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yellow · warm

#dbcba4

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Wheat

Token name suggestion: Morning Brass

RGB
219, 203, 164
HSL
43°, 43%, 75%
CMYK
0, 7, 25, 14
Luminance
0.6045

#dbcba4 is a light soft yellow, 43° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.09:1). As text it scores 1.60:1 on white — use #8B7337 instead. Nearest name is Wheat, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(43 43% 75%)rgb(219 203 164)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dbcba4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dbcba4
Hue
43°
yellow
Saturation
43%
soft
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
80%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6045
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
13.09:1
Closest name
Wheat
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
21.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.846
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 18.3
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue43° of 360°
Saturation43%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dbcba4.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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
Red25%
Green71%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#dbcba4
HEX (8-digit)#dbcba4ff
RGBrgb(219, 203, 164)
RGBArgba(219, 203, 164, 1)
HSLhsl(43, 43%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(43, 25%, 86%)
HWBhwb(43 64% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 25%, 14%)
LABlab(82.1 -0.5 21.5)
LCHlch(82.1 21.5 91.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.846 0.055 88.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(57.27, 60.45, 43.77)
Decimal14404516
Display P3color(display-p3 0.859 0.796 0.643)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dbcba4;
background-color: #dbcba4;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dbcba4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dbcba4] bg-[#dbcba4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dbcba4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.859, green: 0.796, blue: 0.643)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.859, green: 0.796, blue: 0.643, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DBCBA4</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDBCBA4)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDBCBA4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(164, 203, 219)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(219, 203, 164)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(219, 203, 164)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 219, 203, 164)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8588f, 0.7961f, 0.6431f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{219,203,164}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dbcba4 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dbcba4 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5B4B24, #EEE6D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dbcba4 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: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F5F2EB;
  --brand-200: #EAE3D1;
  --brand-300: #dbcba4;
  --brand-400: #CFBA86;
  --brand-500: #BFA35E;
  --brand-600: #AF9045;
  --brand-700: #92783A;
  --brand-800: #75602E;
  --brand-900: #564725;
  --brand-950: #352D17;
  --brand: #dbcba4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #E8DEC5;
  --brand-hover: #D1BC8A;
  --brand-pressed: #C7AE71;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE6D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F2EB',
        200: '#EAE3D1',
        300: '#dbcba4',
        400: '#CFBA86',
        500: '#BFA35E',
        600: '#AF9045',
        700: '#92783A',
        800: '#75602E',
        900: '#564725',
        950: '#352D17',
        DEFAULT: '#dbcba4',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F2EB,
  '200': #EAE3D1,
  '300': #dbcba4,
  '400': #CFBA86,
  '500': #BFA35E,
  '600': #AF9045,
  '700': #92783A,
  '800': #75602E,
  '900': #564725,
  '950': #352D17,
);
$brand-base: #dbcba4;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F2EB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EAE3D1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#dbcba4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#CFBA86", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BFA35E", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AF9045", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#92783A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#75602E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#564725", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#352D17", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dbcba4 · 13.09:1
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 · 13.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dbcba4 as text scores 1.60:1 on white and 13.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5B4B24 at 5.29:1.

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
#8B7337 · 4.56:1
AA on white−37% L
#8B7337
The quick fox
#675529 · 7.22:1
AAA on white−47% L
#675529
The quick fox
#dbcba4 · 13.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dbcba4
The quick fox
#dbcba4 · 13.09:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dbcba4

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B09146 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
#dbcba4 on white: 1.60:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dbcba4 on black: 13.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dbcba4 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dbcba4.

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 5002.97:1AaAa
Slate 6004.72:1AaAa
Slate 7006.45:1AaAa
Slate 8009.12:1AaAa
Slate 90011.13:1AaAa
Black13.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D4CAA2
deuteranopia · #D8CEA5
tritanopia · #E4C4C0

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. #dbcba4 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAF8F5
#F5F2EB
#EAE3D1
#dbcba4
#CFBA86
#BFA35E
#AF9045
#92783A
#75602E
#564725
#352D17
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #352D17Text 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 0.014 88.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.022 88.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.033 88.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.043 88.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.050 88.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.055 88.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.055 88.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.052 88.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.046 88.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.038 88.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.030 88.4);
}

Colors that work with #dbcba4

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#E8DEC5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B834B
Captions on the surface
Accent#356A97
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5B4B24
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F5ED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#D1BC8A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#C7AE71
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F6F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E6D6AD
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 #dbcba4

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 #5B4B24
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B09146

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
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#A4B4DB
Analogous left#DBAFA4
Analogous right#D0DBA4
Split-complement 1#A4D0DB
Split-complement 2#AFA4DB
Triadic 1#A4DBCB
Triadic 2#CBA4DB
Tetradic#A4DBAF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°43°

#dbcba4 sits at 43°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red85.9%
Green79.6%
Blue64.3%
R · 0–255
219
0xdb
G · 0–255
203
0xcb
B · 0–255
164
0xa4

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta7.3%
Yellow25.1%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 47%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dbcba4 text on a black background

contrast 13.09:1

Card sample

#dbcba4 text on a white background

contrast 1.60:1

Card sample

#dbcba4 on grey

1.46:1

#dbcba4 on its own surface

1.52:1

#dbcba4 on its dark surface

10.13:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dbcba4;
Background color
Panel with #dbcba4 background
background-color: #dbcba4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dbcba4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(219, 203, 164, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(219, 203, 164, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dbcba4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dbcba4, #C6DBA4);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbcba4, #B9DBA4);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dbcba4;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dbcba4;
caret-color: #dbcba4;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dbcba4;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F5ED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dbcba4;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dbcba4 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dbcba4 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(219, 203, 164, 0.5)
rgb(219 203 164 / 50%)
#dbcba480
hsl(43 43% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dbcba4 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dbcba41a#FBFAF6
20%#dbcba433#F8F5ED
40%#dbcba466#F1EADB
60%#dbcba499#E9E0C8
80%#dbcba4cc#E2D5B6

Gradients from #dbcba4

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, #ECE4D0, #dbcba4 45%, #5B4B24);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dbcba4, #B3D28E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbcba4, #A4B4DB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F5F1E6 0%, #dbcba4 45%, #5B4B24 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%, #E9CDC9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D8E4BA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5B4B24 0%, transparent 65%), #dbcba4;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dbcba4

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.

#dbcba4 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 13.09:1.

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.

#dbcba4, answered

What color is #dbcba4?

#dbcba4 is a light soft yellow, closest to Wheat (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 43° on the hue wheel with 43% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dbcba4?

rgb(219, 203, 164) — 219 red, 203 green and 164 blue out of 255, or 85.9% / 79.6% / 64.3% by channel.

What is #dbcba4 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(43, 43%, 75%) and hsv(43, 25%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dbcba4 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6045 and perceived brightness is 80%, so black text on it reaches 13.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dbcba4?

Black. It scores 13.09:1 against #dbcba4, versus 1.60:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dbcba4 accessible on a white background?

#dbcba4 on white scores 1.60:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8B7337 to reach 4.5:1, or #675529 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dbcba4?

#A4B4DB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A4D0DB and #AFA4DB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dbcba4?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #E8DEC5 for borders, #9B834B for secondary text, #356A97 as an accent and #5B4B24 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DBAFA4 and #D0DBA4 stays calm, while #A4B4DB is the loudest partner.

What is #dbcba4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 25%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dbcba4 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DBBEA4; nudged cooler, #D8DCA3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dbcba4?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 18.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dbcba4 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dbcba4 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dbcba4] or text-[#dbcba4], 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 #dbcba4 with 50% opacity?

rgba(219, 203, 164, 0.5), or #dbcba480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EDE5D2; over black, #6E6652.

Is #dbcba4 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 6.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dbcba4 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 #dbcba4?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ECE4D0, #dbcba4 45%, #5B4B24). For more colour, a short hue run to #B3D28E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dbcba4 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dbcba4 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.