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yellow · warm

#dcd48f

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Citron

RGB
220, 212, 143
HSL
54°, 52%, 71%
CMYK
0, 4, 35, 14
Luminance
0.6429

#dcd48f is a light vivid yellow, 54° on the wheel and 20/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.86:1). As text it scores 1.52:1 on white — use #817828 instead. Nearest name is Pale Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(54 52% 71%)rgb(220 212 143)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcd48f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcd48f
Hue
54°
yellow
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6429
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
20/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.86:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.8
Chroma
35.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.861
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 16.7
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue54° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dcd48f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool20% 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
Red24%
Green73%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#dcd48f
HEX (8-digit)#dcd48fff
RGBrgb(220, 212, 143)
RGBArgba(220, 212, 143, 1)
HSLhsl(54, 52%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(54, 35%, 86%)
HWBhwb(54 56% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 4%, 35%, 14%)
LABlab(84.1 -7.4 35.2)
LCHlch(84.1 35.9 101.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.861 0.089 102.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.02, 64.29, 35.33)
Decimal14472335
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.831 0.561)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dcd48f;
background-color: #dcd48f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dcd48f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcd48f] bg-[#dcd48f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcd48f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.831, blue: 0.561)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.831, blue: 0.561, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCD48F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCD48F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCD48F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(143, 212, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 212, 143)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 212, 143)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 212, 143)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.8314f, 0.5608f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,212,143}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dcd48f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dcd48f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#615A1E, #EEEBD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dcd48f 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: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F6F5E9;
  --brand-200: #EDEACF;
  --brand-300: #E4DEAA;
  --brand-400: #dcd48f;
  --brand-500: #CABD54;
  --brand-600: #BBAD3A;
  --brand-700: #9B9031;
  --brand-800: #7C7427;
  --brand-900: #5B5520;
  --brand-950: #393514;
  --brand: #dcd48f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #ECE7C1;
  --brand-hover: #D4CA74;
  --brand-pressed: #CBBF59;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EEEBD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFAF4',
        100: '#F6F5E9',
        200: '#EDEACF',
        300: '#E4DEAA',
        400: '#dcd48f',
        500: '#CABD54',
        600: '#BBAD3A',
        700: '#9B9031',
        800: '#7C7427',
        900: '#5B5520',
        950: '#393514',
        DEFAULT: '#dcd48f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFAF4,
  '100': #F6F5E9,
  '200': #EDEACF,
  '300': #E4DEAA,
  '400': #dcd48f,
  '500': #CABD54,
  '600': #BBAD3A,
  '700': #9B9031,
  '800': #7C7427,
  '900': #5B5520,
  '950': #393514,
);
$brand-base: #dcd48f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDEACF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E4DEAA", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#dcd48f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#CABD54", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#BBAD3A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#9B9031", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7C7427", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5B5520", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#393514", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dcd48f · 13.86:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.52:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcd48f as text scores 1.52:1 on white and 13.86:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #615A1E at 4.64:1.

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
#817828 · 4.52:1
AA on white−38% L
#817828
The quick fox
#5E571D · 7.35:1
AAA on white−47% L
#5E571D
The quick fox
#dcd48f · 13.86:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dcd48f
The quick fox
#dcd48f · 13.86:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dcd48f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A09532 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
#dcd48f on white: 1.52:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcd48f on black: 13.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcd48f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcd48f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.52:1AaAa
Slate 501.45:1AaAa
Slate 1001.38:1AaAa
Slate 2001.23:1AaAa
Slate 3001.02:1AaAa
Slate 4001.69:1AaAa
Slate 5003.14:1AaAa
Slate 6005.00:1AaAa
Slate 7006.83:1AaAa
Slate 8009.65:1AaAa
Slate 90011.78:1AaAa
Black13.86:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E0CF8A
deuteranopia · #E3D492
tritanopia · #E7CBC2

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. #dcd48f 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.

#FAFAF4
#F6F5E9
#EDEACF
#E4DEAA
#dcd48f
#CABD54
#BBAD3A
#9B9031
#7C7427
#5B5520
#393514
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAFAF4Darkest = 950 · #393514Text 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 0.022 102.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.036 102.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.053 102.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.069 102.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.082 102.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.089 102.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.089 102.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.084 102.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.075 102.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.062 102.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.049 102.4);
}

Colors that work with #dcd48f

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#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#ECE7C1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B934B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2C55A0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#615A1E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F8EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#D4CA74
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CBBF59
Two steps down
Disabled#F1F1EA
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7DF98
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 #dcd48f

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #615A1E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A09532

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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-high
  • 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#8F97DC
Analogous left#DCAE8F
Analogous right#BEDC8F
Split-complement 1#8FBEDC
Split-complement 2#AE8FDC
Triadic 1#8FDCD4
Triadic 2#D48FDC
Tetradic#8FDCAE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°54°

#dcd48f sits at 54°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green83.1%
Blue56.1%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
212
0xd4
B · 0–255
143
0x8f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta3.6%
Yellow35.0%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 52%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dcd48f text on a black background

contrast 13.86:1

Card sample

#dcd48f text on a white background

contrast 1.52:1

Card sample

#dcd48f on grey

1.38:1

#dcd48f on its own surface

1.45:1

#dcd48f on its dark surface

10.45:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcd48f;
Background color
Panel with #dcd48f background
background-color: #dcd48f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcd48f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 212, 143, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 212, 143, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcd48f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcd48f, #B1DC8F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcd48f, #9DDC8F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dcd48f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dcd48f;
caret-color: #dcd48f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dcd48f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F8EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dcd48f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dcd48f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcd48f 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(220, 212, 143, 0.5)
rgb(220 212 143 / 50%)
#dcd48f80
hsl(54 52% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcd48f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dcd48f1a#FCFBF4
20%#dcd48f33#F8F6E9
40%#dcd48f66#F1EED2
60%#dcd48f99#EAE5BC
80%#dcd48fcc#E3DDA5

Gradients from #dcd48f

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, #EBE6BE, #dcd48f 45%, #615A1E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcd48f, #99D578);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcd48f, #8F97DC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F2EFD5 0%, #dcd48f 45%, #615A1E 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E8C6B6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C6E3A6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #615A1E 0%, transparent 65%), #dcd48f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcd48f

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.

#dcd48f 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 13.86:1.

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.

#dcd48f, answered

What color is #dcd48f?

#dcd48f is a light vivid yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 54° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dcd48f?

rgb(220, 212, 143) — 220 red, 212 green and 143 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 83.1% / 56.1% by channel.

What is #dcd48f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(54, 52%, 71%) and hsv(54, 35%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dcd48f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6429 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 13.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcd48f?

Black. It scores 13.86:1 against #dcd48f, versus 1.52:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dcd48f accessible on a white background?

#dcd48f on white scores 1.52:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #817828 to reach 4.5:1, or #5E571D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dcd48f?

#8F97DC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8FBEDC and #AE8FDC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcd48f?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #ECE7C1 for borders, #9B934B for secondary text, #2C55A0 as an accent and #615A1E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DCAE8F and #BEDC8F stays calm, while #8F97DC is the loudest partner.

What is #dcd48f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 4%, 35%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dcd48f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 20 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DCB98F; nudged cooler, #C8DE8E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dcd48f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 16.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dcd48f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dcd48f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dcd48f] or text-[#dcd48f], 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 #dcd48f with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 212, 143, 0.5), or #dcd48f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEEAC7; over black, #6E6A48.

Is #dcd48f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dcd48f 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 chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #dcd48f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBE6BE, #dcd48f 45%, #615A1E). For more colour, a short hue run to #99D578 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dcd48f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dcd48f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.