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yellow · warm

#dec97f

a light, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Meadow Straw

RGB
222, 201, 127
HSL
47°, 59%, 68%
CMYK
0, 10, 43, 13
Luminance
0.5884

#dec97f is a light vivid yellow, 47° on the wheel and 14/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.77:1). As text it scores 1.64:1 on white — use #8B7524 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(47 59% 68%)rgb(222 201 127)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dec97f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dec97f
Hue
47°
yellow
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5884
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.77:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 7
Chroma
39.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.837
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 12.7
Web-safe
#CCCC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue47° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness68%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dec97f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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
Red26%
Green71%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#dec97f
HEX (8-digit)#dec97fff
RGBrgb(222, 201, 127)
RGBArgba(222, 201, 127, 1)
HSLhsl(47, 59%, 68%)
HSV / HSBhsv(47, 43%, 87%)
HWBhwb(47 50% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 10%, 43%, 13%)
LABlab(81.2 -2.7 39.6)
LCHlch(81.2 39.7 93.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.837 0.097 94.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(54.84, 58.84, 28.54)
Decimal14600575
Display P3color(display-p3 0.871 0.788 0.498)
Web-safe#CCCC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dec97f;
background-color: #dec97f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dec97f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dec97f] bg-[#dec97f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dec97f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.871, green: 0.788, blue: 0.498)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.871, green: 0.788, blue: 0.498, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DEC97F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDEC97F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDEC97F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(127, 201, 222)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(222, 201, 127)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(222, 201, 127)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 222, 201, 127)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8706f, 0.7882f, 0.4980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{222,201,127}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dec97f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dec97f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#65551A, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dec97f 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: #FBF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F4E9;
  --brand-200: #EFE7CD;
  --brand-300: #E8D9A6;
  --brand-400: #dec97f;
  --brand-500: #D1B44D;
  --brand-600: #C3A332;
  --brand-700: #A2882A;
  --brand-800: #826C21;
  --brand-900: #5E501C;
  --brand-950: #3B3211;
  --brand: #dec97f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE3C0;
  --brand-hover: #D7BD62;
  --brand-pressed: #CFB146;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F4E9',
        200: '#EFE7CD',
        300: '#E8D9A6',
        400: '#dec97f',
        500: '#D1B44D',
        600: '#C3A332',
        700: '#A2882A',
        800: '#826C21',
        900: '#5E501C',
        950: '#3B3211',
        DEFAULT: '#dec97f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F4E9,
  '200': #EFE7CD,
  '300': #E8D9A6,
  '400': #dec97f,
  '500': #D1B44D,
  '600': #C3A332,
  '700': #A2882A,
  '800': #826C21,
  '900': #5E501C,
  '950': #3B3211,
);
$brand-base: #dec97f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F4E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFE7CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E8D9A6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#dec97f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D1B44D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C3A332", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A2882A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#826C21", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5E501C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B3211", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dec97f · 12.77:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.64:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dec97f as text scores 1.64:1 on white and 12.77:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #65551A at 4.45:1.

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
#8B7524 · 4.50:1
AA on white−34% L
#8B7524
The quick fox
#67561B · 7.18:1
AAA on white−43% L
#67561B
The quick fox
#dec97f · 12.77:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dec97f
The quick fox
#dec97f · 12.77:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dec97f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC902C 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
#dec97f on white: 1.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dec97f on black: 12.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dec97f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dec97f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.64:1AaAa
Slate 501.57:1AaAa
Slate 1001.50:1AaAa
Slate 2001.33:1AaAa
Slate 3001.11:1AaAa
Slate 4001.56:1AaAa
Slate 5002.89:1AaAa
Slate 6004.61:1AaAa
Slate 7006.30:1AaAa
Slate 8008.89:1AaAa
Slate 90010.85:1AaAa
Black12.77:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D7C679
deuteranopia · #DDCD82
tritanopia · #EBBEB7

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. #dec97f 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.

#FBF9F4
#F7F4E9
#EFE7CD
#E8D9A6
#dec97f
#D1B44D
#C3A332
#A2882A
#826C21
#5E501C
#3B3211
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3B3211Text 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 0.024 94.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.039 94.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.058 94.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.075 94.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.089 94.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.097 94.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.097 94.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.091 94.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.081 94.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.068 94.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.053 94.1);
}

Colors that work with #dec97f

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#EDE3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B894B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2663A6
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#65551A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF6EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#D7BD62
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CFB146
Two steps down
Disabled#ECEAE1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E9D488
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 #dec97f

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 #65551A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AC902C

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
  • Weight32/100
  • 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#7F94DE
Analogous left#DE997F
Analogous right#C3DE7F
Split-complement 1#7FC3DE
Split-complement 2#997FDE
Triadic 1#7FDEC9
Triadic 2#C97FDE
Tetradic#7FDE99
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°47°

#dec97f sits at 47°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.1%
Green78.8%
Blue49.8%
R · 0–255
222
0xde
G · 0–255
201
0xc9
B · 0–255
127
0x7f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta9.5%
Yellow42.8%
Key (black)12.9%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dec97f text on a black background

contrast 12.77:1

Card sample

#dec97f text on a white background

contrast 1.64:1

Card sample

#dec97f on grey

1.50:1

#dec97f on its own surface

1.56:1

#dec97f on its dark surface

9.80:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dec97f;
Background color
Panel with #dec97f background
background-color: #dec97f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dec97f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(222, 201, 127, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(222, 201, 127, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dec97f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dec97f, #B4DE7F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dec97f, #9CDE7F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dec97f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dec97f;
caret-color: #dec97f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dec97f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF6EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dec97f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dec97f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dec97f 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, 201, 127, 0.5)
rgb(222 201 127 / 50%)
#dec97f80
hsl(47 59% 68% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dec97f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dec97f1a#FCFAF2
20%#dec97f33#F8F4E5
40%#dec97f66#F2E9CC
60%#dec97f99#EBDFB2
80%#dec97fcc#E5D499

Gradients from #dec97f

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, #EBDDB0, #dec97f 45%, #65551A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dec97f, #9CD867);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dec97f, #7F94DE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F1E8C8 0%, #dec97f 45%, #65551A 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%, #E8B4A7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C8E497 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #65551A 0%, transparent 65%), #dec97f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dec97f

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.

#dec97f 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 12.77:1.

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.

#dec97f, answered

What color is #dec97f?

#dec97f is a light vivid yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 7). It sits at 47° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dec97f?

rgb(222, 201, 127) — 222 red, 201 green and 127 blue out of 255, or 87.1% / 78.8% / 49.8% by channel.

What is #dec97f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(47, 59%, 68%) and hsv(47, 43%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dec97f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5884 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dec97f?

Black. It scores 12.77:1 against #dec97f, versus 1.64:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dec97f accessible on a white background?

#dec97f on white scores 1.64:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8B7524 to reach 4.5:1, or #67561B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dec97f?

#7F94DE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7FC3DE and #997FDE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dec97f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE3C0 for borders, #9B894B for secondary text, #2663A6 as an accent and #65551A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DE997F and #C3DE7F stays calm, while #7F94DE is the loudest partner.

What is #dec97f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 10%, 43%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dec97f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DEB17F; nudged cooler, #D1E07D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dec97f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 12.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dec97f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dec97f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dec97f] or text-[#dec97f], 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 #dec97f with 50% opacity?

rgba(222, 201, 127, 0.5), or #dec97f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFE4BF; over black, #6F6540.

Is #dec97f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC66, ΔE2000 7.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dec97f 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 #dec97f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EBDDB0, #dec97f 45%, #65551A). For more colour, a short hue run to #9CD867 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dec97f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dec97f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.