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yellow · warm

#cda41c

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

Token name suggestion: True Citron

RGB
205, 164, 28
HSL
46°, 76%, 46%
CMYK
0, 20, 86, 20
Luminance
0.3961

#cda41c is a balanced electric yellow, 46° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.92:1). As text it scores 2.35:1 on white — use #8E7213 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(46 76% 46%)rgb(205 164 28)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cda41c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cda41c
Hue
46°
yellow
Saturation
76%
electric
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3961
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.92:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.5
Chroma
68.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.736
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 6
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue46° of 360°
Saturation76%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cda41c.

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%
Green67%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#cda41c
HEX (8-digit)#cda41cff
RGBrgb(205, 164, 28)
RGBArgba(205, 164, 28, 1)
HSLhsl(46, 76%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(46, 86%, 80%)
HWBhwb(46 11% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 20%, 86%, 20%)
LABlab(69.2 3.3 67.9)
LCHlch(69.2 68.0 87.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.736 0.144 89.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(38.66, 39.62, 6.71)
Decimal13476892
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.643 0.110)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cda41c;
background-color: #cda41c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cda41c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cda41c] bg-[#cda41c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cda41c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.643, blue: 0.110)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.643, blue: 0.110, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDA41C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDA41C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDA41C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(28, 164, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 164, 28)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 164, 28)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 164, 28)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.6431f, 0.1098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,164,28}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cda41c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cda41c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#705A0F, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cda41c 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: #F9F5E7;
  --brand-200: #F4EAC8;
  --brand-300: #F2DE9C;
  --brand-400: #EBCD6B;
  --brand-500: #E4BD3A;
  --brand-600: #cda41c;
  --brand-700: #B49018;
  --brand-800: #907314;
  --brand-900: #685412;
  --brand-950: #41350C;
  --brand: #cda41c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE2C0;
  --brand-hover: #AE8B18;
  --brand-pressed: #8E7213;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFAF3',
        100: '#F9F5E7',
        200: '#F4EAC8',
        300: '#F2DE9C',
        400: '#EBCD6B',
        500: '#E4BD3A',
        600: '#cda41c',
        700: '#B49018',
        800: '#907314',
        900: '#685412',
        950: '#41350C',
        DEFAULT: '#cda41c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFAF3,
  '100': #F9F5E7,
  '200': #F4EAC8,
  '300': #F2DE9C,
  '400': #EBCD6B,
  '500': #E4BD3A,
  '600': #cda41c,
  '700': #B49018,
  '800': #907314,
  '900': #685412,
  '950': #41350C,
);
$brand-base: #cda41c;
$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": "#F9F5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F4EAC8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F2DE9C", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EBCD6B", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E4BD3A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#cda41c", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B49018", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#907314", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#685412", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#41350C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cda41c · 8.92:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.35:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.92:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cda41c as text scores 2.35:1 on white and 8.92:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #705A0F at 2.83:1.

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
#8E7213 · 4.60:1
AA on white−14% L
#8E7213
The quick fox
#6A550F · 7.19:1
AAA on white−22% L
#6A550F
The quick fox
#cda41c · 8.92:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cda41c
The quick fox
#cda41c · 8.92:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cda41c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B28F18 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
#cda41c on white: 2.35:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cda41c on black: 8.92:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cda41c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cda41c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.35:1AaAa
Slate 502.25:1AaAa
Slate 1002.15:1AaAa
Slate 2001.91:1AaAa
Slate 3001.59:1AaAa
Slate 4001.09:1AaAa
Slate 5002.02:1AaAa
Slate 6003.22:1AaAa
Slate 7004.40:1AaAa
Slate 8006.22:1AaAa
Slate 9007.59:1AaAa
Black8.92:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B8A200
deuteranopia · #C2AE27
tritanopia · #DF958C

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. #cda41c 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
#F9F5E7
#F4EAC8
#F2DE9C
#EBCD6B
#E4BD3A
#cda41c
#B49018
#907314
#685412
#41350C
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FCFAF3Darkest = 950 · #41350CText 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 0.036 89.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 89.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.087 89.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.112 89.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.133 89.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.144 89.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.144 89.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.136 89.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.121 89.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 89.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.079 89.7);
}

Colors that work with #cda41c

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#EDE2C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B884B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1771D2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#705A0F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCF7E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#AE8B18
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8E7213
Two steps down
Disabled#BFB69B
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#ECB912
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 #cda41c

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 #705A0F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B28F18

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • 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#1C45CD
Analogous left#CD4B1C
Analogous right#9ECD1C
Split-complement 1#1C9ECD
Split-complement 2#4B1CCD
Triadic 1#1CCDA4
Triadic 2#A41CCD
Tetradic#1CCD4B
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°46°

#cda41c sits at 46°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green64.3%
Blue11.0%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
164
0xa4
B · 0–255
28
0x1c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta20.0%
Yellow86.3%
Key (black)19.6%

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

Color previews

#cda41c text on a black background

contrast 8.92:1

Card sample

#cda41c text on a white background

contrast 2.35:1

Card sample

#cda41c on grey

2.15:1

#cda41c on its own surface

2.23:1

#cda41c on its dark surface

6.85:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cda41c;
Background color
Panel with #cda41c background
background-color: #cda41c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cda41c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 164, 28, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 164, 28, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cda41c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cda41c, #80CD1C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cda41c, #54CD1C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cda41c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cda41c;
caret-color: #cda41c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cda41c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCF7E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cda41c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cda41c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cda41c 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(205, 164, 28, 0.5)
rgb(205 164 28 / 50%)
#cda41c80
hsl(46 76% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cda41c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cda41c1a#FAF6E8
20%#cda41c33#F5EDD2
40%#cda41c66#EBDBA4
60%#cda41c99#E1C877
80%#cda41ccc#D7B649

Gradients from #cda41c

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, #E5BF41, #cda41c 45%, #705A0F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cda41c, #62B218);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cda41c, #1C45CD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E9C85C 0%, #cda41c 45%, #705A0F 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%, #E45838 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A0E126 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #705A0F 0%, transparent 65%), #cda41c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cda41c

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.

#cda41c 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.

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 8.92:1.

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.

#cda41c, answered

What color is #cda41c?

#cda41c is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.5). It sits at 46° on the hue wheel with 76% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cda41c?

rgb(205, 164, 28) — 205 red, 164 green and 28 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 64.3% / 11% by channel.

What is #cda41c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(46, 76%, 46%) and hsv(46, 86%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cda41c a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3961 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.92:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cda41c?

Black. It scores 8.92:1 against #cda41c, versus 2.35:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cda41c accessible on a white background?

#cda41c on white scores 2.35:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8E7213 to reach 4.5:1, or #6A550F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cda41c?

#1C45CD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #1C9ECD and #4B1CCD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cda41c?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE2C0 for borders, #9B884B for secondary text, #1771D2 as an accent and #705A0F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CD4B1C and #9ECD1C stays calm, while #1C45CD is the loudest partner.

What is #cda41c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 20%, 86%, 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 #cda41c 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 #CD821C; nudged cooler, #B7CF1A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cda41c?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cda41c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cda41c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cda41c] or text-[#cda41c], 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 #cda41c with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 164, 28, 0.5), or #cda41c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6D28E; over black, #67520E.

Is #cda41c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 5.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cda41c 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 #cda41c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E5BF41, #cda41c 45%, #705A0F). For more colour, a short hue run to #62B218 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cda41c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cda41c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.