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yellow · warm

#cddc2a

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow Green

Token name suggestion: Signal Citron

RGB
205, 220, 42
HSL
65°, 72%, 51%
CMYK
7, 0, 81, 14
Luminance
0.6433

#cddc2a is a balanced vivid yellow, 65° on the wheel and 29/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.87:1). As text it scores 1.51:1 on white — use #747C14 instead. Nearest name is Yellow Green, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(65 72% 51%)rgb(205 220 42)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cddc2a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cddc2a
Hue
65°
yellow
Saturation
72%
vivid
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6433
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
29/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.87:1
Closest name
Yellow Green
ΔE2000 9.3
Chroma
80.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.855
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 11.8
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue65° of 360°
Saturation72%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cddc2a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool29% 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
Red20%
Green80%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#cddc2a
HEX (8-digit)#cddc2aff
RGBrgb(205, 220, 42)
RGBArgba(205, 220, 42, 1)
HSLhsl(65, 72%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(65, 81%, 86%)
HWBhwb(65 16% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 0%, 81%, 14%)
LABlab(84.1 -24.8 77.0)
LCHlch(84.1 80.9 107.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.855 0.183 114.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(51.19, 64.33, 11.91)
Decimal13491242
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.863 0.165)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cddc2a;
background-color: #cddc2a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cddc2a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cddc2a] bg-[#cddc2a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cddc2a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.863, blue: 0.165)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.863, blue: 0.165, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDDC2A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDDC2A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDDC2A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(42, 220, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 220, 42)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 220, 42)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 220, 42)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.8627f, 0.1647f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,220,42}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cddc2a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cddc2a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#666E12, #ECEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cddc2a 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: #FBFCF3;
  --brand-100: #F7F8E7;
  --brand-200: #EFF3C9;
  --brand-300: #E8EF9F;
  --brand-400: #DDE76E;
  --brand-500: #D2DF3E;
  --brand-600: #cddc2a;
  --brand-700: #A3AF1D;
  --brand-800: #828C17;
  --brand-900: #5F6615;
  --brand-950: #3B400D;
  --brand: #cddc2a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E9EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #B5C320;
  --brand-pressed: #98A41B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #ECEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFCF3',
        100: '#F7F8E7',
        200: '#EFF3C9',
        300: '#E8EF9F',
        400: '#DDE76E',
        500: '#D2DF3E',
        600: '#cddc2a',
        700: '#A3AF1D',
        800: '#828C17',
        900: '#5F6615',
        950: '#3B400D',
        DEFAULT: '#cddc2a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFCF3,
  '100': #F7F8E7,
  '200': #EFF3C9,
  '300': #E8EF9F,
  '400': #DDE76E,
  '500': #D2DF3E,
  '600': #cddc2a,
  '700': #A3AF1D,
  '800': #828C17,
  '900': #5F6615,
  '950': #3B400D,
);
$brand-base: #cddc2a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F8E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFF3C9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E8EF9F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DDE76E", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D2DF3E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#cddc2a", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A3AF1D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#828C17", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5F6615", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B400D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cddc2a · 13.87:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.51:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.87:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cddc2a as text scores 1.51:1 on white and 13.87:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #666E12 at 3.65:1.

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
#747C14 · 4.53:1
AA on white−23% L
#747C14
The quick fox
#53590F · 7.49:1
AAA on white−31% L
#53590F
The quick fox
#cddc2a · 13.87:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cddc2a
The quick fox
#cddc2a · 13.87:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cddc2a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #909B19 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
#cddc2a on white: 1.51:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cddc2a on black: 13.87:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cddc2a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cddc2a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.51:1AaAa
Slate 501.45:1AaAa
Slate 1001.38:1AaAa
Slate 2001.23:1AaAa
Slate 3001.02:1AaAa
Slate 4001.69:1AaAa
Slate 5003.14:1AaAa
Slate 6005.00:1AaAa
Slate 7006.84:1AaAa
Slate 8009.66:1AaAa
Slate 90011.79:1AaAa
Black13.87:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #ECD100
deuteranopia · #ECD33D
tritanopia · #DBCFBC

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. #cddc2a 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.

#FBFCF3
#F7F8E7
#EFF3C9
#E8EF9F
#DDE76E
#D2DF3E
#cddc2a
#A3AF1D
#828C17
#5F6615
#3B400D
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FBFCF3Darkest = 950 · #3B400DText step on white = 900
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 0.046 114.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.073 114.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.110 114.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.143 114.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.169 114.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.183 114.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.183 114.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.172 114.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.154 114.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.128 114.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.101 114.8);
}

Colors that work with #cddc2a

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#E9EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#949B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2544E1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#666E12
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAFBE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#B5C320
One step down in lightness
Pressed#98A41B
Two steps down
Disabled#C8CAAC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DAEA30
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 #cddc2a

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 #666E12
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #909B19

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
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#392ADC
Analogous left#DC922A
Analogous right#74DC2A
Split-complement 1#2A74DC
Split-complement 2#922ADC
Triadic 1#2ACDDC
Triadic 2#DC2ACD
Tetradic#2ADC92
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°65°

#cddc2a sits at 65°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green86.3%
Blue16.5%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
42
0x2a

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow80.9%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 101%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cddc2a text on a black background

contrast 13.87:1

Card sample

#cddc2a text on a white background

contrast 1.51:1

Card sample

#cddc2a on grey

1.38:1

#cddc2a on its own surface

1.45:1

#cddc2a on its dark surface

10.40:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cddc2a;
Background color
Panel with #cddc2a background
background-color: #cddc2a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cddc2a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 220, 42, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 220, 42, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cddc2a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cddc2a, #56DC2A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cddc2a, #2ADC2A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cddc2a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cddc2a;
caret-color: #cddc2a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cddc2a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAFBE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cddc2a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cddc2a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cddc2a 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, 220, 42, 0.5)
rgb(205 220 42 / 50%)
#cddc2a80
hsl(65 72% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cddc2a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cddc2a1a#FAFCEA
20%#cddc2a33#F5F8D4
40%#cddc2a66#EBF1AA
60%#cddc2a99#E1EA7F
80%#cddc2acc#D7E355

Gradients from #cddc2a

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, #D9E55F, #cddc2a 45%, #666E12);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cddc2a, #3CC721);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cddc2a, #392ADC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DFE979 0%, #cddc2a 45%, #666E12 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E39D56 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #78E044 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #666E12 0%, transparent 65%), #cddc2a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cddc2a

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.

#cddc2a 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 13.87:1.

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.

#cddc2a, answered

What color is #cddc2a?

#cddc2a is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Yellow Green (ΔE2000 9.3). It sits at 65° on the hue wheel with 72% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cddc2a?

rgb(205, 220, 42) — 205 red, 220 green and 42 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 86.3% / 16.5% by channel.

What is #cddc2a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(65, 72%, 51%) and hsv(65, 81%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cddc2a a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6433 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.87:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cddc2a?

Black. It scores 13.87:1 against #cddc2a, versus 1.51:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cddc2a accessible on a white background?

#cddc2a on white scores 1.51:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #747C14 to reach 4.5:1, or #53590F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cddc2a?

#392ADC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2A74DC and #922ADC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cddc2a?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E9EDC0 for borders, #949B4B for secondary text, #2544E1 as an accent and #666E12 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DC922A and #74DC2A stays calm, while #392ADC is the loudest partner.

What is #cddc2a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 0%, 81%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cddc2a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 29 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DCAA2A; nudged cooler, #8CDF28.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cddc2a?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 11.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cddc2a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cddc2a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cddc2a] or text-[#cddc2a], 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 #cddc2a with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 220, 42, 0.5), or #cddc2a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6EE95; over black, #676E15.

Is #cddc2a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cddc2a 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 #cddc2a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D9E55F, #cddc2a 45%, #666E12). For more colour, a short hue run to #3CC721 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cddc2a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cddc2a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.