#dcad18

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcad18 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFAF3;
  --brand-100: #F9F5E6;
  --brand-200: #F5EAC6;
  --brand-300: #F4DE9A;
  --brand-400: #EECE67;
  --brand-500: #E9BE35;
  --brand-600: #dcad18;
  --brand-700: #B89114;
  --brand-800: #937410;
  --brand-900: #6A5510;
  --brand-950: #43350A;
  --brand: #dcad18;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE2C0;
  --brand-hover: #BC9314;
  --brand-pressed: #9B7A11;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}

theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFAF3',
        100: '#F9F5E6',
        200: '#F5EAC6',
        300: '#F4DE9A',
        400: '#EECE67',
        500: '#E9BE35',
        600: '#dcad18',
        700: '#B89114',
        800: '#937410',
        900: '#6A5510',
        950: '#43350A',
        DEFAULT: '#dcad18',
      },
    },
  },
}

$brand: (
  '50': #FCFAF3,
  '100': #F9F5E6,
  '200': #F5EAC6,
  '300': #F4DE9A,
  '400': #EECE67,
  '500': #E9BE35,
  '600': #dcad18,
  '700': #B89114,
  '800': #937410,
  '900': #6A5510,
  '950': #43350A,
);
$brand-base: #dcad18;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }

{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFAF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9F5E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5EAC6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F4DE9A", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#EECE67", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E9BE35", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#dcad18", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B89114", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#937410", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6A5510", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#43350A", "$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.

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.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcad18 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcad18.

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. #dcad18 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.038 88.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 88.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.092 88.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.119 88.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.141 88.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.153 88.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.153 88.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.144 88.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.128 88.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 88.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 88.3);
}

Colors that work with #dcad18

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

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.

How to use #dcad18

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

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

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.

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcad18 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

rgba(220, 173, 24, 0.5)
rgb(220 173 24 / 50%)
#dcad1880
hsl(46 80% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcad18 50%, transparent)

Gradients from #dcad18

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

background: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBC346, #dcad18 45%, #735A0D);

background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcad18, #69C015);

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcad18, #1847DC);

background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EECC62 0%, #dcad18 45%, #735A0D 100%);

background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);

background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #EA5C3D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A7E82B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #735A0D 0%, transparent 65%), #dcad18;

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.

#dcad18 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

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.