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orange · warm

#ecac3b

a balanced, electric orange · warm · closest name: Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Atlas Apricot

RGB
236, 172, 59
HSL
38°, 82%, 58%
CMYK
0, 27, 75, 8
Luminance
0.4765

#ecac3b is a balanced electric orange, 38° on the wheel and 7/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.53:1). As text it scores 1.99:1 on white — use #9D6A0F instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(38 82% 58%)rgb(236 172 59)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecac3b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecac3b
Hue
38°
orange
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4765
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
7/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.53:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
65.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.786
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 5.6
Web-safe
#FF9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue38° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecac3b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool7% 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
Red37%
Green62%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ecac3b
HEX (8-digit)#ecac3bff
RGBrgb(236, 172, 59)
RGBArgba(236, 172, 59, 1)
HSLhsl(38, 82%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(38, 75%, 93%)
HWBhwb(38 23% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 27%, 75%, 8%)
LABlab(74.6 13.4 63.9)
LCHlch(74.6 65.3 78.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.786 0.144 77.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.14, 47.66, 10.70)
Decimal15510587
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.675 0.231)
Web-safe#FF9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecac3b;
background-color: #ecac3b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecac3b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecac3b] bg-[#ecac3b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecac3b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.675, blue: 0.231)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.675, blue: 0.231, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECAC3B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECAC3B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECAC3B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(59, 172, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 172, 59)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 172, 59)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 172, 59)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.6745f, 0.2314f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,172,59}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecac3b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecac3b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#744E0B, #EEE4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecac3b 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: #FCF9F2;
  --brand-100: #FAF2E6;
  --brand-200: #F6E4C6;
  --brand-300: #F5D499;
  --brand-400: #F0BE66;
  --brand-500: #ecac3b;
  --brand-600: #DF9616;
  --brand-700: #BA7D12;
  --brand-800: #95640E;
  --brand-900: #6C4A0F;
  --brand-950: #432E09;
  --brand: #ecac3b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDCC0;
  --brand-hover: #E99E1A;
  --brand-pressed: #CC8914;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF9F2',
        100: '#FAF2E6',
        200: '#F6E4C6',
        300: '#F5D499',
        400: '#F0BE66',
        500: '#ecac3b',
        600: '#DF9616',
        700: '#BA7D12',
        800: '#95640E',
        900: '#6C4A0F',
        950: '#432E09',
        DEFAULT: '#ecac3b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF9F2,
  '100': #FAF2E6,
  '200': #F6E4C6,
  '300': #F5D499,
  '400': #F0BE66,
  '500': #ecac3b,
  '600': #DF9616,
  '700': #BA7D12,
  '800': #95640E,
  '900': #6C4A0F,
  '950': #432E09,
);
$brand-base: #ecac3b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCF9F2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FAF2E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F6E4C6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F5D499", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F0BE66", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#ecac3b", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DF9616", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#BA7D12", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#95640E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6C4A0F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#432E09", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecac3b · 10.53:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.99:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.53:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecac3b as text scores 1.99:1 on white and 10.53:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #744E0B at 3.71:1.

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
#9D6A0F · 4.66:1
AA on white−24% L
#9D6A0F
The quick fox
#78510C · 7.04:1
AAA on white−32% L
#78510C
The quick fox
#ecac3b · 10.53:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecac3b
The quick fox
#ecac3b · 10.53:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecac3b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C78613 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
#ecac3b on white: 1.99:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecac3b on black: 10.53:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecac3b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecac3b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.99:1AaAa
Slate 501.91:1AaAa
Slate 1001.82:1AaAa
Slate 2001.62:1AaAa
Slate 3001.34:1AaAa
Slate 4001.29:1AaAa
Slate 5002.39:1AaAa
Slate 6003.80:1AaAa
Slate 7005.19:1AaAa
Slate 8007.34:1AaAa
Slate 9008.95:1AaAa
Black10.53:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C4AE2A
deuteranopia · #D3BE3F
tritanopia · #FF9A95

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. #ecac3b 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.

#FCF9F2
#FAF2E6
#F6E4C6
#F5D499
#F0BE66
#ecac3b
#DF9616
#BA7D12
#95640E
#6C4A0F
#432E09
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCF9F2Darkest = 950 · #432E09Text 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 0.036 77.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 77.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.086 77.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.112 77.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.132 77.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.144 77.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.144 77.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.135 77.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.121 77.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 77.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.079 77.4);
}

Colors that work with #ecac3b

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#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDDCC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B7E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0E79BE
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#744E0B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDF5E8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#E99E1A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CC8914
Two steps down
Disabled#D7CFC0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F7B644
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 #ecac3b

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
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #744E0B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C78613

Meaning and mood

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

friendlyenergeticaffordablesocial

Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Hard to make feel premium, and it collides with the "caution" band in status systems.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#3B7BEC
Analogous left#EC533B
Analogous right#D3EC3B
Split-complement 1#3BD3EC
Split-complement 2#533BEC
Triadic 1#3BECAC
Triadic 2#AC3BEC
Tetradic#3BEC53
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°38°

#ecac3b sits at 38°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green67.5%
Blue23.1%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
59
0x3b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta27.1%
Yellow75.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 110%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecac3b text on a black background

contrast 10.53:1

Card sample

#ecac3b text on a white background

contrast 1.99:1

Card sample

#ecac3b on grey

1.82:1

#ecac3b on its own surface

1.88:1

#ecac3b on its dark surface

8.29:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecac3b;
Background color
Panel with #ecac3b background
background-color: #ecac3b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecac3b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 172, 59, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 172, 59, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecac3b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecac3b, #B6EC3B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecac3b, #8AEC3B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecac3b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecac3b;
caret-color: #ecac3b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecac3b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDF5E8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecac3b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecac3b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecac3b 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(236, 172, 59, 0.5)
rgb(236 172 59 / 50%)
#ecac3b80
hsl(38 82% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecac3b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecac3b1a#FDF7EB
20%#ecac3b33#FBEED8
40%#ecac3b66#F7DEB1
60%#ecac3b99#F4CD89
80%#ecac3bcc#F0BD62

Gradients from #ecac3b

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, #F1C473, #ecac3b 45%, #744E0B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecac3b, #9BE91F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecac3b, #3B7BEC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4CF8F 0%, #ecac3b 45%, #744E0B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F07169 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CDEF57 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #744E0B 0%, transparent 65%), #ecac3b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecac3b

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.

#ecac3b in the real world

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

Industries
E-commerceFood deliveryLogisticsCreator tools
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

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

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 10.53:1.

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.

#ecac3b, answered

What color is #ecac3b?

#ecac3b is a balanced electric orange, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 38° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecac3b?

rgb(236, 172, 59) — 236 red, 172 green and 59 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 67.5% / 23.1% by channel.

What is #ecac3b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(38, 82%, 58%) and hsv(38, 75%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecac3b a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4765 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 10.53:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecac3b?

Black. It scores 10.53:1 against #ecac3b, versus 1.99:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecac3b accessible on a white background?

#ecac3b on white scores 1.99:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9D6A0F to reach 4.5:1, or #78510C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecac3b?

#3B7BEC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3BD3EC and #533BEC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecac3b?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDCC0 for borders, #9B7E4B for secondary text, #0E79BE as an accent and #744E0B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EC533B and #D3EC3B stays calm, while #3B7BEC is the loudest partner.

What is #ecac3b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 27%, 75%, 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 #ecac3b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 7 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EC963B; nudged cooler, #EDEE39.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecac3b?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 5.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecac3b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecac3b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecac3b] or text-[#ecac3b], 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 #ecac3b with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 172, 59, 0.5), or #ecac3b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6D69D; over black, #76561E.

Is #ecac3b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9933, ΔE2000 10.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ecac3b mean?

As a orange, it reads friendly, energetic, affordable. Orange is red with the aggression taken out — approachable, active, and strongly associated with buying and doing. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #ecac3b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F1C473, #ecac3b 45%, #744E0B). For more colour, a short hue run to #9BE91F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecac3b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecac3b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.