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yellow · warm

#dcdc95

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Citron

RGB
220, 220, 149
HSL
60°, 50%, 72%
CMYK
0, 0, 32, 14
Luminance
0.6857

#dcdc95 is a light vivid yellow, 60° on the wheel and 25/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.71:1). As text it scores 1.43:1 on white — use #787828 instead. Nearest name is Pale Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(60 50% 72%)rgb(220 220 149)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcdc95 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcdc95
Hue
60°
yellow
Saturation
50%
vivid
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6857
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
25/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.71:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.9
Chroma
36.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.878
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 17.3
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue60° of 360°
Saturation50%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dcdc95.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool25% 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%
Green75%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#dcdc95
HEX (8-digit)#dcdc95ff
RGBrgb(220, 220, 149)
RGBArgba(220, 220, 149, 1)
HSLhsl(60, 50%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(60, 32%, 86%)
HWBhwb(60 58% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 0%, 32%, 14%)
LABlab(86.3 -10.7 35.0)
LCHlch(86.3 36.6 107.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.878 0.091 108.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(60.53, 68.57, 38.48)
Decimal14474389
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.863 0.584)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dcdc95;
background-color: #dcdc95;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dcdc95;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcdc95] bg-[#dcdc95]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcdc95;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.863, blue: 0.584)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.863, blue: 0.584, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCDC95</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCDC95)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCDC95)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(149, 220, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 220, 149)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 220, 149)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 220, 149)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.8627f, 0.5843f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,220,149}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dcdc95 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dcdc95 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#606020, #EEEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dcdc95 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: #F6F6EA;
  --brand-200: #EDEDCF;
  --brand-300: #E3E3AB;
  --brand-400: #dcdc95;
  --brand-500: #C7C756;
  --brand-600: #B8B83D;
  --brand-700: #999933;
  --brand-800: #7B7B28;
  --brand-900: #5A5A21;
  --brand-950: #383815;
  --brand: #dcdc95;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EBEBC2;
  --brand-hover: #D3D37A;
  --brand-pressed: #CACA5F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EEEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFAF4',
        100: '#F6F6EA',
        200: '#EDEDCF',
        300: '#E3E3AB',
        400: '#dcdc95',
        500: '#C7C756',
        600: '#B8B83D',
        700: '#999933',
        800: '#7B7B28',
        900: '#5A5A21',
        950: '#383815',
        DEFAULT: '#dcdc95',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFAF4,
  '100': #F6F6EA,
  '200': #EDEDCF,
  '300': #E3E3AB,
  '400': #dcdc95,
  '500': #C7C756,
  '600': #B8B83D,
  '700': #999933,
  '800': #7B7B28,
  '900': #5A5A21,
  '950': #383815,
);
$brand-base: #dcdc95;
$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": "#F6F6EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EDEDCF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E3E3AB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#dcdc95", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C7C756", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B8B83D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#999933", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7B7B28", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5A5A21", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#383815", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dcdc95 · 14.71:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.43:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.71:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcdc95 as text scores 1.43:1 on white and 14.71:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #606020 at 4.61:1.

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
#787828 · 4.65:1
AA on white−41% L
#787828
The quick fox
#5A5A1E · 7.20:1
AAA on white−49% L
#5A5A1E
The quick fox
#dcdc95 · 14.71:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dcdc95
The quick fox
#dcdc95 · 14.71:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dcdc95

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #979732 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
#dcdc95 on white: 1.43:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcdc95 on black: 14.71:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcdc95 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcdc95.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.43:1AaAa
Slate 501.36:1AaAa
Slate 1001.30:1AaAa
Slate 2001.16:1AaAa
Slate 3001.04:1AaAa
Slate 4001.80:1AaAa
Slate 5003.33:1AaAa
Slate 6005.31:1AaAa
Slate 7007.26:1AaAa
Slate 80010.25:1AaAa
Slate 90012.51:1AaAa
Black14.71:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E7D690
deuteranopia · #E8D998
tritanopia · #E6D3CA

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. #dcdc95 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
#F6F6EA
#EDEDCF
#E3E3AB
#dcdc95
#C7C756
#B8B83D
#999933
#7B7B28
#5A5A21
#383815
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAFAF4Darkest = 950 · #383815Text step on white = 900
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 0.023 108.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.036 108.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.055 108.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.071 108.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.084 108.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.091 108.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.091 108.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.086 108.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.077 108.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.064 108.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.050 108.1);
}

Colors that work with #dcdc95

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#EBEBC2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2E4A9E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#606020
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F9EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#D3D37A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CACA5F
Two steps down
Disabled#F4F4EE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7E79E
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 #dcdc95

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 #606020
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #979732

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
  • Weight28/100
  • 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#9595DC
Analogous left#DCB995
Analogous right#B9DC95
Split-complement 1#95B9DC
Split-complement 2#B995DC
Triadic 1#95DCDC
Triadic 2#DC95DC
Tetradic#95DCB9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°60°

#dcdc95 sits at 60°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green86.3%
Blue58.4%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
220
0xdc
B · 0–255
149
0x95

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow32.3%
Key (black)13.7%

Total ink coverage is 46%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dcdc95 text on a black background

contrast 14.71:1

Card sample

#dcdc95 text on a white background

contrast 1.43:1

Card sample

#dcdc95 on grey

1.30:1

#dcdc95 on its own surface

1.36:1

#dcdc95 on its dark surface

11.00:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcdc95;
Background color
Panel with #dcdc95 background
background-color: #dcdc95;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcdc95;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 220, 149, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 220, 149, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcdc95;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcdc95, #ADDC95);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcdc95, #9BDC95);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dcdc95;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dcdc95;
caret-color: #dcdc95;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dcdc95;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F9EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dcdc95;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dcdc95 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcdc95 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, 220, 149, 0.5)
rgb(220 220 149 / 50%)
#dcdc9580
hsl(60 50% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcdc95 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dcdc951a#FCFCF4
20%#dcdc9533#F8F8EA
40%#dcdc9566#F1F1D5
60%#dcdc9599#EAEABF
80%#dcdc95cc#E3E3AA

Gradients from #dcdc95

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, #EBEBC3, #dcdc95 45%, #606020);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcdc95, #94D57E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcdc95, #9595DC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3F3DA 0%, #dcdc95 45%, #606020 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%, #E9CEBC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C3E4AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #606020 0%, transparent 65%), #dcdc95;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcdc95

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.

#dcdc95 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 14.71:1.

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.

#dcdc95, answered

What color is #dcdc95?

#dcdc95 is a light vivid yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.9). It sits at 60° on the hue wheel with 50% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dcdc95?

rgb(220, 220, 149) — 220 red, 220 green and 149 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 86.3% / 58.4% by channel.

What is #dcdc95 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(60, 50%, 72%) and hsv(60, 32%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dcdc95 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6857 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.71:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcdc95?

Black. It scores 14.71:1 against #dcdc95, versus 1.43:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dcdc95 accessible on a white background?

#dcdc95 on white scores 1.43:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #787828 to reach 4.5:1, or #5A5A1E for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dcdc95?

#9595DC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #95B9DC and #B995DC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcdc95?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEBC2 for borders, #9B9B4B for secondary text, #2E4A9E as an accent and #606020 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DCB995 and #B9DC95 stays calm, while #9595DC is the loudest partner.

What is #dcdc95 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 0%, 32%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dcdc95 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 25 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DCC295; nudged cooler, #C2DD94.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dcdc95?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 17.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dcdc95 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dcdc95 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dcdc95] or text-[#dcdc95], 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 #dcdc95 with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 220, 149, 0.5), or #dcdc9580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEEECA; over black, #6E6E4B.

Is #dcdc95 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 5.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dcdc95 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 #dcdc95?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBEBC3, #dcdc95 45%, #606020). For more colour, a short hue run to #94D57E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dcdc95 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dcdc95 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.