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yellow · warm

#dfd389

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Brass

RGB
223, 211, 137
HSL
52°, 57%, 71%
CMYK
0, 5, 39, 13
Luminance
0.6408

#dfd389 is a light vivid yellow, 52° on the wheel and 18/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (13.82:1). As text it scores 1.52:1 on white — use #837523 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(52 57% 71%)rgb(223 211 137)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfd389 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfd389
Hue
52°
yellow
Saturation
57%
vivid
Lightness
71%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6408
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
13.82:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 4.9
Chroma
38.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.860
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 15.4
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue52° of 360°
Saturation57%
Lightness71%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfd389.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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
Red24%
Green73%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#dfd389
HEX (8-digit)#dfd389ff
RGBrgb(223, 211, 137)
RGBArgba(223, 211, 137, 1)
HSLhsl(52, 57%, 71%)
HSV / HSBhsv(52, 39%, 87%)
HWBhwb(52 54% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 39%, 13%)
LABlab(84.0 -6.4 38.1)
LCHlch(84.0 38.7 99.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.860 0.095 100.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(58.24, 64.08, 32.96)
Decimal14668681
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.827 0.537)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfd389;
background-color: #dfd389;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfd389;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfd389] bg-[#dfd389]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfd389;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.827, blue: 0.537)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.827, blue: 0.537, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFD389</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFD389)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFD389)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(137, 211, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 211, 137)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 211, 137)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 211, 137)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.8275f, 0.5373f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,211,137}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd389 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd389 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#645A1B, #EEEAD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfd389 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: #FBFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F7F5E9;
  --brand-200: #EFEACD;
  --brand-300: #E7DEA7;
  --brand-400: #dfd389;
  --brand-500: #CFBD4F;
  --brand-600: #C1AD34;
  --brand-700: #A0902C;
  --brand-800: #807323;
  --brand-900: #5D541D;
  --brand-950: #3A3512;
  --brand: #dfd389;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EDE6C0;
  --brand-hover: #D7C86D;
  --brand-pressed: #D0BE51;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242214;
    --brand-ink: #EEEAD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFAF4',
        100: '#F7F5E9',
        200: '#EFEACD',
        300: '#E7DEA7',
        400: '#dfd389',
        500: '#CFBD4F',
        600: '#C1AD34',
        700: '#A0902C',
        800: '#807323',
        900: '#5D541D',
        950: '#3A3512',
        DEFAULT: '#dfd389',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFAF4,
  '100': #F7F5E9,
  '200': #EFEACD,
  '300': #E7DEA7,
  '400': #dfd389,
  '500': #CFBD4F,
  '600': #C1AD34,
  '700': #A0902C,
  '800': #807323,
  '900': #5D541D,
  '950': #3A3512,
);
$brand-base: #dfd389;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F5E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFEACD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E7DEA7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#dfd389", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#CFBD4F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C1AD34", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A0902C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#807323", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5D541D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A3512", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfd389 · 13.82:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.52:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.82:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfd389 as text scores 1.52:1 on white and 13.82:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #645A1B at 4.57:1.

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
#837523 · 4.63:1
AA on white−38% L
#837523
The quick fox
#63591B · 7.06:1
AAA on white−46% L
#63591B
The quick fox
#dfd389 · 13.82:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfd389
The quick fox
#dfd389 · 13.82:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfd389

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A3922C 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
#dfd389 on white: 1.52:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfd389 on black: 13.82:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfd389 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfd389.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.52:1AaAa
Slate 501.45:1AaAa
Slate 1001.39:1AaAa
Slate 2001.23:1AaAa
Slate 3001.02:1AaAa
Slate 4001.69:1AaAa
Slate 5003.13:1AaAa
Slate 6004.99:1AaAa
Slate 7006.81:1AaAa
Slate 8009.62:1AaAa
Slate 90011.75:1AaAa
Black13.82:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E0CF84
deuteranopia · #E4D48C
tritanopia · #EBC9C0

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. #dfd389 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.

#FBFAF4
#F7F5E9
#EFEACD
#E7DEA7
#dfd389
#CFBD4F
#C1AD34
#A0902C
#807323
#5D541D
#3A3512
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FBFAF4Darkest = 950 · #3A3512Text 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 0.024 100.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.038 100.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.057 100.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.074 100.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.087 100.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.095 100.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.095 100.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.089 100.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.080 100.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.066 100.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.052 100.2);
}

Colors that work with #dfd389

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#EDE6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B904B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2758A5
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#645A1B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF8EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
Hover#D7C86D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#D0BE51
Two steps down
Disabled#F0EFE8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#EADE93
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 #dfd389

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 #645A1B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A3922C

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
  • Weight29/100
  • 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#8995DF
Analogous left#DFA889
Analogous right#C0DF89
Split-complement 1#89C0DF
Split-complement 2#A889DF
Triadic 1#89DFD3
Triadic 2#D389DF
Tetradic#89DFA8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°52°

#dfd389 sits at 52°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green82.7%
Blue53.7%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
211
0xd3
B · 0–255
137
0x89

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.4%
Yellow38.6%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 57%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfd389 text on a black background

contrast 13.82:1

Card sample

#dfd389 text on a white background

contrast 1.52:1

Card sample

#dfd389 on grey

1.39:1

#dfd389 on its own surface

1.45:1

#dfd389 on its dark surface

10.52:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfd389;
Background color
Panel with #dfd389 background
background-color: #dfd389;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfd389;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 211, 137, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 211, 137, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfd389;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfd389, #B2DF89);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd389, #9CDF89);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfd389;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfd389;
caret-color: #dfd389;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfd389;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF8EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfd389;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfd389 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfd389 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(223, 211, 137, 0.5)
rgb(223 211 137 / 50%)
#dfd38980
hsl(52 57% 71% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfd389 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfd3891a#FCFBF3
20%#dfd38933#F9F6E7
40%#dfd38966#F2EDD0
60%#dfd38999#ECE5B8
80%#dfd389cc#E5DCA1

Gradients from #dfd389

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, #ECE5B9, #dfd389 45%, #645A1B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfd389, #99D871);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd389, #8995DF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F3EED1 0%, #dfd389 45%, #645A1B 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%, #EAC1B1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C7E6A1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #645A1B 0%, transparent 65%), #dfd389;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfd389

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.

#dfd389 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 13.82:1.

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.

#dfd389, answered

What color is #dfd389?

#dfd389 is a light vivid yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 4.9). It sits at 52° on the hue wheel with 57% saturation and 71% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dfd389?

rgb(223, 211, 137) — 223 red, 211 green and 137 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 82.7% / 53.7% by channel.

What is #dfd389 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(52, 57%, 71%) and hsv(52, 39%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfd389 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6408 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 13.82:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfd389?

Black. It scores 13.82:1 against #dfd389, versus 1.52:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfd389 accessible on a white background?

#dfd389 on white scores 1.52:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #837523 to reach 4.5:1, or #63591B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfd389?

#8995DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #89C0DF and #A889DF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfd389?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE6C0 for borders, #9B904B for secondary text, #2758A5 as an accent and #645A1B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DFA889 and #C0DF89 stays calm, while #8995DF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfd389 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 39%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfd389 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DFB889; nudged cooler, #CCE088.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfd389?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 15.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfd389 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfd389 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfd389] or text-[#dfd389], 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 #dfd389 with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 211, 137, 0.5), or #dfd38980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFE9C4; over black, #706A45.

Is #dfd389 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 6.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfd389 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 #dfd389?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ECE5B9, #dfd389 45%, #645A1B). For more colour, a short hue run to #99D871 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfd389 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfd389 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.