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yellow · warm

#dec22c

a balanced, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Gold

Token name suggestion: True Honey

RGB
222, 194, 44
HSL
51°, 73%, 52%
CMYK
0, 13, 80, 13
Luminance
0.5430

#dec22c is a balanced vivid yellow, 51° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.86:1). As text it scores 1.77:1 on white — use #857415 instead. Nearest name is Gold, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(51 73% 52%)rgb(222 194 44)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dec22c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dec22c
Hue
51°
yellow
Saturation
73%
vivid
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5430
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
11.86:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 6.7
Chroma
72.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.814
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 7.6
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue51° of 360°
Saturation73%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dec22c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool17% 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
Red29%
Green71%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#dec22c
HEX (8-digit)#dec22cff
RGBrgb(222, 194, 44)
RGBArgba(222, 194, 44, 1)
HSLhsl(51, 73%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(51, 80%, 87%)
HWBhwb(51 17% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 13%, 80%, 13%)
LABlab(78.6 -4.6 72.2)
LCHlch(78.6 72.4 93.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.814 0.157 97.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.87, 54.30, 10.24)
Decimal14598700
Display P3color(display-p3 0.871 0.761 0.173)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dec22c;
background-color: #dec22c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dec22c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dec22c] bg-[#dec22c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dec22c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.871, green: 0.761, blue: 0.173)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.871, green: 0.761, blue: 0.173, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DEC22C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDEC22C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDEC22C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(44, 194, 222)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(222, 194, 44)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(222, 194, 44)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 222, 194, 44)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8706f, 0.7608f, 0.1725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{222,194,44}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dec22c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dec22c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6E6011, #EEEAD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dec22c 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: #FCFAF3;
  --brand-100: #F8F6E7;
  --brand-200: #F3ECC9;
  --brand-300: #F0E39E;
  --brand-400: #E8D56D;
  --brand-500: #dec22c;
  --brand-600: #D4B821;
  --brand-700: #B0991C;
  --brand-800: #8D7B16;
  --brand-900: #665914;
  --brand-950: #40380D;
  --brand: #dec22c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE6C0;
  --brand-hover: #C7AD1F;
  --brand-pressed: #A9921A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242214;
    --brand-ink: #EEEAD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFAF3',
        100: '#F8F6E7',
        200: '#F3ECC9',
        300: '#F0E39E',
        400: '#E8D56D',
        500: '#dec22c',
        600: '#D4B821',
        700: '#B0991C',
        800: '#8D7B16',
        900: '#665914',
        950: '#40380D',
        DEFAULT: '#dec22c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFAF3,
  '100': #F8F6E7,
  '200': #F3ECC9,
  '300': #F0E39E,
  '400': #E8D56D,
  '500': #dec22c,
  '600': #D4B821,
  '700': #B0991C,
  '800': #8D7B16,
  '900': #665914,
  '950': #40380D,
);
$brand-base: #dec22c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFAF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F6E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3ECC9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F0E39E", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E8D56D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#dec22c", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D4B821", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B0991C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8D7B16", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#665914", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#40380D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dec22c · 11.86:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.77:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.86:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dec22c as text scores 1.77:1 on white and 11.86:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6E6011 at 3.55:1.

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
#857415 · 4.66:1
AA on white−22% L
#857415
The quick fox
#665910 · 7.00:1
AAA on white−29% L
#665910
The quick fox
#dec22c · 11.86:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dec22c
The quick fox
#dec22c · 11.86:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dec22c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A9921A 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
#dec22c on white: 1.77:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dec22c on black: 11.86:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dec22c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dec22c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.77:1AaAa
Slate 501.69:1AaAa
Slate 1001.62:1AaAa
Slate 2001.44:1AaAa
Slate 3001.19:1AaAa
Slate 4001.45:1AaAa
Slate 5002.69:1AaAa
Slate 6004.28:1AaAa
Slate 7005.85:1AaAa
Slate 8008.26:1AaAa
Slate 90010.08:1AaAa
Black11.86:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D6BD00
deuteranopia · #DEC738
tritanopia · #F0B3A7

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. #dec22c 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.

#FCFAF3
#F8F6E7
#F3ECC9
#F0E39E
#E8D56D
#dec22c
#D4B821
#B0991C
#8D7B16
#665914
#40380D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCFAF3Darkest = 950 · #40380DText 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 0.039 97.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.063 97.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.094 97.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.123 97.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.145 97.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.157 97.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.157 97.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.148 97.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.132 97.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.110 97.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.087 97.7);
}

Colors that work with #dec22c

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#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2774E3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6E6011
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCF9E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
Hover#C7AD1F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A9921A
Two steps down
Disabled#CCC7AF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#ECCF33
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 #dec22c

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 #6E6011
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A9921A

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 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#2C48DE
Analogous left#DE692C
Analogous right#A1DE2C
Split-complement 1#2CA1DE
Split-complement 2#692CDE
Triadic 1#2CDEC2
Triadic 2#C22CDE
Tetradic#2CDE69
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°51°

#dec22c sits at 51°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.1%
Green76.1%
Blue17.3%
R · 0–255
222
0xde
G · 0–255
194
0xc2
B · 0–255
44
0x2c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta12.6%
Yellow80.2%
Key (black)12.9%

Total ink coverage is 106%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dec22c text on a black background

contrast 11.86:1

Card sample

#dec22c text on a white background

contrast 1.77:1

Card sample

#dec22c on grey

1.62:1

#dec22c on its own surface

1.68:1

#dec22c on its dark surface

9.03:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dec22c;
Background color
Panel with #dec22c background
background-color: #dec22c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dec22c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(222, 194, 44, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(222, 194, 44, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dec22c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dec22c, #83DE2C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dec22c, #57DE2C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dec22c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dec22c;
caret-color: #dec22c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dec22c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCF9E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dec22c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dec22c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dec22c 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(222, 194, 44, 0.5)
rgb(222 194 44 / 50%)
#dec22c80
hsl(51 73% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dec22c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dec22c1a#FCF9EA
20%#dec22c33#F8F3D5
40%#dec22c66#F2E7AB
60%#dec22c99#EBDA80
80%#dec22ccc#E5CE56

Gradients from #dec22c

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, #E6D161, #dec22c 45%, #6E6011);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dec22c, #66CC20);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dec22c, #2C48DE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAD97C 0%, #dec22c 45%, #6E6011 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #E57D58 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A0E247 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6E6011 0%, transparent 65%), #dec22c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dec22c

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.

#dec22c 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

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 11.86:1.

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.

#dec22c, answered

What color is #dec22c?

#dec22c is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 6.7). It sits at 51° on the hue wheel with 73% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dec22c?

rgb(222, 194, 44) — 222 red, 194 green and 44 blue out of 255, or 87.1% / 76.1% / 17.3% by channel.

What is #dec22c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(51, 73%, 52%) and hsv(51, 80%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dec22c a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5430 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.86:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dec22c?

Black. It scores 11.86:1 against #dec22c, versus 1.77:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dec22c accessible on a white background?

#dec22c on white scores 1.77:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #857415 to reach 4.5:1, or #665910 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dec22c?

#2C48DE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2CA1DE and #692CDE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dec22c?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE6C0 for borders, #9B8E4B for secondary text, #2774E3 as an accent and #6E6011 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DE692C and #A1DE2C stays calm, while #2C48DE is the loudest partner.

What is #dec22c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 13%, 80%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dec22c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 17 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DE982C; nudged cooler, #BAE12A.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dec22c?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 7.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dec22c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dec22c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dec22c] or text-[#dec22c], 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 #dec22c with 50% opacity?

rgba(222, 194, 44, 0.5), or #dec22c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFE196; over black, #6F6116.

Is #dec22c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 7.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dec22c 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 #dec22c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E6D161, #dec22c 45%, #6E6011). For more colour, a short hue run to #66CC20 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dec22c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dec22c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.