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orange · warm

#dda84a

a balanced, vivid orange · warm · closest name: Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Signal Apricot

RGB
221, 168, 74
HSL
38°, 68%, 58%
CMYK
0, 24, 67, 13
Luminance
0.4387

#dda84a is a balanced vivid orange, 38° on the wheel and 7/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.77:1). As text it scores 2.15:1 on white — use #9A6D1D instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(38 68% 58%)rgb(221 168 74)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dda84a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dda84a
Hue
38°
orange
Saturation
68%
vivid
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4387
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
7/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.77:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
55.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.763
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 7.1
Web-safe
#CC9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue38° of 360°
Saturation68%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dda84a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool7% 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
Red35%
Green64%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#dda84a
HEX (8-digit)#dda84aff
RGBrgb(221, 168, 74)
RGBArgba(221, 168, 74, 1)
HSLhsl(38, 68%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(38, 67%, 87%)
HWBhwb(38 29% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 24%, 67%, 13%)
LABlab(72.1 9.9 54.6)
LCHlch(72.1 55.5 79.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.763 0.126 79.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.06, 43.88, 12.57)
Decimal14526538
Display P3color(display-p3 0.867 0.659 0.290)
Web-safe#CC9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dda84a;
background-color: #dda84a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dda84a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dda84a] bg-[#dda84a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dda84a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.867, green: 0.659, blue: 0.290)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.867, green: 0.659, blue: 0.290, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DDA84A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDDA84A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDDA84A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(74, 168, 221)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(221, 168, 74)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(221, 168, 74)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 221, 168, 74)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8667f, 0.6588f, 0.2902f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{221,168,74}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dda84a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dda84a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6B4C14, #EEE4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dda84a 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: #FBF8F3;
  --brand-100: #F8F2E8;
  --brand-200: #F2E3CA;
  --brand-300: #EDD2A1;
  --brand-400: #E4BB71;
  --brand-500: #dda84a;
  --brand-600: #CE9227;
  --brand-700: #AC7A20;
  --brand-800: #89611A;
  --brand-900: #644817;
  --brand-950: #3E2D0E;
  --brand: #dda84a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDCC0;
  --brand-hover: #D79A2C;
  --brand-pressed: #BC8523;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF8F3',
        100: '#F8F2E8',
        200: '#F2E3CA',
        300: '#EDD2A1',
        400: '#E4BB71',
        500: '#dda84a',
        600: '#CE9227',
        700: '#AC7A20',
        800: '#89611A',
        900: '#644817',
        950: '#3E2D0E',
        DEFAULT: '#dda84a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF8F3,
  '100': #F8F2E8,
  '200': #F2E3CA,
  '300': #EDD2A1,
  '400': #E4BB71,
  '500': #dda84a,
  '600': #CE9227,
  '700': #AC7A20,
  '800': #89611A,
  '900': #644817,
  '950': #3E2D0E,
);
$brand-base: #dda84a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF8F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F2E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F2E3CA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EDD2A1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E4BB71", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#dda84a", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CE9227", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#AC7A20", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#89611A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#644817", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3E2D0E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dda84a · 9.77:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.15:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dda84a as text scores 2.15:1 on white and 9.77:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6B4C14 at 3.66:1.

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
#9A6D1D · 4.59:1
AA on white−22% L
#9A6D1D
The quick fox
#735116 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−31% L
#735116
The quick fox
#dda84a · 9.77:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dda84a
The quick fox
#dda84a · 9.77:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dda84a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C08824 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
#dda84a on white: 2.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dda84a on black: 9.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dda84a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dda84a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.15:1AaAa
Slate 502.05:1AaAa
Slate 1001.96:1AaAa
Slate 2001.74:1AaAa
Slate 3001.45:1AaAa
Slate 4001.19:1AaAa
Slate 5002.21:1AaAa
Slate 6003.53:1AaAa
Slate 7004.82:1AaAa
Slate 8006.81:1AaAa
Slate 9008.31:1AaAa
Black9.77:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #BDA93F
deuteranopia · #C9B64D
tritanopia · #EF9994

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. #dda84a 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.

#FBF8F3
#F8F2E8
#F2E3CA
#EDD2A1
#E4BB71
#dda84a
#CE9227
#AC7A20
#89611A
#644817
#3E2D0E
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBF8F3Darkest = 950 · #3E2D0EText 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 0.032 79.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.051 79.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.076 79.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.099 79.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.116 79.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.126 79.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.126 79.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.119 79.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.106 79.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.088 79.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.069 79.1);
}

Colors that work with #dda84a

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#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDDCC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B7E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1C77B0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6B4C14
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF5EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#D79A2C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BC8523
Two steps down
Disabled#D7CFC0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EAB351
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 #dda84a

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
  • 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 #6B4C14
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C08824

Meaning and mood

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

friendlyenergeticaffordablesocial

Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Hard to make feel premium, and it collides with the "caution" band in status systems.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • 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#4A7FDD
Analogous left#DD5E4A
Analogous right#C8DD4A
Split-complement 1#4AC8DD
Split-complement 2#5E4ADD
Triadic 1#4ADDA8
Triadic 2#A84ADD
Tetradic#4ADD5E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°38°

#dda84a sits at 38°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red86.7%
Green65.9%
Blue29.0%
R · 0–255
221
0xdd
G · 0–255
168
0xa8
B · 0–255
74
0x4a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta24.0%
Yellow66.5%
Key (black)13.3%

Total ink coverage is 104%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dda84a text on a black background

contrast 9.77:1

Card sample

#dda84a text on a white background

contrast 2.15:1

Card sample

#dda84a on grey

1.96:1

#dda84a on its own surface

2.03:1

#dda84a on its dark surface

7.69:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dda84a;
Background color
Panel with #dda84a background
background-color: #dda84a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dda84a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(221, 168, 74, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(221, 168, 74, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dda84a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dda84a, #B0DD4A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dda84a, #8BDD4A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dda84a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dda84a;
caret-color: #dda84a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dda84a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF5EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dda84a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dda84a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dda84a 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(221, 168, 74, 0.5)
rgb(221 168 74 / 50%)
#dda84a80
hsl(38 68% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dda84a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dda84a1a#FCF6ED
20%#dda84a33#F8EEDB
40%#dda84a66#F1DCB7
60%#dda84a99#EBCB92
80%#dda84acc#E4B96E

Gradients from #dda84a

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, #E7C17D, #dda84a 45%, #6B4C14);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dda84a, #97D830);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dda84a, #4A7FDD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EBCD97 0%, #dda84a 45%, #6B4C14 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E57B75 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C6E264 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6B4C14 0%, transparent 65%), #dda84a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dda84a

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.

#dda84a in the real world

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

Industries
E-commerceFood deliveryLogisticsCreator tools
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
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 9.77:1.

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.

#dda84a, answered

What color is #dda84a?

#dda84a is a balanced vivid orange, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 38° on the hue wheel with 68% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dda84a?

rgb(221, 168, 74) — 221 red, 168 green and 74 blue out of 255, or 86.7% / 65.9% / 29% by channel.

What is #dda84a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(38, 68%, 58%) and hsv(38, 67%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dda84a a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4387 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 9.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dda84a?

Black. It scores 9.77:1 against #dda84a, versus 2.15:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dda84a accessible on a white background?

#dda84a on white scores 2.15:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9A6D1D to reach 4.5:1, or #735116 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dda84a?

#4A7FDD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4AC8DD and #5E4ADD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dda84a?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDCC0 for borders, #9B7E4B for secondary text, #1C77B0 as an accent and #6B4C14 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DD5E4A and #C8DD4A stays calm, while #4A7FDD is the loudest partner.

What is #dda84a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 24%, 67%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dda84a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 7 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DD954A; nudged cooler, #DEDF48.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dda84a?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 7.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dda84a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dda84a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dda84a] or text-[#dda84a], 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 #dda84a with 50% opacity?

rgba(221, 168, 74, 0.5), or #dda84a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EED4A5; over black, #6F5425.

Is #dda84a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9933, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dda84a mean?

As a orange, it reads friendly, energetic, affordable. Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #dda84a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E7C17D, #dda84a 45%, #6B4C14). For more colour, a short hue run to #97D830 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dda84a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dda84a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.