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yellow · warm

#ecf94f

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Straw

RGB
236, 249, 79
HSL
65°, 93%, 64%
CMYK
5, 0, 68, 2
Luminance
0.8615

#ecf94f is a balanced electric yellow, 65° on the wheel and 29/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (18.23:1). As text it scores 1.15:1 on white — use #6F7804 instead. Nearest name is Yellow, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(65 93% 64%)rgb(236 249 79)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecf94f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecf94f
Hue
65°
yellow
Saturation
93%
electric
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
91%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8615
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
29/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
18.23:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
79.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.943
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 16.2
Web-safe
#FFFF66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue65° of 360°
Saturation93%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecf94f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool29% 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
Red21%
Green79%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ecf94f
HEX (8-digit)#ecf94fff
RGBrgb(236, 249, 79)
RGBArgba(236, 249, 79, 1)
HSLhsl(65, 93%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(65, 68%, 98%)
HWBhwb(65 31% 2%)
CMYKcmyk(5%, 0%, 68%, 2%)
LABlab(94.4 -24.5 76.0)
LCHlch(94.4 79.8 107.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.943 0.185 113.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(69.88, 86.15, 20.34)
Decimal15530319
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.976 0.310)
Web-safe#FFFF66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecf94f;
background-color: #ecf94f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecf94f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecf94f] bg-[#ecf94f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecf94f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.976, blue: 0.310)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.976, blue: 0.310, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECF94F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECF94F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECF94F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(79, 249, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 249, 79)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 249, 79)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 249, 79)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.9765f, 0.3098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,249,79}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecf94f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecf94f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#727B04, #ECEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecf94f 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: #FCFDF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FBE4;
  --brand-200: #F5F9C2;
  --brand-300: #F3FB93;
  --brand-400: #ecf94f;
  --brand-500: #E8F826;
  --brand-600: #DBED08;
  --brand-700: #B7C507;
  --brand-800: #929E05;
  --brand-900: #6A7209;
  --brand-950: #424705;
  --brand: #ecf94f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E9EDC0;
  --brand-hover: #E8F82C;
  --brand-pressed: #E4F70A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #232414;
    --brand-ink: #ECEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FCFDF2',
        100: '#F9FBE4',
        200: '#F5F9C2',
        300: '#F3FB93',
        400: '#ecf94f',
        500: '#E8F826',
        600: '#DBED08',
        700: '#B7C507',
        800: '#929E05',
        900: '#6A7209',
        950: '#424705',
        DEFAULT: '#ecf94f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FCFDF2,
  '100': #F9FBE4,
  '200': #F5F9C2,
  '300': #F3FB93,
  '400': #ecf94f,
  '500': #E8F826,
  '600': #DBED08,
  '700': #B7C507,
  '800': #929E05,
  '900': #6A7209,
  '950': #424705,
);
$brand-base: #ecf94f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FCFDF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F9FBE4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F5F9C2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F3FB93", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ecf94f", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#E8F826", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#DBED08", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#B7C507", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#929E05", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6A7209", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#424705", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecf94f · 18.23:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.15:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 18.23:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecf94f as text scores 1.15:1 on white and 18.23:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #727B04 at 4.01:1.

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
#6F7804 · 4.81:1
AA on white−40% L
#6F7804
The quick fox
#545A03 · 7.39:1
AAA on white−46% L
#545A03
The quick fox
#ecf94f · 18.23:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecf94f
The quick fox
#ecf94f · 18.23:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecf94f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8F9A05 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
#ecf94f on white: 1.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecf94f on black: 18.23:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecf94f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecf94f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.15:1AaAa
Slate 501.10:1AaAa
Slate 1001.05:1AaAa
Slate 2001.07:1AaAa
Slate 3001.29:1AaAa
Slate 4002.23:1AaAa
Slate 5004.13:1AaAa
Slate 6006.58:1AaAa
Slate 7008.99:1AaAa
Slate 80012.70:1AaAa
Slate 90015.50:1AaAa
Black18.23:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FFED33
deuteranopia · #FFF15C
tritanopia · #FBEBD7

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. #ecf94f 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.

#FCFDF2
#F9FBE4
#F5F9C2
#F3FB93
#ecf94f
#E8F826
#DBED08
#B7C507
#929E05
#6A7209
#424705
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FCFDF2Darkest = 950 · #424705Text 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 0.046 113.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.074 113.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.111 113.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.144 113.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.170 113.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.185 113.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.185 113.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.174 113.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.156 113.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.130 113.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.102 113.7);
}

Colors that work with #ecf94f

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#E9EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#959B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#4B6AFD
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#727B04
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFEE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
Dark-mode background
Hover#E8F82C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#E4F70A
Two steps down
Disabled#E3E4D4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F3FF5D
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 #ecf94f

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
  • 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 #727B04
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8F9A05

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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#5C4FF9
Analogous left#F9B14F
Analogous right#97F94F
Split-complement 1#4F97F9
Split-complement 2#B14FF9
Triadic 1#4FECF9
Triadic 2#F94FEC
Tetradic#4FF9B1
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°65°

#ecf94f sits at 65°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green97.6%
Blue31.0%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
249
0xf9
B · 0–255
79
0x4f

CMYK percentages

Cyan5.2%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow68.3%
Key (black)2.4%

Total ink coverage is 76%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecf94f text on a black background

contrast 18.23:1

Card sample

#ecf94f text on a white background

contrast 1.15:1

Card sample

#ecf94f on grey

1.05:1

#ecf94f on its own surface

1.10:1

#ecf94f on its dark surface

13.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecf94f;
Background color
Panel with #ecf94f background
background-color: #ecf94f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecf94f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 249, 79, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 249, 79, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecf94f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecf94f, #7BF94F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecf94f, #50F94F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecf94f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecf94f;
caret-color: #ecf94f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecf94f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FCFEE6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecf94f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecf94f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecf94f 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, 249, 79, 0.5)
rgb(236 249 79 / 50%)
#ecf94f80
hsl(65 93% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecf94f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecf94f1a#FDFEED
20%#ecf94f33#FBFEDC
40%#ecf94f66#F7FDB9
60%#ecf94f99#F4FB95
80%#ecf94fcc#F0FA72

Gradients from #ecf94f

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, #F2FB8A, #ecf94f 45%, #727B04);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecf94f, #54F831);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecf94f, #5C4FF9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6FCA8 0%, #ecf94f 45%, #727B04 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%, #FBBD80 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9DFA6D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #727B04 0%, transparent 65%), #ecf94f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecf94f

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.

#ecf94f 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.

On screens

Very light values are indistinguishable from white on a dim phone screen outdoors. Give it a border if the boundary matters.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 18.23:1.

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.

#ecf94f, answered

What color is #ecf94f?

#ecf94f is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 65° on the hue wheel with 93% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecf94f?

rgb(236, 249, 79) — 236 red, 249 green and 79 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 97.6% / 31% by channel.

What is #ecf94f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(65, 93%, 64%) and hsv(65, 68%, 98%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecf94f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8615 and perceived brightness is 91%, so black text on it reaches 18.23:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecf94f?

Black. It scores 18.23:1 against #ecf94f, versus 1.15:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecf94f accessible on a white background?

#ecf94f on white scores 1.15:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6F7804 to reach 4.5:1, or #545A03 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecf94f?

#5C4FF9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4F97F9 and #B14FF9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecf94f?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E9EDC0 for borders, #959B4B for secondary text, #4B6AFD as an accent and #727B04 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F9B14F and #97F94F stays calm, while #5C4FF9 is the loudest partner.

What is #ecf94f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(5%, 0%, 68%, 2%). 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 #ecf94f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 29 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F9C84F; nudged cooler, #AEFB4D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecf94f?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 16.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecf94f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecf94f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecf94f] or text-[#ecf94f], 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 #ecf94f with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 249, 79, 0.5), or #ecf94f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6FCA7; over black, #767D28.

Is #ecf94f 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 #ecf94f 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 #ecf94f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2FB8A, #ecf94f 45%, #727B04). For more colour, a short hue run to #54F831 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecf94f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecf94f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.