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yellow · warm

#ebda8a

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Honey

RGB
235, 218, 138
HSL
50°, 71%, 73%
CMYK
0, 7, 41, 8
Luminance
0.6964

#ebda8a is a light vivid yellow, 50° on the wheel and 16/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.93:1). As text it scores 1.41:1 on white — use #877417 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(50 71% 73%)rgb(235 218 138)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ebda8a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ebda8a
Hue
50°
yellow
Saturation
71%
vivid
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
85%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6964
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
16/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.93:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 3.4
Chroma
41.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.885
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 14.7
Web-safe
#FFCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue50° of 360°
Saturation71%
Lightness73%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ebda8a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool16% 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
Red25%
Green72%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#ebda8a
HEX (8-digit)#ebda8aff
RGBrgb(235, 218, 138)
RGBArgba(235, 218, 138, 1)
HSLhsl(50, 71%, 73%)
HSV / HSBhsv(49, 41%, 92%)
HWBhwb(50 54% 8%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 41%, 8%)
LABlab(86.8 -5.1 41.4)
LCHlch(86.8 41.8 97.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.885 0.102 97.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(63.92, 69.64, 34.11)
Decimal15456906
Display P3color(display-p3 0.922 0.855 0.541)
Web-safe#FFCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ebda8a;
background-color: #ebda8a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ebda8a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ebda8a] bg-[#ebda8a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ebda8a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.922, green: 0.855, blue: 0.541)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.922, green: 0.855, blue: 0.541, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#EBDA8A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFEBDA8A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEBDA8A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(138, 218, 235)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(235, 218, 138)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(235, 218, 138)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 235, 218, 138)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9216f, 0.8549f, 0.5412f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{235,218,138}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ebda8a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ebda8a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6D5D13, #EEE9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ebda8a 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: #FCFAF3;
  --brand-100: #F8F5E7;
  --brand-200: #F3EBC9;
  --brand-300: #ebda8a;
  --brand-400: #E6D26F;
  --brand-500: #DEC23F;
  --brand-600: #D1B324;
  --brand-700: #AE951E;
  --brand-800: #8B7718;
  --brand-900: #655715;
  --brand-950: #3F360D;
  --brand: #ebda8a;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE5C0;
  --brand-hover: #E6D06B;
  --brand-pressed: #E1C74D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242214;
    --brand-ink: #EEE9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFAF3',
        100: '#F8F5E7',
        200: '#F3EBC9',
        300: '#ebda8a',
        400: '#E6D26F',
        500: '#DEC23F',
        600: '#D1B324',
        700: '#AE951E',
        800: '#8B7718',
        900: '#655715',
        950: '#3F360D',
        DEFAULT: '#ebda8a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFAF3,
  '100': #F8F5E7,
  '200': #F3EBC9,
  '300': #ebda8a,
  '400': #E6D26F,
  '500': #DEC23F,
  '600': #D1B324,
  '700': #AE951E,
  '800': #8B7718,
  '900': #655715,
  '950': #3F360D,
);
$brand-base: #ebda8a;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFAF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F5E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F3EBC9", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ebda8a", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E6D26F", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#DEC23F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#D1B324", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#AE951E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#8B7718", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#655715", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3F360D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ebda8a · 14.93:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.41:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.93:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ebda8a as text scores 1.41:1 on white and 14.93:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6D5D13 at 4.63:1.

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
#877417 · 4.62:1
AA on white−42% L
#877417
The quick fox
#655611 · 7.26:1
AAA on white−50% L
#655611
The quick fox
#ebda8a · 14.93:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ebda8a
The quick fox
#ebda8a · 14.93:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ebda8a

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AA921D 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
#ebda8a on white: 1.41:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ebda8a on black: 14.93:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ebda8a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ebda8a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.41:1AaAa
Slate 501.34:1AaAa
Slate 1001.28:1AaAa
Slate 2001.14:1AaAa
Slate 3001.06:1AaAa
Slate 4001.82:1AaAa
Slate 5003.38:1AaAa
Slate 6005.39:1AaAa
Slate 7007.36:1AaAa
Slate 80010.40:1AaAa
Slate 90012.69:1AaAa
Black14.93:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E9D684
deuteranopia · #EDDC8D
tritanopia · #F9CFC6

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. #ebda8a 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.

#FCFAF3
#F8F5E7
#F3EBC9
#ebda8a
#E6D26F
#DEC23F
#D1B324
#AE951E
#8B7718
#655715
#3F360D
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FCFAF3Darkest = 950 · #3F360DText 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 0.025 97.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.041 97.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.061 97.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.079 97.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.094 97.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.102 97.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.102 97.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.096 97.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.086 97.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.071 97.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.056 97.7);
}

Colors that work with #ebda8a

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#9B8D4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#195BB3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6D5D13
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF8E9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
Hover#E6D06B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#E1C74D
Two steps down
Disabled#F5F4F0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F4E395
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 #ebda8a

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 #6D5D13
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AA921D

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
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#8A9BEB
Analogous left#EBA98A
Analogous right#CBEB8A
Split-complement 1#8ACBEB
Split-complement 2#A98AEB
Triadic 1#8AEBDA
Triadic 2#DA8AEB
Tetradic#8AEBA9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°50°

#ebda8a sits at 50°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.2%
Green85.5%
Blue54.1%
R · 0–255
235
0xeb
G · 0–255
218
0xda
B · 0–255
138
0x8a

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta7.2%
Yellow41.3%
Key (black)7.8%

Total ink coverage is 56%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ebda8a text on a black background

contrast 14.93:1

Card sample

#ebda8a text on a white background

contrast 1.41:1

Card sample

#ebda8a on grey

1.28:1

#ebda8a on its own surface

1.33:1

#ebda8a on its dark surface

11.36:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ebda8a;
Background color
Panel with #ebda8a background
background-color: #ebda8a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ebda8a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(235, 218, 138, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(235, 218, 138, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ebda8a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ebda8a, #BBEB8A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ebda8a, #A3EB8A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ebda8a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ebda8a;
caret-color: #ebda8a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ebda8a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF8E9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ebda8a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ebda8a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ebda8a 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(235, 218, 138, 0.5)
rgb(235 218 138 / 50%)
#ebda8a80
hsl(50 71% 73% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ebda8a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ebda8a1a#FDFBF3
20%#ebda8a33#FBF8E8
40%#ebda8a66#F7F0D0
60%#ebda8a99#F3E9B9
80%#ebda8acc#EFE1A1

Gradients from #ebda8a

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, #F4EABE, #ebda8a 45%, #6D5D13);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ebda8a, #A2E770);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ebda8a, #8A9BEB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F8F3D8 0%, #ebda8a 45%, #6D5D13 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%, #F2C4B5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D1EFA4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6D5D13 0%, transparent 65%), #ebda8a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ebda8a

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.

#ebda8a 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 14.93:1.

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.

#ebda8a, answered

What color is #ebda8a?

#ebda8a is a light vivid yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 3.4). It sits at 50° on the hue wheel with 71% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ebda8a?

rgb(235, 218, 138) — 235 red, 218 green and 138 blue out of 255, or 92.2% / 85.5% / 54.1% by channel.

What is #ebda8a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(50, 71%, 73%) and hsv(49, 41%, 92%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ebda8a a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6964 and perceived brightness is 85%, so black text on it reaches 14.93:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ebda8a?

Black. It scores 14.93:1 against #ebda8a, versus 1.41:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ebda8a accessible on a white background?

#ebda8a on white scores 1.41:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #877417 to reach 4.5:1, or #655611 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ebda8a?

#8A9BEB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8ACBEB and #A98AEB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ebda8a?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE5C0 for borders, #9B8D4B for secondary text, #195BB3 as an accent and #6D5D13 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EBA98A and #CBEB8A stays calm, while #8A9BEB is the loudest partner.

What is #ebda8a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 41%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ebda8a warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 16 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EBBF8A; nudged cooler, #D9EC88.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ebda8a?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 14.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ebda8a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ebda8a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ebda8a] or text-[#ebda8a], 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 #ebda8a with 50% opacity?

rgba(235, 218, 138, 0.5), or #ebda8a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F5EDC5; over black, #766D45.

Is #ebda8a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC99, ΔE2000 13.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ebda8a 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 #ebda8a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F4EABE, #ebda8a 45%, #6D5D13). For more colour, a short hue run to #A2E770 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ebda8a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ebda8a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.