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yellow · warm

#ced40c

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

Token name suggestion: Dusk Citron

RGB
206, 212, 12
HSL
62°, 89%, 44%
CMYK
3, 0, 94, 17
Luminance
0.6024

#ced40c is a dark electric yellow, 62° on the wheel and 27/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.05:1). As text it scores 1.61:1 on white — use #757807 instead. Nearest name is Yellow, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(62 89% 44%)rgb(206 212 12)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ced40c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ced40c
Hue
62°
yellow
Saturation
89%
electric
Lightness
44%
dark
Brightness
83%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6024
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
27/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.05:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
83.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.837
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 13.1
Web-safe
#CCCC00
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue62° of 360°
Saturation89%
Lightness44%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ced40c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool27% 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
Red22%
Green78%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#ced40c
HEX (8-digit)#ced40cff
RGBrgb(206, 212, 12)
RGBArgba(206, 212, 12, 1)
HSLhsl(62, 89%, 44%)
HSV / HSBhsv(62, 94%, 83%)
HWBhwb(62 5% 17%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 94%, 17%)
LABlab(82.0 -21.2 80.5)
LCHlch(82.0 83.3 104.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.837 0.183 111.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.07, 60.24, 9.39)
Decimal13554700
Display P3color(display-p3 0.808 0.831 0.047)
Web-safe#CCCC00

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ced40c;
background-color: #ced40c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ced40c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ced40c] bg-[#ced40c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ced40c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.808, green: 0.831, blue: 0.047)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.808, green: 0.831, blue: 0.047, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CED40C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCED40C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCED40C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(12, 212, 206)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(206, 212, 12)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(206, 212, 12)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 206, 212, 12)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8078f, 0.8314f, 0.0471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{206,212,12}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ced40c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ced40c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#757907, #EDEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ced40c 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: #FCFDF2;
  --brand-100: #FAFBE5;
  --brand-200: #F7F8C4;
  --brand-300: #F6F995;
  --brand-400: #F1F660;
  --brand-500: #EDF32B;
  --brand-600: #E1E80D;
  --brand-700: #ced40c;
  --brand-800: #969A09;
  --brand-900: #6C6F0B;
  --brand-950: #444607;
  --brand: #ced40c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EBEDC0;
  --brand-hover: #ADB20A;
  --brand-pressed: #8C9008;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EDEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFDF2',
        100: '#FAFBE5',
        200: '#F7F8C4',
        300: '#F6F995',
        400: '#F1F660',
        500: '#EDF32B',
        600: '#E1E80D',
        700: '#ced40c',
        800: '#969A09',
        900: '#6C6F0B',
        950: '#444607',
        DEFAULT: '#ced40c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFDF2,
  '100': #FAFBE5,
  '200': #F7F8C4,
  '300': #F6F995,
  '400': #F1F660,
  '500': #EDF32B,
  '600': #E1E80D,
  '700': #ced40c,
  '800': #969A09,
  '900': #6C6F0B,
  '950': #444607,
);
$brand-base: #ced40c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FAFBE5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F7F8C4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F6F995", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F1F660", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#EDF32B", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#E1E80D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ced40c", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#969A09", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6C6F0B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#444607", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ced40c · 13.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.61:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ced40c as text scores 1.61:1 on white and 13.05:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #757907 at 2.90:1.

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
#757807 · 4.72:1
AA on white−19% L
#757807
The quick fox
#595B05 · 7.18:1
AAA on white−25% L
#595B05
The quick fox
#ced40c · 13.05:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ced40c
The quick fox
#ced40c · 13.05:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ced40c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #969A09 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
#ced40c on white: 1.61:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ced40c on black: 13.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ced40c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ced40c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.61:1AaAa
Slate 501.54:1AaAa
Slate 1001.47:1AaAa
Slate 2001.31:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.59:1AaAa
Slate 5002.96:1AaAa
Slate 6004.71:1AaAa
Slate 7006.43:1AaAa
Slate 8009.09:1AaAa
Slate 90011.09:1AaAa
Black13.05:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E5CA00
deuteranopia · #E6CE2B
tritanopia · #DDC6B4

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. #ced40c 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.

#FCFDF2
#FAFBE5
#F7F8C4
#F6F995
#F1F660
#EDF32B
#E1E80D
#ced40c
#969A09
#6C6F0B
#444607
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FCFDF2Darkest = 950 · #444607Text 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 0.046 111.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.073 111.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.110 111.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.143 111.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.169 111.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.183 111.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.183 111.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.172 111.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.154 111.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.128 111.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.101 111.8);
}

Colors that work with #ced40c

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#EBEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#999B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0835D8
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#757907
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDFEE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#ADB20A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#8C9008
Two steps down
Disabled#BABB95
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#ECF301
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 #ced40c

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #757907
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #969A09

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 low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight56/100
  • 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#120CD4
Analogous left#D4760C
Analogous right#6AD40C
Split-complement 1#0C6AD4
Split-complement 2#760CD4
Triadic 1#0CCED4
Triadic 2#D40CCE
Tetradic#0CD476
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°62°

#ced40c sits at 62°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.8%
Green83.1%
Blue4.7%
R · 0–255
206
0xce
G · 0–255
212
0xd4
B · 0–255
12
0x0c

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow94.3%
Key (black)16.9%

Total ink coverage is 114%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ced40c text on a black background

contrast 13.05:1

Card sample

#ced40c text on a white background

contrast 1.61:1

Card sample

#ced40c on grey

1.47:1

#ced40c on its own surface

1.54:1

#ced40c on its dark surface

9.76:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ced40c;
Background color
Panel with #ced40c background
background-color: #ced40c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ced40c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(206, 212, 12, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(206, 212, 12, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ced40c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ced40c, #49D40C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ced40c, #17D40C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ced40c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ced40c;
caret-color: #ced40c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ced40c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDFEE7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ced40c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ced40c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ced40c 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, 212, 12, 0.5)
rgb(206 212 12 / 50%)
#ced40c80
hsl(62 89% 44% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ced40c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ced40c1a#FAFBE7
20%#ced40c33#F5F6CE
40%#ced40c66#EBEE9E
60%#ced40c99#E2E56D
80%#ced40ccc#D8DD3D

Gradients from #ced40c

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, #EDF32A, #ced40c 45%, #757907);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ced40c, #30B70A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ced40c, #120CD4);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EFF547 0%, #ced40c 45%, #757907 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%, #F27E20 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #65F10E 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #757907 0%, transparent 65%), #ced40c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ced40c

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.

#ced40c 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 13.05:1.

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.

#ced40c, answered

What color is #ced40c?

#ced40c is a dark electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 62° on the hue wheel with 89% saturation and 44% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ced40c?

rgb(206, 212, 12) — 206 red, 212 green and 12 blue out of 255, or 80.8% / 83.1% / 4.7% by channel.

What is #ced40c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(62, 89%, 44%) and hsv(62, 94%, 83%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ced40c a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6024 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 13.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ced40c?

Black. It scores 13.05:1 against #ced40c, versus 1.61:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ced40c accessible on a white background?

#ced40c on white scores 1.61:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #757807 to reach 4.5:1, or #595B05 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ced40c?

#120CD4 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0C6AD4 and #760CD4, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ced40c?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEDC0 for borders, #999B4B for secondary text, #0835D8 as an accent and #757907 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D4760C and #6AD40C stays calm, while #120CD4 is the loudest partner.

What is #ced40c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 94%, 17%). 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 #ced40c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 27 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D4980C; nudged cooler, #85D60A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ced40c?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 13.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ced40c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ced40c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ced40c] or text-[#ced40c], 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 #ced40c with 50% opacity?

rgba(206, 212, 12, 0.5), or #ced40c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7EA86; over black, #676A06.

Is #ced40c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC00, ΔE2000 2.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ced40c 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 #ced40c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EDF32A, #ced40c 45%, #757907). For more colour, a short hue run to #30B70A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ced40c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ced40c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.