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yellow · warm

#cead4f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Straw

RGB
206, 173, 79
HSL
44°, 56%, 56%
CMYK
0, 16, 62, 19
Luminance
0.4357

#cead4f is a balanced vivid yellow, 44° on the wheel and 12/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.71:1). As text it scores 2.16:1 on white — use #8B7127 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(44 56% 56%)rgb(206 173 79)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cead4f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cead4f
Hue
44°
yellow
Saturation
56%
vivid
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4357
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
12/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.71:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 6.2
Chroma
51.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.759
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 7.9
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue44° of 360°
Saturation56%
Lightness56%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cead4f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool12% 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
Red30%
Green69%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#cead4f
HEX (8-digit)#cead4fff
RGBrgb(206, 173, 79)
RGBArgba(206, 173, 79, 1)
HSLhsl(44, 56%, 56%)
HSV / HSBhsv(44, 62%, 81%)
HWBhwb(44 31% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 16%, 62%, 19%)
LABlab(71.9 1.2 51.6)
LCHlch(71.9 51.6 88.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.759 0.119 89.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(41.81, 43.58, 13.60)
Decimal13544783
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.678 0.310)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cead4f;
background-color: #cead4f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cead4f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cead4f] bg-[#cead4f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cead4f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.678, blue: 0.310)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.678, blue: 0.310, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CEAD4F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCEAD4F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCEAD4F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(79, 173, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 173, 79)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 173, 79)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 173, 79)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.6784f, 0.3098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,173,79}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cead4f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cead4f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#64511C, #EEE7D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cead4f 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: #EEE6CD;
  --brand-300: #E7D6A7;
  --brand-400: #DAC27B;
  --brand-500: #cead4f;
  --brand-600: #BF9C35;
  --brand-700: #A0822C;
  --brand-800: #806824;
  --brand-900: #5D4C1D;
  --brand-950: #3A3012;
  --brand: #cead4f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE1C0;
  --brand-hover: #C39E36;
  --brand-pressed: #A7882F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE7D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F6F3E9',
        200: '#EEE6CD',
        300: '#E7D6A7',
        400: '#DAC27B',
        500: '#cead4f',
        600: '#BF9C35',
        700: '#A0822C',
        800: '#806824',
        900: '#5D4C1D',
        950: '#3A3012',
        DEFAULT: '#cead4f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F6F3E9,
  '200': #EEE6CD,
  '300': #E7D6A7,
  '400': #DAC27B,
  '500': #cead4f,
  '600': #BF9C35,
  '700': #A0822C,
  '800': #806824,
  '900': #5D4C1D,
  '950': #3A3012,
);
$brand-base: #cead4f;
$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": "#EEE6CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E7D6A7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DAC27B", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cead4f", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#BF9C35", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A0822C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#806824", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5D4C1D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A3012", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cead4f · 9.71:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.16:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.71:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cead4f as text scores 2.16:1 on white and 9.71:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #64511C at 3.55:1.

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
#8B7127 · 4.68:1
AA on white−21% L
#8B7127
The quick fox
#67541D · 7.34:1
AAA on white−30% L
#67541D
The quick fox
#cead4f · 9.71:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cead4f
The quick fox
#cead4f · 9.71:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cead4f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AF8E31 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
#cead4f on white: 2.16:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cead4f on black: 9.71:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cead4f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cead4f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.16:1AaAa
Slate 502.07:1AaAa
Slate 1001.97:1AaAa
Slate 2001.75:1AaAa
Slate 3001.46:1AaAa
Slate 4001.19:1AaAa
Slate 5002.20:1AaAa
Slate 6003.51:1AaAa
Slate 7004.79:1AaAa
Slate 8006.77:1AaAa
Slate 9008.26:1AaAa
Black9.71:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BEAB45
deuteranopia · #C7B453
tritanopia · #DEA098

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. #cead4f 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
#EEE6CD
#E7D6A7
#DAC27B
#cead4f
#BF9C35
#A0822C
#806824
#5D4C1D
#3A3012
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3A3012Text 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 0.030 89.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.048 89.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.071 89.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.093 89.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.109 89.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.119 89.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.119 89.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.112 89.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.100 89.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.083 89.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.065 89.9);
}

Colors that work with #cead4f

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#EDE1C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B864B
Captions on the surface
Accent#4B90D2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#64511C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F6EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#C39E36
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A7882F
Two steps down
Disabled#D3CDBA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DDB955
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 #cead4f

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 #64511C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AF8E31

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#4F70CE
Analogous left#CE6E4F
Analogous right#B0CE4F
Split-complement 1#4FB0CE
Split-complement 2#6E4FCE
Triadic 1#4FCEAD
Triadic 2#AD4FCE
Tetradic#4FCE6E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°44°

#cead4f sits at 44°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green67.8%
Blue31.0%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
173
0xad
B · 0–255
79
0x4f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta16.0%
Yellow61.7%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 97%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cead4f text on a black background

contrast 9.71:1

Card sample

#cead4f text on a white background

contrast 2.16:1

Card sample

#cead4f on grey

1.97:1

#cead4f on its own surface

2.05:1

#cead4f on its dark surface

7.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cead4f;
Background color
Panel with #cead4f background
background-color: #cead4f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cead4f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 173, 79, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 173, 79, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cead4f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cead4f, #9ACE4F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cead4f, #7BCE4F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cead4f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cead4f;
caret-color: #cead4f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cead4f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F6EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cead4f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cead4f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cead4f 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(206, 173, 79, 0.5)
rgb(206 173 79 / 50%)
#cead4f80
hsl(44 56% 56% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cead4f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cead4f1a#FAF7ED
20%#cead4f33#F5EFDC
40%#cead4f66#EBDEB9
60%#cead4f99#E2CE95
80%#cead4fcc#D8BD72

Gradients from #cead4f

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, #DBC37F, #cead4f 45%, #64511C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cead4f, #81C737);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cead4f, #4F70CE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E2CE97 0%, #cead4f 45%, #64511C 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%, #D98677 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B1D567 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #64511C 0%, transparent 65%), #cead4f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cead4f

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.

#cead4f 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 9.71:1.

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.

#cead4f, answered

What color is #cead4f?

#cead4f is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 6.2). It sits at 44° on the hue wheel with 56% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cead4f?

rgb(206, 173, 79) — 206 red, 173 green and 79 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 67.8% / 31% by channel.

What is #cead4f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(44, 56%, 56%) and hsv(44, 62%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cead4f a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4357 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.71:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cead4f?

Black. It scores 9.71:1 against #cead4f, versus 2.16:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cead4f accessible on a white background?

#cead4f on white scores 2.16:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8B7127 to reach 4.5:1, or #67541D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cead4f?

#4F70CE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4FB0CE and #6E4FCE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cead4f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE1C0 for borders, #9B864B for secondary text, #4B90D2 as an accent and #64511C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CE6E4F and #B0CE4F stays calm, while #4F70CE is the loudest partner.

What is #cead4f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 16%, 62%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cead4f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 12 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CE934F; nudged cooler, #C2D04D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cead4f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 7.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cead4f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cead4f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cead4f] or text-[#cead4f], 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 #cead4f with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 173, 79, 0.5), or #cead4f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7D6A7; over black, #675728.

Is #cead4f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 12.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cead4f 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 #cead4f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DBC37F, #cead4f 45%, #64511C). For more colour, a short hue run to #81C737 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cead4f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cead4f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.