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yellow · warm

#cfd099

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Citron

RGB
207, 208, 153
HSL
61°, 37%, 71%
CMYK
1, 0, 26, 18
Luminance
0.6068

#cfd099 is a light soft yellow, 61° on the wheel and 26/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.14:1). As text it scores 1.60:1 on white — use #787938 instead. Nearest name is Pale Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(61 37% 71%)rgb(207 208 153)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfd099 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfd099
Hue
61°
yellow
Saturation
37%
soft
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
82%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6068
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
26/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.14:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 6.3
Chroma
28.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.843
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 18
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue61° of 360°
Saturation37%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfd099.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool26% 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%
Green74%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#cfd099
HEX (8-digit)#cfd099ff
RGBrgb(207, 208, 153)
RGBArgba(207, 208, 153, 1)
HSLhsl(61, 37%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(61, 26%, 82%)
HWBhwb(61 60% 18%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 26%, 18%)
LABlab(82.2 -9.1 27.3)
LCHlch(82.2 28.8 108.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.843 0.072 108.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(54.04, 60.68, 39.00)
Decimal13619353
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.816 0.600)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfd099;
background-color: #cfd099;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfd099;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfd099] bg-[#cfd099]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfd099;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.816, blue: 0.600)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.816, blue: 0.600, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFD099</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFD099)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFD099)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(153, 208, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 208, 153)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 208, 153)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 208, 153)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.8157f, 0.6000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,208,153}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfd099 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfd099 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#565728, #EBECD5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfd099 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: #F9FAF5;
  --brand-100: #F4F4EB;
  --brand-200: #E8E9D3;
  --brand-300: #DBDCB2;
  --brand-400: #cfd099;
  --brand-500: #B7B865;
  --brand-600: #A6A84D;
  --brand-700: #8A8C40;
  --brand-800: #6F7033;
  --brand-900: #515228;
  --brand-950: #333319;
  --brand: #cfd099;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF5;
  --brand-border: #E5E5C7;
  --brand-hover: #C4C581;
  --brand-pressed: #B8B968;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EBECD5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9FAF5',
        100: '#F4F4EB',
        200: '#E8E9D3',
        300: '#DBDCB2',
        400: '#cfd099',
        500: '#B7B865',
        600: '#A6A84D',
        700: '#8A8C40',
        800: '#6F7033',
        900: '#515228',
        950: '#333319',
        DEFAULT: '#cfd099',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9FAF5,
  '100': #F4F4EB,
  '200': #E8E9D3,
  '300': #DBDCB2,
  '400': #cfd099,
  '500': #B7B865,
  '600': #A6A84D,
  '700': #8A8C40,
  '800': #6F7033,
  '900': #515228,
  '950': #333319,
);
$brand-base: #cfd099;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9FAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F4EB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E8E9D3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DBDCB2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cfd099", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#B7B865", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A6A84D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#8A8C40", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6F7033", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#515228", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#333319", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfd099 · 13.14:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.60:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.14:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfd099 as text scores 1.60:1 on white and 13.14:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #565728 at 4.71:1.

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
#787938 · 4.57:1
AA on white−36% L
#787938
The quick fox
#595A2A · 7.19:1
AAA on white−45% L
#595A2A
The quick fox
#cfd099 · 13.14:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfd099
The quick fox
#cfd099 · 13.14:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfd099

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #979946 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
#cfd099 on white: 1.60:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfd099 on black: 13.14:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfd099 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfd099.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.60:1AaAa
Slate 501.53:1AaAa
Slate 1001.46:1AaAa
Slate 2001.30:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.60:1AaAa
Slate 5002.98:1AaAa
Slate 6004.74:1AaAa
Slate 7006.48:1AaAa
Slate 8009.15:1AaAa
Slate 90011.17:1AaAa
Black13.14:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D9CB95
deuteranopia · #DACE9B
tritanopia · #D7C9C1

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. #cfd099 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.

#F9FAF5
#F4F4EB
#E8E9D3
#DBDCB2
#cfd099
#B7B865
#A6A84D
#8A8C40
#6F7033
#515228
#333319
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F9FAF5Darkest = 950 · #333319Text 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 0.018 108.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 108.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.043 108.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 108.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 108.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.072 108.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.072 108.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.068 108.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 108.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 108.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 108.7);
}

Colors that work with #cfd099

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#E5E5C7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#999B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3C4F90
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#565728
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7F7EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#C4C581
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B8B968
Two steps down
Disabled#F1F1E9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCDDA1
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 #cfd099

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 #565728
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #979946

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#9A99D0
Analogous left#D0B699
Analogous right#B4D099
Split-complement 1#99B4D0
Split-complement 2#B699D0
Triadic 1#99CFD0
Triadic 2#D099CF
Tetradic#99D0B6
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°61°

#cfd099 sits at 61°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green81.6%
Blue60.0%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
208
0xd0
B · 0–255
153
0x99

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow26.4%
Key (black)18.4%

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

Color previews

#cfd099 text on a black background

contrast 13.14:1

Card sample

#cfd099 text on a white background

contrast 1.60:1

Card sample

#cfd099 on grey

1.46:1

#cfd099 on its own surface

1.53:1

#cfd099 on its dark surface

9.82:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfd099;
Background color
Panel with #cfd099 background
background-color: #cfd099;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfd099;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 208, 153, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 208, 153, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfd099;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfd099, #AAD099);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfd099, #9DD099);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfd099;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfd099;
caret-color: #cfd099;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfd099;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F7F7EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfd099;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfd099 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfd099 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, 208, 153, 0.5)
rgb(207 208 153 / 50%)
#cfd09980
hsl(61 37% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfd099 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfd0991a#FAFAF5
20%#cfd09933#F5F6EB
40%#cfd09966#ECECD6
60%#cfd09999#E2E3C2
80%#cfd099cc#D9D9AD

Gradients from #cfd099

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, #E3E3C3, #cfd099 45%, #565728);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfd099, #93C684);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfd099, #9A99D0);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EDEDD8 0%, #cfd099 45%, #565728 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%, #E0CCBC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BFDAAE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #565728 0%, transparent 65%), #cfd099;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfd099

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.

#cfd099 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 13.14:1.

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.

#cfd099, answered

What color is #cfd099?

#cfd099 is a light soft yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 6.3). It sits at 61° on the hue wheel with 37% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cfd099?

rgb(207, 208, 153) — 207 red, 208 green and 153 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 81.6% / 60% by channel.

What is #cfd099 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(61, 37%, 71%) and hsv(61, 26%, 82%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfd099 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6068 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 13.14:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfd099?

Black. It scores 13.14:1 against #cfd099, versus 1.60:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfd099 accessible on a white background?

#cfd099 on white scores 1.60:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #787938 to reach 4.5:1, or #595A2A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfd099?

#9A99D0 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #99B4D0 and #B699D0, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfd099?

For interface work: #FAFAF5 as the surface, #E5E5C7 for borders, #999B4B for secondary text, #3C4F90 as an accent and #565728 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #D0B699 and #B4D099 stays calm, while #9A99D0 is the loudest partner.

What is #cfd099 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 26%, 18%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfd099 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 26 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #D0BD99; nudged cooler, #BBD298.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfd099?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 18 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfd099 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfd099 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfd099] or text-[#cfd099], 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 #cfd099 with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 208, 153, 0.5), or #cfd09980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7E8CC; over black, #68684D.

Is #cfd099 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 1.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfd099 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 #cfd099?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E3E3C3, #cfd099 45%, #565728). For more colour, a short hue run to #93C684 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfd099 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfd099 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.