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yellow · warm

#dcec3b

a balanced, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow

Token name suggestion: Atlas Citron

RGB
220, 236, 59
HSL
65°, 82%, 58%
CMYK
7, 0, 75, 8
Luminance
0.7552

#dcec3b is a balanced electric yellow, 65° on the wheel and 29/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (16.10:1). As text it scores 1.30:1 on white — use #727D0C instead. Nearest name is Yellow, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(65 82% 58%)rgb(220 236 59)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dcec3b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dcec3b
Hue
65°
yellow
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7552
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
29/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.10:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
81.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.902
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 13.8
Web-safe
#CCFF33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue65° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dcec3b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool29% 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
Red20%
Green79%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#dcec3b
HEX (8-digit)#dcec3bff
RGBrgb(220, 236, 59)
RGBArgba(220, 236, 59, 1)
HSLhsl(65, 82%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(65, 75%, 93%)
HWBhwb(65 23% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 0%, 75%, 8%)
LABlab(89.6 -25.7 77.6)
LCHlch(89.6 81.8 108.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.902 0.188 114.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(60.30, 75.52, 15.54)
Decimal14478395
Display P3color(display-p3 0.863 0.925 0.231)
Web-safe#CCFF33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dcec3b;
background-color: #dcec3b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dcec3b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dcec3b] bg-[#dcec3b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dcec3b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.863, green: 0.925, blue: 0.231)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.863, green: 0.925, blue: 0.231, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DCEC3B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDCEC3B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDCEC3B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(59, 236, 220)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(220, 236, 59)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(220, 236, 59)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 220, 236, 59)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8627f, 0.9255f, 0.2314f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{220,236,59}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dcec3b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dcec3b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6B740B, #ECEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dcec3b 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: #FBFCF2;
  --brand-100: #F8FAE6;
  --brand-200: #F2F6C6;
  --brand-300: #EDF599;
  --brand-400: #E4F066;
  --brand-500: #dcec3b;
  --brand-600: #CDDF16;
  --brand-700: #ABBA12;
  --brand-800: #89950E;
  --brand-900: #636C0F;
  --brand-950: #3E4309;
  --brand: #dcec3b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E9EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #D6E91A;
  --brand-pressed: #BBCC14;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #ECEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFCF2',
        100: '#F8FAE6',
        200: '#F2F6C6',
        300: '#EDF599',
        400: '#E4F066',
        500: '#dcec3b',
        600: '#CDDF16',
        700: '#ABBA12',
        800: '#89950E',
        900: '#636C0F',
        950: '#3E4309',
        DEFAULT: '#dcec3b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFCF2,
  '100': #F8FAE6,
  '200': #F2F6C6,
  '300': #EDF599,
  '400': #E4F066,
  '500': #dcec3b,
  '600': #CDDF16,
  '700': #ABBA12,
  '800': #89950E,
  '900': #636C0F,
  '950': #3E4309,
);
$brand-base: #dcec3b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFCF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8FAE6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F2F6C6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EDF599", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E4F066", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#dcec3b", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CDDF16", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#ABBA12", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#89950E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#636C0F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3E4309", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dcec3b · 16.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.30:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dcec3b as text scores 1.30:1 on white and 16.10:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6B740B at 3.90:1.

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
#727D0C · 4.51:1
AA on white−31% L
#727D0C
The quick fox
#555C09 · 7.19:1
AAA on white−38% L
#555C09
The quick fox
#dcec3b · 16.10:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dcec3b
The quick fox
#dcec3b · 16.10:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dcec3b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8C980F 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
#dcec3b on white: 1.30:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dcec3b on black: 16.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dcec3b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dcec3b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.30:1AaAa
Slate 501.25:1AaAa
Slate 1001.19:1AaAa
Slate 2001.06:1AaAa
Slate 3001.14:1AaAa
Slate 4001.97:1AaAa
Slate 5003.65:1AaAa
Slate 6005.81:1AaAa
Slate 7007.94:1AaAa
Slate 80011.22:1AaAa
Slate 90013.69:1AaAa
Black16.10:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FDE009
deuteranopia · #FCE34B
tritanopia · #EADECB

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. #dcec3b is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBFCF2
#F8FAE6
#F2F6C6
#EDF599
#E4F066
#dcec3b
#CDDF16
#ABBA12
#89950E
#636C0F
#3E4309
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBFCF2Darkest = 950 · #3E4309Text 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 0.047 114.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.075 114.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.113 114.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.146 114.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.173 114.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.188 114.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.188 114.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.176 114.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.158 114.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.131 114.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.103 114.8);
}

Colors that work with #dcec3b

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#E9EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#949B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3754F0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6B740B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBFDE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#D6E91A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BBCC14
Two steps down
Disabled#D5D7C0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E7F744
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 #dcec3b

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #6B740B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8C980F

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#4B3BEC
Analogous left#ECA33B
Analogous right#83EC3B
Split-complement 1#3B83EC
Split-complement 2#A33BEC
Triadic 1#3BDCEC
Triadic 2#EC3BDC
Tetradic#3BECA3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°65°

#dcec3b sits at 65°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.3%
Green92.5%
Blue23.1%
R · 0–255
220
0xdc
G · 0–255
236
0xec
B · 0–255
59
0x3b

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.8%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow75.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 89%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dcec3b text on a black background

contrast 16.10:1

Card sample

#dcec3b text on a white background

contrast 1.30:1

Card sample

#dcec3b on grey

1.19:1

#dcec3b on its own surface

1.24:1

#dcec3b on its dark surface

12.07:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dcec3b;
Background color
Panel with #dcec3b background
background-color: #dcec3b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dcec3b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(220, 236, 59, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(220, 236, 59, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dcec3b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dcec3b, #66EC3B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcec3b, #3BEC3C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dcec3b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dcec3b;
caret-color: #dcec3b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dcec3b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBFDE8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dcec3b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dcec3b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dcec3b 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, 236, 59, 0.5)
rgb(220 236 59 / 50%)
#dcec3b80
hsl(65 82% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dcec3b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dcec3b1a#FCFDEB
20%#dcec3b33#F8FBD8
40%#dcec3b66#F1F7B1
60%#dcec3b99#EAF489
80%#dcec3bcc#E3F062

Gradients from #dcec3b

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, #E6F173, #dcec3b 45%, #6B740B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dcec3b, #3FE91F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dcec3b, #4B3BEC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBF48F 0%, #dcec3b 45%, #6B740B 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%, #F0AE69 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #88EF57 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6B740B 0%, transparent 65%), #dcec3b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dcec3b

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.

#dcec3b 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 16.10:1.

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.

#dcec3b, answered

What color is #dcec3b?

#dcec3b is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 65° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dcec3b?

rgb(220, 236, 59) — 220 red, 236 green and 59 blue out of 255, or 86.3% / 92.5% / 23.1% by channel.

What is #dcec3b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(65, 82%, 58%) and hsv(65, 75%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dcec3b a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7552 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 16.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dcec3b?

Black. It scores 16.10:1 against #dcec3b, versus 1.30:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dcec3b accessible on a white background?

#dcec3b on white scores 1.30:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #727D0C to reach 4.5:1, or #555C09 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dcec3b?

#4B3BEC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3B83EC and #A33BEC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dcec3b?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E9EDC0 for borders, #949B4B for secondary text, #3754F0 as an accent and #6B740B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ECA33B and #83EC3B stays calm, while #4B3BEC is the loudest partner.

What is #dcec3b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 0%, 75%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #dcec3b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 29 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ECBB3B; nudged cooler, #9BEE39.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dcec3b?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 13.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dcec3b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dcec3b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dcec3b] or text-[#dcec3b], 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 #dcec3b with 50% opacity?

rgba(220, 236, 59, 0.5), or #dcec3b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EEF69D; over black, #6E761E.

Is #dcec3b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCFF33, ΔE2000 6.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dcec3b 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 #dcec3b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6F173, #dcec3b 45%, #6B740B). For more colour, a short hue run to #3FE91F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dcec3b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dcec3b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.