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green · warm

#dfef97

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Basil

RGB
223, 239, 151
HSL
71°, 73%, 77%
CMYK
7, 0, 37, 6
Luminance
0.7966

#dfef97 is a light vivid green, 71° on the wheel and 34/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (16.93:1). As text it scores 1.24:1 on white — use #6B7E13 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(71 73% 77%)rgb(223 239 151)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfef97 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfef97
Hue
71°
green
Saturation
73%
vivid
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
94%
HSV value
Perceived
89%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7966
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
34/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
16.93:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
44.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.920
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 15.8
Web-safe
#CCFF99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue71° of 360°
Saturation73%
Lightness77%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfef97.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool34% 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%
Green78%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#dfef97
HEX (8-digit)#dfef97ff
RGBrgb(223, 239, 151)
RGBArgba(223, 239, 151, 1)
HSLhsl(71, 73%, 77%)
HSV / HSBhsv(71, 37%, 94%)
HWBhwb(71 59% 6%)
CMYKcmyk(7%, 0%, 37%, 6%)
LABlab(91.5 -18.8 40.8)
LCHlch(91.5 44.9 114.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.920 0.113 117.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(66.88, 79.66, 41.12)
Decimal14675863
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.937 0.592)
Web-safe#CCFF99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfef97;
background-color: #dfef97;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfef97;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfef97] bg-[#dfef97]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfef97;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.937, blue: 0.592)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.937, blue: 0.592, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFEF97</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFEF97)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFEF97)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(151, 239, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 239, 151)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 239, 151)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 239, 151)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.9373f, 0.5922f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,239,151}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfef97 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfef97 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5E6E11, #E9EED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfef97 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: #FAFCF3;
  --brand-100: #F5F8E7;
  --brand-200: #EBF3C8;
  --brand-300: #dfef97;
  --brand-400: #D2E96D;
  --brand-500: #C3E13D;
  --brand-600: #B4D421;
  --brand-700: #96B11B;
  --brand-800: #788D16;
  --brand-900: #576614;
  --brand-950: #37400C;
  --brand: #dfef97;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F9FAF4;
  --brand-border: #E4EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #D6EA78;
  --brand-pressed: #CCE559;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #212414;
    --brand-ink: #E9EED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFCF3',
        100: '#F5F8E7',
        200: '#EBF3C8',
        300: '#dfef97',
        400: '#D2E96D',
        500: '#C3E13D',
        600: '#B4D421',
        700: '#96B11B',
        800: '#788D16',
        900: '#576614',
        950: '#37400C',
        DEFAULT: '#dfef97',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFCF3,
  '100': #F5F8E7,
  '200': #EBF3C8,
  '300': #dfef97,
  '400': #D2E96D,
  '500': #C3E13D,
  '600': #B4D421,
  '700': #96B11B,
  '800': #788D16,
  '900': #576614,
  '950': #37400C,
);
$brand-base: #dfef97;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F8E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EBF3C8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#dfef97", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D2E96D", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C3E13D", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B4D421", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#96B11B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#788D16", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#576614", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#37400C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfef97 · 16.93:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.24:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.93:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfef97 as text scores 1.24:1 on white and 16.93:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5E6E11 at 4.56:1.

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
#6B7E13 · 4.55:1
AA on white−48% L
#6B7E13
The quick fox
#505F0F · 7.04:1
AAA on white−55% L
#505F0F
The quick fox
#dfef97 · 16.93:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfef97
The quick fox
#dfef97 · 16.93:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfef97

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #859D18 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
#dfef97 on white: 1.24:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfef97 on black: 16.93:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfef97 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfef97.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.24:1AaAa
Slate 501.19:1AaAa
Slate 1001.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.01:1AaAa
Slate 3001.20:1AaAa
Slate 4002.07:1AaAa
Slate 5003.84:1AaAa
Slate 6006.11:1AaAa
Slate 7008.35:1AaAa
Slate 80011.79:1AaAa
Slate 90014.39:1AaAa
Black16.93:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FAE691
deuteranopia · #F9E79B
tritanopia · #E8E6D9

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. #dfef97 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAFCF3
#F5F8E7
#EBF3C8
#dfef97
#D2E96D
#C3E13D
#B4D421
#96B11B
#788D16
#576614
#37400C
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAFCF3Darkest = 950 · #37400CText 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 0.028 117.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 117.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.068 117.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.088 117.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.104 117.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.113 117.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.113 117.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.106 117.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.095 117.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.079 117.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.062 117.1);
}

Colors that work with #dfef97

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#F9FAF4
Tinted page background
Border#E4EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#8C9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1822B4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5E6E11
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8FCE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#212414
Dark-mode background
Hover#D6EA78
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CCE559
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F7F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E8F7A4
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 #dfef97

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
  • Status meaning — pair it with an icon or label, never colour alone
  • 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 #5E6E11
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #859D18

Meaning and mood

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

safegrowingnaturalpermissive

Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed.

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

Red/green pairs are the most common colour-blindness failure — never let the two carry meaning alone.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight24/100
  • 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#A797EF
Analogous left#EFD397
Analogous right#B3EF97
Split-complement 1#97B3EF
Split-complement 2#D397EF
Triadic 1#97DFEF
Triadic 2#EF97DF
Tetradic#97EFD3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°71°

#dfef97 sits at 71°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green93.7%
Blue59.2%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
239
0xef
B · 0–255
151
0x97

CMYK percentages

Cyan6.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow36.8%
Key (black)6.3%

Total ink coverage is 50%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfef97 text on a black background

contrast 16.93:1

Card sample

#dfef97 text on a white background

contrast 1.24:1

Card sample

#dfef97 on grey

1.13:1

#dfef97 on its own surface

1.18:1

#dfef97 on its dark surface

12.76:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfef97;
Background color
Panel with #dfef97 background
background-color: #dfef97;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfef97;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 239, 151, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 239, 151, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfef97;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfef97, #A4EF97);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfef97, #97EFA0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfef97;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfef97;
caret-color: #dfef97;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfef97;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8FCE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfef97;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfef97 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfef97 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, 239, 151, 0.5)
rgb(223 239 151 / 50%)
#dfef9780
hsl(71 73% 77% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfef97 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfef971a#FCFDF5
20%#dfef9733#F9FCEA
40%#dfef9766#F2F9D5
60%#dfef9799#ECF5C1
80%#dfef97cc#E5F2AC

Gradients from #dfef97

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, #EFF7CC, #dfef97 45%, #5E6E11);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfef97, #84EB7D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfef97, #A797EF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8FBE7 0%, #dfef97 45%, #5E6E11 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F9FAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6E2C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C1F3B2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5E6E11 0%, transparent 65%), #dfef97;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfef97

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.

#dfef97 in the real world

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

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
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 16.93:1.

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.

#dfef97, answered

What color is #dfef97?

#dfef97 is a light vivid green, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 71° on the hue wheel with 73% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dfef97?

rgb(223, 239, 151) — 223 red, 239 green and 151 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 93.7% / 59.2% by channel.

What is #dfef97 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(71, 73%, 77%) and hsv(71, 37%, 94%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfef97 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7966 and perceived brightness is 89%, so black text on it reaches 16.93:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfef97?

Black. It scores 16.93:1 against #dfef97, versus 1.24:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfef97 accessible on a white background?

#dfef97 on white scores 1.24:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6B7E13 to reach 4.5:1, or #505F0F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfef97?

#A797EF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #97B3EF and #D397EF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfef97?

For interface work: #F9FAF4 as the surface, #E4EDC0 for borders, #8C9B4B for secondary text, #1822B4 as an accent and #5E6E11 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EFD397 and #B3EF97 stays calm, while #A797EF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfef97 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(7%, 0%, 37%, 6%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfef97 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 34 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EFDF97; nudged cooler, #BFF096.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfef97?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 15.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfef97 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfef97 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfef97] or text-[#dfef97], 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 #dfef97 with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 239, 151, 0.5), or #dfef9780 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFF7CB; over black, #70784C.

Is #dfef97 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCFF99, ΔE2000 6.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfef97 mean?

As a green, it reads safe, growing, natural. Green means go, well, and grown. It carries finance, sustainability and health with almost no explanation needed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #dfef97?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFF7CC, #dfef97 45%, #5E6E11). For more colour, a short hue run to #84EB7D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfef97 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfef97 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.