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#cfcba0

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Pale Goldenrod

RGB
207, 203, 160
HSL
55°, 33%, 72%
CMYK
0, 2, 23, 19
Luminance
0.5852

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfcba0 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfcba0
Hue
55°
yellow
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5852
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
23/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.70:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 7.8
Where it sits
Hue55° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness72%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool23% 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#cfcba0
RGBrgb(207, 203, 160)
HSLhsl(55, 33%, 72%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 2%, 23%, 19%)
LABlab(81.0 -5.5 22.0)
LCHlch(81.0 22.7 104.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.835 0.058 103.1)
Decimal13618080
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.796 0.627)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #cfcba0;
background-color: #cfcba0;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfcba0] bg-[#cfcba0]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfcba0;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.796, blue: 0.627)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#cfcba0")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFCBA0)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(160, 203, 207)

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 #cfcba0 · 12.70:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.65:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.70:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfcba0 as text scores 1.65:1 on white and 12.70:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#cfcba0 on white: 1.65:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfcba0 on black: 12.70:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D3C89D
deuteranopia · #D5CAA2
tritanopia · #D6C5BF

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #cfcba0 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F9F9F5
#F4F3EC
#E7E6D4
#D9D6B4
#cfcba0
#B4AD6A
#A39C52
#888244
#6C6837
#504D2B
#32301B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F5Darkest = 950 · #32301B
:root {
  --brand-50: #F9F9F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E7E6D4;
  --brand-300: #D9D6B4;
  --brand-400: #cfcba0;
  --brand-500: #B4AD6A;
  --brand-600: #A39C52;
  --brand-700: #888244;
  --brand-800: #6C6837;
  --brand-900: #504D2B;
  --brand-950: #32301B;
  --brand: #cfcba0;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #cfcba0

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#FAF9F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4E1C9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#99924D
Captions on the surface
Accent#405A8C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#55512B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
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 #cfcba0

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White 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#A0A4CF
Analogous left#CFB4A0
Analogous right#BCCFA0
Split-complement 1#A0BCCF
Split-complement 2#B4A0CF
Triadic 1#A0CFCB
Triadic 2#CBA0CF
Tetradic#A0CFB4

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green79.6%
Blue62.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta1.9%
Yellow22.7%
Key (black)18.8%

Color previews

#cfcba0 text on a black background

contrast 12.70:1

Card sample

#cfcba0 text on a white background

contrast 1.65:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfcba0;
Background color
Panel with #cfcba0 background
background-color: #cfcba0;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfcba0;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 203, 160, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 203, 160, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfcba0;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfcba0, #B4CFA0);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfcba0

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.

#cfcba0 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#cfcba0, answered

What color is #cfcba0?

#cfcba0 is a light soft yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 7.8). It sits at 55° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cfcba0?

rgb(207, 203, 160) — 207 red, 203 green and 160 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 79.6% / 62.7% by channel.

Is #cfcba0 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5852 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.70:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfcba0?

Black. It scores 12.70:1 against #cfcba0, versus 1.65:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #cfcba0?

#A0A4CF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A0BCCF and #B4A0CF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfcba0?

For interface work: #FAF9F5 as the surface, #E4E1C9 for borders, #99924D for secondary text, #405A8C as an accent and #55512B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CFB4A0 and #BCCFA0 stays calm, while #A0A4CF is the loudest partner.

What is #cfcba0 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 2%, 23%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfcba0 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 23 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CFBAA0; nudged cooler, #C2D19F.

Work with #cfcba0 in the Color Lab