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#eaca21

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

RGB
234, 202, 33
HSL
50°, 83%, 52%
CMYK
0, 14, 86, 8
Luminance
0.5984

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #eaca21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#eaca21
Hue
50°
yellow
Saturation
83%
electric
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
79%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5984
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.97:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 4.1
Where it sits
Hue50° of 360°
Saturation83%
Lightness52%
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.

Every format

HEX#eaca21
RGBrgb(234, 202, 33)
HSLhsl(50, 83%, 52%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 86%, 8%)
LABlab(81.8 -3.9 78.1)
LCHlch(81.8 78.2 92.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.842 0.167 97.0)
Decimal15387169
Display P3color(display-p3 0.918 0.792 0.129)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #eaca21;
background-color: #eaca21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#eaca21] bg-[#eaca21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #eaca21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.918, green: 0.792, blue: 0.129)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#eaca21")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEACA21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 202, 234)

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 #eaca21 · 12.97:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.62:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.97:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #eaca21 as text scores 1.62:1 on white and 12.97:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#eaca21 on white: 1.62:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#eaca21 on black: 12.97:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E0C500
deuteranopia · #E8D031
tritanopia · #FDB9AD

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #eaca21 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.

#FCFBF2
#FAF6E6
#F6EEC6
#F5E699
#F0DA65
#eaca21
#E0BF15
#BA9F12
#957F0E
#6C5D0F
#433A09
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCFBF2Darkest = 950 · #433A09
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFBF2;
  --brand-100: #FAF6E6;
  --brand-200: #F6EEC6;
  --brand-300: #F5E699;
  --brand-400: #F0DA65;
  --brand-500: #eaca21;
  --brand-600: #E0BF15;
  --brand-700: #BA9F12;
  --brand-800: #957F0E;
  --brand-900: #6C5D0F;
  --brand-950: #433A09;
  --brand: #eaca21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #eaca21

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#EDE5C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1C73EF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#74640B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDF9E8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #eaca21

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
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

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#2141EA
Analogous left#EA6521
Analogous right#A6EA21
Split-complement 1#21A6EA
Split-complement 2#6521EA
Triadic 1#21EACA
Triadic 2#CA21EA
Tetradic#21EA65

RGB percentages

Red91.8%
Green79.2%
Blue12.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta13.7%
Yellow85.9%
Key (black)8.2%

Color previews

#eaca21 text on a black background

contrast 12.97:1

Card sample

#eaca21 text on a white background

contrast 1.62:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #eaca21;
Background color
Panel with #eaca21 background
background-color: #eaca21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #eaca21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(234, 202, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(234, 202, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #eaca21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #eaca21, #84EA21);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #eaca21

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#eaca21 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#eaca21, answered

What color is #eaca21?

#eaca21 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 50° on the hue wheel with 83% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #eaca21?

rgb(234, 202, 33) — 234 red, 202 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 91.8% / 79.2% / 12.9% by channel.

Is #eaca21 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5984 and perceived brightness is 79%, so black text on it reaches 12.97:1.

Should I use black or white text on #eaca21?

Black. It scores 12.97:1 against #eaca21, versus 1.62:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #eaca21?

#2141EA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #21A6EA and #6521EA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #eaca21?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE5C0 for borders, #9B8E4B for secondary text, #1C73EF as an accent and #74640B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EA6521 and #A6EA21 stays calm, while #2141EA is the loudest partner.

What is #eaca21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 86%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #eaca21 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 #EA9D21; nudged cooler, #C2EC1F.

Work with #eaca21 in the Color Lab