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orange · warm

#ecaf41

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Marmalade

RGB
236, 175, 65
HSL
39°, 82%, 59%
CMYK
0, 26, 73, 8
Luminance
0.4887

#ecaf41 is a balanced electric orange, 39° on the wheel and 7/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.77:1). As text it scores 1.95:1 on white — use #9E6B10 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(39 82% 59%)rgb(236 175 65)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecaf41 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecaf41
Hue
39°
orange
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4887
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
7/100 cool
Color family
Orange
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.77:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
63.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.792
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 5.4
Web-safe
#FF9933
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue39° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness59%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecaf41.

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
Red36%
Green63%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ecaf41
HEX (8-digit)#ecaf41ff
RGBrgb(236, 175, 65)
RGBArgba(236, 175, 65, 1)
HSLhsl(39, 82%, 59%)
HSV / HSBhsv(39, 72%, 93%)
HWBhwb(39 25% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 26%, 73%, 8%)
LABlab(75.4 12.1 62.3)
LCHlch(75.4 63.5 79.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.792 0.141 78.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(50.88, 48.88, 11.75)
Decimal15511361
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.686 0.255)
Web-safe#FF9933

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecaf41;
background-color: #ecaf41;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecaf41;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecaf41] bg-[#ecaf41]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecaf41;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.686, blue: 0.255)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.686, blue: 0.255, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECAF41</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECAF41)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECAF41)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(65, 175, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 175, 65)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 175, 65)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 175, 65)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.6863f, 0.2549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,175,65}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecaf41 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecaf41 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#744F0C, #EEE4D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecaf41 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: #F9F2E6;
  --brand-200: #F6E5C6;
  --brand-300: #F5D499;
  --brand-400: #F0BF66;
  --brand-500: #ecaf41;
  --brand-600: #DF9716;
  --brand-700: #B97E13;
  --brand-800: #94650F;
  --brand-900: #6B4A0F;
  --brand-950: #432F09;
  --brand: #ecaf41;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDDC0;
  --brand-hover: #E9A120;
  --brand-pressed: #D18E15;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241E14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE4D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCF9F2',
        100: '#F9F2E6',
        200: '#F6E5C6',
        300: '#F5D499',
        400: '#F0BF66',
        500: '#ecaf41',
        600: '#DF9716',
        700: '#B97E13',
        800: '#94650F',
        900: '#6B4A0F',
        950: '#432F09',
        DEFAULT: '#ecaf41',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCF9F2,
  '100': #F9F2E6,
  '200': #F6E5C6,
  '300': #F5D499,
  '400': #F0BF66,
  '500': #ecaf41,
  '600': #DF9716,
  '700': #B97E13,
  '800': #94650F,
  '900': #6B4A0F,
  '950': #432F09,
);
$brand-base: #ecaf41;
$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": "#F9F2E6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F6E5C6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F5D499", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F0BF66", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#ecaf41", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DF9716", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B97E13", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#94650F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6B4A0F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#432F09", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecaf41 · 10.77:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.95:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecaf41 as text scores 1.95:1 on white and 10.77:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #744F0C at 3.76:1.

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
#9E6B10 · 4.60:1
AA on white−25% L
#9E6B10
The quick fox
#744F0C · 7.33:1
AAA on white−34% L
#744F0C
The quick fox
#ecaf41 · 10.77:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecaf41
The quick fox
#ecaf41 · 10.77:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecaf41

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #C78714 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
#ecaf41 on white: 1.95:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecaf41 on black: 10.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecaf41 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecaf41.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.95:1AaAa
Slate 501.86:1AaAa
Slate 1001.78:1AaAa
Slate 2001.58:1AaAa
Slate 3001.31:1AaAa
Slate 4001.32:1AaAa
Slate 5002.44:1AaAa
Slate 6003.89:1AaAa
Slate 7005.31:1AaAa
Slate 8007.51:1AaAa
Slate 9009.16:1AaAa
Black10.77:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C7B132
deuteranopia · #D5C045
tritanopia · #FF9E99

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. #ecaf41 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
#F9F2E6
#F6E5C6
#F5D499
#F0BF66
#ecaf41
#DF9716
#B97E13
#94650F
#6B4A0F
#432F09
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCF9F2Darkest = 950 · #432F09Text 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 0.035 78.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.056 78.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.085 78.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.110 78.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.130 78.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.141 78.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.141 78.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.133 78.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.119 78.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.099 78.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.078 78.5);
}

Colors that work with #ecaf41

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#EDDDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B7E4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0F79BD
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#744F0C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDF5E8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241E14
Dark-mode background
Hover#E9A120
One step down in lightness
Pressed#D18E15
Two steps down
Disabled#D9D2C4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F7B94A
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 #ecaf41

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 #744F0C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #C78714

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
  • Weight41/100
  • 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#417EEC
Analogous left#EC5941
Analogous right#D3EC41
Split-complement 1#41D3EC
Split-complement 2#5941EC
Triadic 1#41ECAF
Triadic 2#AF41EC
Tetradic#41EC59
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°39°

#ecaf41 sits at 39°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green68.6%
Blue25.5%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
65
0x41

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta25.8%
Yellow72.5%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 106%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecaf41 text on a black background

contrast 10.77:1

Card sample

#ecaf41 text on a white background

contrast 1.95:1

Card sample

#ecaf41 on grey

1.78:1

#ecaf41 on its own surface

1.84:1

#ecaf41 on its dark surface

8.48:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecaf41;
Background color
Panel with #ecaf41 background
background-color: #ecaf41;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecaf41;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 175, 65, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 175, 65, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecaf41;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecaf41, #B7EC41);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecaf41, #8CEC41);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecaf41;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecaf41;
caret-color: #ecaf41;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecaf41;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDF5E8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecaf41;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecaf41 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecaf41 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, 175, 65, 0.5)
rgb(236 175 65 / 50%)
#ecaf4180
hsl(39 82% 59% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecaf41 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecaf411a#FDF7EC
20%#ecaf4133#FBEFD9
40%#ecaf4166#F7DFB3
60%#ecaf4199#F4CF8D
80%#ecaf41cc#F0BF67

Gradients from #ecaf41

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, #F2C679, #ecaf41 45%, #744F0C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecaf41, #9CE925);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecaf41, #417EEC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4D294 0%, #ecaf41 45%, #744F0C 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%, #F1776F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CEEF5D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #744F0C 0%, transparent 65%), #ecaf41;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecaf41

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.

#ecaf41 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 10.77:1.

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.

#ecaf41, answered

What color is #ecaf41?

#ecaf41 is a balanced electric orange, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 39° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecaf41?

rgb(236, 175, 65) — 236 red, 175 green and 65 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 68.6% / 25.5% by channel.

What is #ecaf41 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(39, 82%, 59%) and hsv(39, 72%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecaf41 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4887 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 10.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecaf41?

Black. It scores 10.77:1 against #ecaf41, versus 1.95:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecaf41 accessible on a white background?

#ecaf41 on white scores 1.95:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #9E6B10 to reach 4.5:1, or #744F0C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecaf41?

#417EEC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #41D3EC and #5941EC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecaf41?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDDC0 for borders, #9B7E4B for secondary text, #0F79BD as an accent and #744F0C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EC5941 and #D3EC41 stays calm, while #417EEC is the loudest partner.

What is #ecaf41 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 26%, 73%, 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 #ecaf41 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 #EC9941; nudged cooler, #ECEE3F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecaf41?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 5.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecaf41 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecaf41 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecaf41] or text-[#ecaf41], 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 #ecaf41 with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 175, 65, 0.5), or #ecaf4180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6D7A0; over black, #765821.

Is #ecaf41 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FF9933, ΔE2000 11 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ecaf41 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 #ecaf41?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2C679, #ecaf41 45%, #744F0C). For more colour, a short hue run to #9CE925 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecaf41 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecaf41 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.