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yellow · warm

#f5bc39

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Citron

RGB
245, 188, 57
HSL
42°, 90%, 59%
CMYK
0, 23, 77, 4
Luminance
0.5567

#f5bc39 is a balanced electric yellow, 42° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.13:1). As text it scores 1.73:1 on white — use #976C08 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(42 90% 59%)rgb(245 188 57)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f5bc39 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f5bc39
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
90%
electric
Lightness
59%
balanced
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
78%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5567
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
12.13:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 6.3
Chroma
70.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.826
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 3.3
Web-safe
#FFCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue42° of 360°
Saturation90%
Lightness59%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #f5bc39.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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
Red35%
Green65%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#f5bc39
HEX (8-digit)#f5bc39ff
RGBrgb(245, 188, 57)
RGBArgba(245, 188, 57, 1)
HSLhsl(42, 90%, 59%)
HSV / HSBhsv(42, 77%, 96%)
HWBhwb(42 22% 4%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 23%, 77%, 4%)
LABlab(79.4 8.8 69.6)
LCHlch(79.4 70.1 82.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.826 0.153 83.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(56.38, 55.68, 11.65)
Decimal16104505
Display P3color(display-p3 0.961 0.737 0.224)
Web-safe#FFCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #f5bc39;
background-color: #f5bc39;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #f5bc39;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f5bc39] bg-[#f5bc39]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f5bc39;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.961, green: 0.737, blue: 0.224)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.961, green: 0.737, blue: 0.224, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#F5BC39</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFF5BC39)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF5BC39)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 188, 245)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(245, 188, 57)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(245, 188, 57)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 245, 188, 57)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9608f, 0.7373f, 0.2235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{245,188,57}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #f5bc39 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #f5bc39 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#795606, #EEE6D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #f5bc39 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: #FDFAF2;
  --brand-100: #FBF4E5;
  --brand-200: #F9E8C3;
  --brand-300: #FADB94;
  --brand-400: #F7C95F;
  --brand-500: #f5bc39;
  --brand-600: #E9A60C;
  --brand-700: #C28A0A;
  --brand-800: #9B6F08;
  --brand-900: #70510A;
  --brand-950: #463306;
  --brand: #f5bc39;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDFC0;
  --brand-hover: #F3B017;
  --brand-pressed: #DB9C0B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE6D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDFAF2',
        100: '#FBF4E5',
        200: '#F9E8C3',
        300: '#FADB94',
        400: '#F7C95F',
        500: '#f5bc39',
        600: '#E9A60C',
        700: '#C28A0A',
        800: '#9B6F08',
        900: '#70510A',
        950: '#463306',
        DEFAULT: '#f5bc39',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDFAF2,
  '100': #FBF4E5,
  '200': #F9E8C3,
  '300': #FADB94,
  '400': #F7C95F,
  '500': #f5bc39,
  '600': #E9A60C,
  '700': #C28A0A,
  '800': #9B6F08,
  '900': #70510A,
  '950': #463306,
);
$brand-base: #f5bc39;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDFAF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FBF4E5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F9E8C3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FADB94", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F7C95F", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#f5bc39", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#E9A60C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C28A0A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9B6F08", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#70510A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#463306", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #f5bc39 · 12.13:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.73:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.13:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #f5bc39 as text scores 1.73:1 on white and 12.13:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #795606 at 3.86:1.

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
#976C08 · 4.70:1
AA on white−28% L
#976C08
The quick fox
#715006 · 7.36:1
AAA on white−36% L
#715006
The quick fox
#f5bc39 · 12.13:1
AA on blackalready passes
#f5bc39
The quick fox
#f5bc39 · 12.13:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#f5bc39

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BE880A 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
#f5bc39 on white: 1.73:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f5bc39 on black: 12.13:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #f5bc39 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #f5bc39.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.73:1AaAa
Slate 501.65:1AaAa
Slate 1001.58:1AaAa
Slate 2001.40:1AaAa
Slate 3001.17:1AaAa
Slate 4001.48:1AaAa
Slate 5002.75:1AaAa
Slate 6004.38:1AaAa
Slate 7005.98:1AaAa
Slate 8008.45:1AaAa
Slate 90010.32:1AaAa
Black12.13:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D4BC21
deuteranopia · #E2CB3F
tritanopia · #FFAAA3

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. #f5bc39 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.

#FDFAF2
#FBF4E5
#F9E8C3
#FADB94
#F7C95F
#f5bc39
#E9A60C
#C28A0A
#9B6F08
#70510A
#463306
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDFAF2Darkest = 950 · #463306Text 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 0.038 83.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 83.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.092 83.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.119 83.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.141 83.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.153 83.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.153 83.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.144 83.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.128 83.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.107 83.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.084 83.6);
}

Colors that work with #f5bc39

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#EDDFC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B834B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0670C6
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#795606
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEF7E7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#F3B017
One step down in lightness
Pressed#DB9C0B
Two steps down
Disabled#DAD3C5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFC643
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 #f5bc39

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 #795606
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BE880A

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
  • 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#3972F5
Analogous left#F55E39
Analogous right#D0F539
Split-complement 1#39D0F5
Split-complement 2#5E39F5
Triadic 1#39F5BC
Triadic 2#BC39F5
Tetradic#39F55E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°42°

#f5bc39 sits at 42°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red96.1%
Green73.7%
Blue22.4%
R · 0–255
245
0xf5
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
57
0x39

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta23.3%
Yellow76.7%
Key (black)3.9%

Total ink coverage is 104%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#f5bc39 text on a black background

contrast 12.13:1

Card sample

#f5bc39 text on a white background

contrast 1.73:1

Card sample

#f5bc39 on grey

1.58:1

#f5bc39 on its own surface

1.64:1

#f5bc39 on its dark surface

9.47:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f5bc39;
Background color
Panel with #f5bc39 background
background-color: #f5bc39;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f5bc39;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(245, 188, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(245, 188, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f5bc39;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f5bc39, #B1F539);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f5bc39, #82F539);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #f5bc39;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #f5bc39;
caret-color: #f5bc39;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #f5bc39;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEF7E7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #f5bc39;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#f5bc39 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #f5bc39 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(245, 188, 57, 0.5)
rgb(245 188 57 / 50%)
#f5bc3980
hsl(42 90% 59% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #f5bc39 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#f5bc391a#FEF8EB
20%#f5bc3933#FDF2D7
40%#f5bc3966#FBE4B0
60%#f5bc3999#F9D788
80%#f5bc39cc#F7C961

Gradients from #f5bc39

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, #F8D073, #f5bc39 45%, #795606);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #f5bc39, #93F41C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #f5bc39, #3972F5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F9DA90 0%, #f5bc39 45%, #795606 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%, #F77A69 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CAF656 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #795606 0%, transparent 65%), #f5bc39;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f5bc39

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.

#f5bc39 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

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 12.13:1.

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.

#f5bc39, answered

What color is #f5bc39?

#f5bc39 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 6.3). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 90% saturation and 59% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #f5bc39?

rgb(245, 188, 57) — 245 red, 188 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 96.1% / 73.7% / 22.4% by channel.

What is #f5bc39 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(42, 90%, 59%) and hsv(42, 77%, 96%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #f5bc39 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5567 and perceived brightness is 78%, so black text on it reaches 12.13:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f5bc39?

Black. It scores 12.13:1 against #f5bc39, versus 1.73:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #f5bc39 accessible on a white background?

#f5bc39 on white scores 1.73:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #976C08 to reach 4.5:1, or #715006 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #f5bc39?

#3972F5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39D0F5 and #5E39F5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f5bc39?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDDFC0 for borders, #9B834B for secondary text, #0670C6 as an accent and #795606 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F55E39 and #D0F539 stays calm, while #3972F5 is the loudest partner.

What is #f5bc39 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 23%, 77%, 4%). 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 #f5bc39 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F5A039; nudged cooler, #EBF737.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #f5bc39?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 3.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #f5bc39 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #f5bc39 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#f5bc39] or text-[#f5bc39], 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 #f5bc39 with 50% opacity?

rgba(245, 188, 57, 0.5), or #f5bc3980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FADE9C; over black, #7B5E1D.

Is #f5bc39 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC33, ΔE2000 4.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #f5bc39 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 #f5bc39?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F8D073, #f5bc39 45%, #795606). For more colour, a short hue run to #93F41C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #f5bc39 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #f5bc39 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.