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yellow · warm

#cfcc9b

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Citron

RGB
207, 204, 155
HSL
57°, 35%, 71%
CMYK
0, 1, 25, 19
Luminance
0.5882

#cfcc9b is a light soft yellow, 57° on the wheel and 22/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.76:1). As text it scores 1.65:1 on white — use #7C783C instead. Nearest name is Pale Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(57 35% 71%)rgb(207 204 155)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfcc9b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfcc9b
Hue
57°
yellow
Saturation
35%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5882
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
22/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
12.76:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
25.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.836
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 19.4
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue57° of 360°
Saturation35%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfcc9b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool22% 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
Red23%
Green73%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#cfcc9b
HEX (8-digit)#cfcc9bff
RGBrgb(207, 204, 155)
RGBArgba(207, 204, 155, 1)
HSLhsl(57, 35%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(57, 25%, 81%)
HWBhwb(57 61% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 1%, 25%, 19%)
LABlab(81.2 -6.8 24.9)
LCHlch(81.2 25.8 105.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.836 0.065 104.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(53.24, 58.82, 39.55)
Decimal13618331
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.800 0.608)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfcc9b;
background-color: #cfcc9b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfcc9b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfcc9b] bg-[#cfcc9b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfcc9b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.800, blue: 0.608)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.800, blue: 0.608, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFCC9B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFCC9B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFCC9B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(155, 204, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 204, 155)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 204, 155)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 204, 155)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.8000f, 0.6078f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,204,155}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfcc9b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfcc9b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#565429, #EBEAD6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfcc9b 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: #F9F9F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F3EC;
  --brand-200: #E8E7D4;
  --brand-300: #DBD8B3;
  --brand-400: #cfcc9b;
  --brand-500: #B6B267;
  --brand-600: #A5A04F;
  --brand-700: #8A8642;
  --brand-800: #6E6B35;
  --brand-900: #514F29;
  --brand-950: #33311A;
  --brand: #cfcc9b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF5;
  --brand-border: #E5E3C8;
  --brand-hover: #C3C083;
  --brand-pressed: #B8B36B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EBEAD6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F5',
        100: '#F4F3EC',
        200: '#E8E7D4',
        300: '#DBD8B3',
        400: '#cfcc9b',
        500: '#B6B267',
        600: '#A5A04F',
        700: '#8A8642',
        800: '#6E6B35',
        900: '#514F29',
        950: '#33311A',
        DEFAULT: '#cfcc9b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F5,
  '100': #F4F3EC,
  '200': #E8E7D4,
  '300': #DBD8B3,
  '400': #cfcc9b,
  '500': #B6B267,
  '600': #A5A04F,
  '700': #8A8642,
  '800': #6E6B35,
  '900': #514F29,
  '950': #33311A,
);
$brand-base: #cfcc9b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F3EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8E7D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBD8B3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cfcc9b", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B6B267", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A5A04F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8A8642", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6E6B35", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#514F29", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#33311A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfcc9b · 12.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.65:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfcc9b as text scores 1.65:1 on white and 12.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #565429 at 4.73:1.

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
#7C783C · 4.56:1
AA on white−35% L
#7C783C
The quick fox
#5D5A2D · 7.08:1
AAA on white−44% L
#5D5A2D
The quick fox
#cfcc9b · 12.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfcc9b
The quick fox
#cfcc9b · 12.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfcc9b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #9B964A 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
#cfcc9b on white: 1.65:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfcc9b on black: 12.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfcc9b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfcc9b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.65:1AaAa
Slate 501.57:1AaAa
Slate 1001.50:1AaAa
Slate 2001.33:1AaAa
Slate 3001.11:1AaAa
Slate 4001.56:1AaAa
Slate 5002.89:1AaAa
Slate 6004.61:1AaAa
Slate 7006.29:1AaAa
Slate 8008.89:1AaAa
Slate 90010.85:1AaAa
Black12.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D5C898
deuteranopia · #D6CB9D
tritanopia · #D7C5BF

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. #cfcc9b 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
#E8E7D4
#DBD8B3
#cfcc9b
#B6B267
#A5A04F
#8A8642
#6E6B35
#514F29
#33311A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F5Darkest = 950 · #33311AText 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 0.016 104.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.026 104.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.039 104.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.051 104.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.060 104.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.065 104.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.065 104.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.061 104.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.055 104.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.045 104.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.036 104.8);
}

Colors that work with #cfcc9b

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#FAFAF5
Tinted page background
Border#E5E3C8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B964B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3E578E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#565429
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F6EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#C3C083
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B8B36B
Two steps down
Disabled#F1F1E9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCD9A2
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 #cfcc9b

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #565429
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #9B964A

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#9B9ECF
Analogous left#CFB29B
Analogous right#B8CF9B
Split-complement 1#9BB8CF
Split-complement 2#B29BCF
Triadic 1#9BCFCC
Triadic 2#CC9BCF
Tetradic#9BCFB2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°57°

#cfcc9b sits at 57°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green80.0%
Blue60.8%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
204
0xcc
B · 0–255
155
0x9b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta1.4%
Yellow25.1%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 45%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cfcc9b text on a black background

contrast 12.76:1

Card sample

#cfcc9b text on a white background

contrast 1.65:1

Card sample

#cfcc9b on grey

1.50:1

#cfcc9b on its own surface

1.57:1

#cfcc9b on its dark surface

9.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfcc9b;
Background color
Panel with #cfcc9b background
background-color: #cfcc9b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfcc9b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 204, 155, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 204, 155, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfcc9b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfcc9b, #AFCF9B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfcc9b, #A2CF9B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfcc9b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfcc9b;
caret-color: #cfcc9b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfcc9b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F6EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfcc9b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfcc9b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfcc9b 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(207, 204, 155, 0.5)
rgb(207 204 155 / 50%)
#cfcc9b80
hsl(57 35% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfcc9b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfcc9b1a#FAFAF5
20%#cfcc9b33#F5F5EB
40%#cfcc9b66#ECEBD7
60%#cfcc9b99#E2E0C3
80%#cfcc9bcc#D9D6AF

Gradients from #cfcc9b

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, #E3E1C4, #cfcc9b 45%, #565429);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfcc9b, #9AC586);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfcc9b, #9B9ECF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EDECD9 0%, #cfcc9b 45%, #565429 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E0CABE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C3D9B0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #565429 0%, transparent 65%), #cfcc9b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfcc9b

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.

#cfcc9b 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.

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 12.76:1.

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.

#cfcc9b, answered

What color is #cfcc9b?

#cfcc9b is a light soft yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 57° on the hue wheel with 35% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cfcc9b?

rgb(207, 204, 155) — 207 red, 204 green and 155 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 80% / 60.8% by channel.

What is #cfcc9b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(57, 35%, 71%) and hsv(57, 25%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfcc9b a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5882 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.76:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfcc9b?

Black. It scores 12.76:1 against #cfcc9b, versus 1.65:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfcc9b accessible on a white background?

#cfcc9b on white scores 1.65:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7C783C to reach 4.5:1, or #5D5A2D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfcc9b?

#9B9ECF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9BB8CF and #B29BCF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfcc9b?

For interface work: #FAFAF5 as the surface, #E5E3C8 for borders, #9B964B for secondary text, #3E578E as an accent and #565429 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CFB29B and #B8CF9B stays calm, while #9B9ECF is the loudest partner.

What is #cfcc9b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 1%, 25%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfcc9b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 22 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CFB99B; nudged cooler, #C0D09A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfcc9b?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 19.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfcc9b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfcc9b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfcc9b] or text-[#cfcc9b], 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 #cfcc9b with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 204, 155, 0.5), or #cfcc9b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7E6CD; over black, #68664E.

Is #cfcc9b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 1.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfcc9b 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #cfcc9b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3E1C4, #cfcc9b 45%, #565429). For more colour, a short hue run to #9AC586 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfcc9b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfcc9b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.