B.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbac6d?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 12 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbac6d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbac6d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbac6d] or text-[#cbac6d], 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 #cbac6d with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 172, 109, 0.5), or #cbac6d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D6B6; over black, #665637.

Is #cbac6d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 8.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbac6d 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 #cbac6d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBC69A, #cbac6d 45%, #5E4A21). For more colour, a short hue run to #95C356 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbac6d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbac6d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.