Skip to content
yellow · warm

#cbaf55

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
203, 175, 85
HSL
46°, 53%, 57%
CMYK
0, 14, 58, 20
Luminance
0.4401

#cbaf55 is a balanced vivid yellow, 46° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.80:1). As text it scores 2.14:1 on white — use #8B742A instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(46 53% 57%)rgb(203 175 85)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cbaf55 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cbaf55
Hue
46°
yellow
Saturation
53%
vivid
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4401
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.80:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
49.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.760
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 9.1
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue46° of 360°
Saturation53%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cbaf55.

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
Red29%
Green70%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#cbaf55
HEX (8-digit)#cbaf55ff
RGBrgb(203, 175, 85)
RGBArgba(203, 175, 85, 1)
HSLhsl(46, 53%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(46, 58%, 80%)
HWBhwb(46 33% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 58%, 20%)
LABlab(72.2 -0.7 49.1)
LCHlch(72.2 49.1 90.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.760 0.114 92.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.60, 44.01, 14.90)
Decimal13348693
Display P3color(display-p3 0.796 0.686 0.333)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cbaf55;
background-color: #cbaf55;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cbaf55;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cbaf55] bg-[#cbaf55]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cbaf55;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.796, green: 0.686, blue: 0.333)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.796, green: 0.686, blue: 0.333, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CBAF55</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCBAF55)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCBAF55)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(85, 175, 203)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(203, 175, 85)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(203, 175, 85)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 203, 175, 85)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7961f, 0.6863f, 0.3333f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{203,175,85}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cbaf55 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cbaf55 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#62521E, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cbaf55 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: #F6F3E9;
  --brand-200: #EDE6CE;
  --brand-300: #E5D7A9;
  --brand-400: #D8C27E;
  --brand-500: #cbaf55;
  --brand-600: #BC9D39;
  --brand-700: #9C8330;
  --brand-800: #7D6826;
  --brand-900: #5B4D1F;
  --brand-950: #393014;
  --brand: #cbaf55;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #ECE2C0;
  --brand-hover: #C1A23B;
  --brand-pressed: #A68B33;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F6F3E9',
        200: '#EDE6CE',
        300: '#E5D7A9',
        400: '#D8C27E',
        500: '#cbaf55',
        600: '#BC9D39',
        700: '#9C8330',
        800: '#7D6826',
        900: '#5B4D1F',
        950: '#393014',
        DEFAULT: '#cbaf55',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F6F3E9,
  '200': #EDE6CE,
  '300': #E5D7A9,
  '400': #D8C27E,
  '500': #cbaf55,
  '600': #BC9D39,
  '700': #9C8330,
  '800': #7D6826,
  '900': #5B4D1F,
  '950': #393014,
);
$brand-base: #cbaf55;
$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": "#F6F3E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDE6CE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E5D7A9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D8C27E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cbaf55", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#BC9D39", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9C8330", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7D6826", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5B4D1F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#393014", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cbaf55 · 9.80:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.14:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.80:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cbaf55 as text scores 2.14:1 on white and 9.80:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #62521E at 3.57:1.

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
#8B742A · 4.54:1
AA on white−21% L
#8B742A
The quick fox
#685720 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−30% L
#685720
The quick fox
#cbaf55 · 9.80:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cbaf55
The quick fox
#cbaf55 · 9.80:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cbaf55

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE9135 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
#cbaf55 on white: 2.14:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cbaf55 on black: 9.80:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cbaf55 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cbaf55.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.14:1AaAa
Slate 502.05:1AaAa
Slate 1001.96:1AaAa
Slate 2001.74:1AaAa
Slate 3001.44:1AaAa
Slate 4001.20:1AaAa
Slate 5002.22:1AaAa
Slate 6003.54:1AaAa
Slate 7004.83:1AaAa
Slate 8006.83:1AaAa
Slate 9008.33:1AaAa
Black9.80:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BFAC4C
deuteranopia · #C6B559
tritanopia · #DAA39B

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. #cbaf55 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
#F6F3E9
#EDE6CE
#E5D7A9
#D8C27E
#cbaf55
#BC9D39
#9C8330
#7D6826
#5B4D1F
#393014
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #393014Text 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 0.029 92.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 92.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 92.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 92.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.105 92.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.114 92.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.114 92.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.107 92.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.096 92.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.080 92.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.063 92.2);
}

Colors that work with #cbaf55

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#ECE2C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B884B
Captions on the surface
Accent#518ED0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#62521E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F6EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#C1A23B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A68B33
Two steps down
Disabled#D4CFBC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DABC5B
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 #cbaf55

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 #62521E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AE9135

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
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#5571CB
Analogous left#CB7455
Analogous right#ACCB55
Split-complement 1#55ACCB
Split-complement 2#7455CB
Triadic 1#55CBAF
Triadic 2#AF55CB
Tetradic#55CB74
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°46°

#cbaf55 sits at 46°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red79.6%
Green68.6%
Blue33.3%
R · 0–255
203
0xcb
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
85
0x55

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta13.8%
Yellow58.1%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 92%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cbaf55 text on a black background

contrast 9.80:1

Card sample

#cbaf55 text on a white background

contrast 2.14:1

Card sample

#cbaf55 on grey

1.96:1

#cbaf55 on its own surface

2.03:1

#cbaf55 on its dark surface

7.59:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cbaf55;
Background color
Panel with #cbaf55 background
background-color: #cbaf55;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cbaf55;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(203, 175, 85, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(203, 175, 85, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cbaf55;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cbaf55, #98CB55);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbaf55, #7BCB55);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cbaf55;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cbaf55;
caret-color: #cbaf55;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cbaf55;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F6EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cbaf55;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cbaf55 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cbaf55 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, 175, 85, 0.5)
rgb(203 175 85 / 50%)
#cbaf5580
hsl(46 53% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cbaf55 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cbaf551a#FAF7EE
20%#cbaf5533#F5EFDD
40%#cbaf5566#EADFBB
60%#cbaf5599#E0CF99
80%#cbaf55cc#D5BF77

Gradients from #cbaf55

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, #D9C584, #cbaf55 45%, #62521E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cbaf55, #7FC43E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cbaf55, #5571CB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E1D09B 0%, #cbaf55 45%, #62521E 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%, #D78C7C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AFD26D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #62521E 0%, transparent 65%), #cbaf55;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cbaf55

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.

#cbaf55 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 9.80:1.

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.

#cbaf55, answered

What color is #cbaf55?

#cbaf55 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 46° on the hue wheel with 53% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cbaf55?

rgb(203, 175, 85) — 203 red, 175 green and 85 blue out of 255, or 79.6% / 68.6% / 33.3% by channel.

What is #cbaf55 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(46, 53%, 57%) and hsv(46, 58%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cbaf55 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4401 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.80:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cbaf55?

Black. It scores 9.80:1 against #cbaf55, versus 2.14:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cbaf55 accessible on a white background?

#cbaf55 on white scores 2.14:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8B742A to reach 4.5:1, or #685720 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cbaf55?

#5571CB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #55ACCB and #7455CB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cbaf55?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #ECE2C0 for borders, #9B884B for secondary text, #518ED0 as an accent and #62521E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CB7455 and #ACCB55 stays calm, while #5571CB is the loudest partner.

What is #cbaf55 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 58%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cbaf55 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 #CB9555; nudged cooler, #BDCD53.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cbaf55?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 9.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cbaf55 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cbaf55 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cbaf55] or text-[#cbaf55], 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 #cbaf55 with 50% opacity?

rgba(203, 175, 85, 0.5), or #cbaf5580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E5D7AA; over black, #66582B.

Is #cbaf55 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 13.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cbaf55 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 #cbaf55?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D9C584, #cbaf55 45%, #62521E). For more colour, a short hue run to #7FC43E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cbaf55 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cbaf55 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.