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yellow · warm

#ecf261

a light, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Yellow

Token name suggestion: Linen Honey

RGB
236, 242, 97
HSL
63°, 85%, 67%
CMYK
3, 0, 60, 5
Luminance
0.8220

#ecf261 is a light electric yellow, 63° on the wheel and 27/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (17.44:1). As text it scores 1.20:1 on white — use #74780A instead. Nearest name is Yellow, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(63 85% 67%)rgb(236 242 97)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecf261 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecf261
Hue
63°
yellow
Saturation
85%
electric
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
90%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8220
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
27/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.44:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 6.8
Chroma
70.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.930
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 16.1
Web-safe
#FFFF66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue63° of 360°
Saturation85%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecf261.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool27% 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
Red22%
Green77%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ecf261
HEX (8-digit)#ecf261ff
RGBrgb(236, 242, 97)
RGBArgba(236, 242, 97, 1)
HSLhsl(63, 85%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(62, 60%, 95%)
HWBhwb(63 38% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 60%, 5%)
LABlab(92.7 -20.1 67.3)
LCHlch(92.7 70.2 106.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.930 0.165 111.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(68.50, 82.20, 23.56)
Decimal15528545
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.949 0.380)
Web-safe#FFFF66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecf261;
background-color: #ecf261;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecf261;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecf261] bg-[#ecf261]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecf261;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.949, blue: 0.380)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.949, blue: 0.380, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECF261</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECF261)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECF261)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(97, 242, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 242, 97)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 242, 97)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 242, 97)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.9490f, 0.3804f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,242,97}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecf261 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecf261 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#71760A, #EDEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecf261 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: #FCFCF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FAE5;
  --brand-200: #F5F7C5;
  --brand-300: #F3F697;
  --brand-400: #ecf261;
  --brand-500: #E6EE30;
  --brand-600: #DAE213;
  --brand-700: #B5BC10;
  --brand-800: #91970C;
  --brand-900: #696D0D;
  --brand-950: #424408;
  --brand: #ecf261;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EBEDC0;
  --brand-hover: #E8EF40;
  --brand-pressed: #E4ED1F;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EDEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFCF2',
        100: '#F9FAE5',
        200: '#F5F7C5',
        300: '#F3F697',
        400: '#ecf261',
        500: '#E6EE30',
        600: '#DAE213',
        700: '#B5BC10',
        800: '#91970C',
        900: '#696D0D',
        950: '#424408',
        DEFAULT: '#ecf261',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFCF2,
  '100': #F9FAE5,
  '200': #F5F7C5,
  '300': #F3F697,
  '400': #ecf261,
  '500': #E6EE30,
  '600': #DAE213,
  '700': #B5BC10,
  '800': #91970C,
  '900': #696D0D,
  '950': #424408,
);
$brand-base: #ecf261;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFCF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9FAE5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5F7C5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F3F697", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ecf261", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E6EE30", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DAE213", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B5BC10", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#91970C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#696D0D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#424408", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecf261 · 17.44:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.20:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.44:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecf261 as text scores 1.20:1 on white and 17.44:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #71760A at 4.06:1.

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
#74780A · 4.74:1
AA on white−41% L
#74780A
The quick fox
#585C08 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−47% L
#585C08
The quick fox
#ecf261 · 17.44:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecf261
The quick fox
#ecf261 · 17.44:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecf261

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #93990D 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
#ecf261 on white: 1.20:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecf261 on black: 17.44:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecf261 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecf261.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.20:1AaAa
Slate 501.15:1AaAa
Slate 1001.10:1AaAa
Slate 2001.02:1AaAa
Slate 3001.23:1AaAa
Slate 4002.13:1AaAa
Slate 5003.95:1AaAa
Slate 6006.29:1AaAa
Slate 7008.60:1AaAa
Slate 80012.15:1AaAa
Slate 90014.83:1AaAa
Black17.44:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FFE850
deuteranopia · #FFEC6A
tritanopia · #FBE4D3

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. #ecf261 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCFCF2
#F9FAE5
#F5F7C5
#F3F697
#ecf261
#E6EE30
#DAE213
#B5BC10
#91970C
#696D0D
#424408
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FCFCF2Darkest = 950 · #424408Text 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 0.041 111.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.066 111.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.099 111.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.129 111.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.152 111.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.165 111.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.165 111.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.155 111.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.139 111.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.116 111.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.091 111.4);
}

Colors that work with #ecf261

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#EBEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#989B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5E7DF5
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#71760A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#E8EF40
One step down in lightness
Pressed#E4ED1F
Two steps down
Disabled#E8E8DB
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F5FB6C
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 #ecf261

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 #71760A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #93990D

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#6761F2
Analogous left#F2B061
Analogous right#A4F261
Split-complement 1#61A4F2
Split-complement 2#B061F2
Triadic 1#61ECF2
Triadic 2#F261EC
Tetradic#61F2B0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°63°

#ecf261 sits at 63°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green94.9%
Blue38.0%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
242
0xf2
B · 0–255
97
0x61

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.5%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow59.9%
Key (black)5.1%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecf261 text on a black background

contrast 17.44:1

Card sample

#ecf261 text on a white background

contrast 1.20:1

Card sample

#ecf261 on grey

1.10:1

#ecf261 on its own surface

1.15:1

#ecf261 on its dark surface

13.04:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecf261;
Background color
Panel with #ecf261 background
background-color: #ecf261;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecf261;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 242, 97, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 242, 97, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecf261;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecf261, #8BF261);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecf261, #67F261);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecf261;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecf261;
caret-color: #ecf261;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecf261;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCFDE7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecf261;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecf261 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecf261 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, 242, 97, 0.5)
rgb(236 242 97 / 50%)
#ecf26180
hsl(63 85% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecf261 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecf2611a#FDFEEF
20%#ecf26133#FBFCDF
40%#ecf26166#F7FAC0
60%#ecf26199#F4F7A0
80%#ecf261cc#F0F581

Gradients from #ecf261

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, #F3F79A, #ecf261 45%, #71760A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecf261, #68F045);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecf261, #6761F2);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F9B6 0%, #ecf261 45%, #71760A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #F6BF90 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AAF47D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #71760A 0%, transparent 65%), #ecf261;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecf261

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.

#ecf261 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

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 17.44:1.

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.

#ecf261, answered

What color is #ecf261?

#ecf261 is a light electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 63° on the hue wheel with 85% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecf261?

rgb(236, 242, 97) — 236 red, 242 green and 97 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 94.9% / 38% by channel.

What is #ecf261 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(63, 85%, 67%) and hsv(62, 60%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecf261 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8220 and perceived brightness is 90%, so black text on it reaches 17.44:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecf261?

Black. It scores 17.44:1 against #ecf261, versus 1.20:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecf261 accessible on a white background?

#ecf261 on white scores 1.20:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #74780A to reach 4.5:1, or #585C08 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecf261?

#6761F2 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #61A4F2 and #B061F2, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecf261?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEDC0 for borders, #989B4B for secondary text, #5E7DF5 as an accent and #71760A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F2B061 and #A4F261 stays calm, while #6761F2 is the loudest partner.

What is #ecf261 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 60%, 5%). 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 #ecf261 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 27 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F2C361; nudged cooler, #B7F45F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecf261?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 16.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecf261 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecf261 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecf261] or text-[#ecf261], 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 #ecf261 with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 242, 97, 0.5), or #ecf26180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6F9B0; over black, #767931.

Is #ecf261 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFFF66, ΔE2000 3.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ecf261 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 #ecf261?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F3F79A, #ecf261 45%, #71760A). For more colour, a short hue run to #68F045 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecf261 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecf261 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.