Skip to content

#ebda37

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

RGB
235, 218, 55
HSL
54°, 82%, 57%
CMYK
0, 7, 77, 8
Luminance
0.6808

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ebda37 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ebda37
Hue
54°
yellow
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6808
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
20/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.62:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 5.9
Where it sits
Hue54° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness57%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool20% 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#ebda37
RGBrgb(235, 218, 55)
HSLhsl(54, 82%, 57%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 77%, 8%)
LABlab(86.0 -10.9 76.0)
LCHlch(86.0 76.8 98.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.876 0.170 103.1)
Decimal15456823
Display P3color(display-p3 0.922 0.855 0.216)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #ebda37;
background-color: #ebda37;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ebda37] bg-[#ebda37]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ebda37;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.922, green: 0.855, blue: 0.216)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#ebda37")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEBDA37)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(55, 218, 235)

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 #ebda37 · 14.62:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.44:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.62:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ebda37 as text scores 1.44:1 on white and 14.62:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#ebda37 on white: 1.44:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ebda37 on black: 14.62:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #EED30B
deuteranopia · #F3DB44
tritanopia · #FDCABC

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #ebda37 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
#F9F8E6
#F6F1C6
#F5EC99
#F0E366
#ebda37
#DFCB16
#B9AA13
#94880F
#6B630F
#433E09
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCFBF2Darkest = 950 · #433E09
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFBF2;
  --brand-100: #F9F8E6;
  --brand-200: #F6F1C6;
  --brand-300: #F5EC99;
  --brand-400: #F0E366;
  --brand-500: #ebda37;
  --brand-600: #DFCB16;
  --brand-700: #B9AA13;
  --brand-800: #94880F;
  --brand-900: #6B630F;
  --brand-950: #433E09;
  --brand: #ebda37;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #ebda37

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#EDE8C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B934B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3374EF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#746A0C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDFBE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
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 #ebda37

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#3748EB
Analogous left#EB8037
Analogous right#A2EB37
Split-complement 1#37A2EB
Split-complement 2#8037EB
Triadic 1#37EBDA
Triadic 2#DA37EB
Tetradic#37EB80

RGB percentages

Red92.2%
Green85.5%
Blue21.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta7.2%
Yellow76.6%
Key (black)7.8%

Color previews

#ebda37 text on a black background

contrast 14.62:1

Card sample

#ebda37 text on a white background

contrast 1.44:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ebda37;
Background color
Panel with #ebda37 background
background-color: #ebda37;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ebda37;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(235, 218, 55, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(235, 218, 55, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ebda37;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ebda37, #84EB37);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ebda37

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.

#ebda37 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.

#ebda37, answered

What color is #ebda37?

#ebda37 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 5.9). It sits at 54° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ebda37?

rgb(235, 218, 55) — 235 red, 218 green and 55 blue out of 255, or 92.2% / 85.5% / 21.6% by channel.

Is #ebda37 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6808 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 14.62:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ebda37?

Black. It scores 14.62:1 against #ebda37, versus 1.44:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #ebda37?

#3748EB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #37A2EB and #8037EB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ebda37?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE8C0 for borders, #9B934B for secondary text, #3374EF as an accent and #746A0C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EB8037 and #A2EB37 stays calm, while #3748EB is the loudest partner.

What is #ebda37 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 77%, 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 #ebda37 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 20 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EBA937; nudged cooler, #BBED35.

Work with #ebda37 in the Color Lab