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#cdce03

a dark, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Gold

RGB
205, 206, 3
HSL
60°, 97%, 41%
CMYK
1, 0, 99, 19
Luminance
0.5713

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdce03 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdce03
Hue
60°
yellow
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
41%
dark
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
76%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5713
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.43:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 10.5
Where it sits
Hue60° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness41%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool25% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#cdce03
RGBrgb(205, 206, 3)
HSLhsl(60, 97%, 41%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 99%, 19%)
LABlab(80.3 -18.8 80.1)
LCHlch(80.3 82.2 103.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.823 0.179 110.1)
Decimal13487619
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.808 0.012)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cdce03;
background-color: #cdce03;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdce03] bg-[#cdce03]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdce03;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.808, blue: 0.012)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cdce03")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDCE03)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(3, 206, 205)

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 #cdce03 · 12.43:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.69:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.43:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdce03 as text scores 1.69:1 on white and 12.43:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cdce03 on white: 1.69:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdce03 on black: 12.43:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E0C500
deuteranopia · #E1C927
tritanopia · #DCC0AF

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cdce03 is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDFDF1
#FCFCE4
#FAFBC1
#FDFD90
#FCFD59
#FBFC22
#F0F104
#cdce03
#A0A102
#737407
#484804
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FDFDF1Darkest = 950 · #484804
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFDF1;
  --brand-100: #FCFCE4;
  --brand-200: #FAFBC1;
  --brand-300: #FDFD90;
  --brand-400: #FCFD59;
  --brand-500: #FBFC22;
  --brand-600: #F0F104;
  --brand-700: #cdce03;
  --brand-800: #A0A102;
  --brand-900: #737407;
  --brand-950: #484804;
  --brand: #cdce03;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cdce03

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#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#ECEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0033D1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D7E02
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFFFE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #cdce03

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#0403CE
Analogous left#CE6A03
Analogous right#68CE03
Split-complement 1#0368CE
Split-complement 2#6A03CE
Triadic 1#03CDCE
Triadic 2#CE03CD
Tetradic#03CE6A

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green80.8%
Blue1.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow98.5%
Key (black)19.2%

Color previews

#cdce03 text on a black background

contrast 12.43:1

Card sample

#cdce03 text on a white background

contrast 1.69:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdce03;
Background color
Panel with #cdce03 background
background-color: #cdce03;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdce03;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 206, 3, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 206, 3, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdce03;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdce03, #46CE03);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdce03

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#cdce03 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.

#cdce03, answered

What color is #cdce03?

#cdce03 is a dark electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 10.5). It sits at 60° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 41% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdce03?

rgb(205, 206, 3) — 205 red, 206 green and 3 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 80.8% / 1.2% by channel.

Is #cdce03 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5713 and perceived brightness is 76%, so black text on it reaches 12.43:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdce03?

Black. It scores 12.43:1 against #cdce03, versus 1.69:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cdce03?

#0403CE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0368CE and #6A03CE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdce03?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #ECEDC0 for borders, #9B9B4B for secondary text, #0033D1 as an accent and #7D7E02 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CE6A03 and #68CE03 stays calm, while #0403CE is the loudest partner.

What is #cdce03 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 99%, 19%). 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 #cdce03 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 25 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CE9003; nudged cooler, #83D001.

Work with #cdce03 in the Color Lab