Skip to content

#f9eb84

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

RGB
249, 235, 132
HSL
53°, 91%, 75%
CMYK
0, 6, 47, 2
Luminance
0.8122

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f9eb84 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f9eb84
Hue
53°
yellow
Saturation
91%
electric
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
90%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8122
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
19/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.24:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 2.5
Where it sits
Hue53° of 360°
Saturation91%
Lightness75%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool19% cool

Reads warm. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#f9eb84
RGBrgb(249, 235, 132)
HSLhsl(53, 91%, 75%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 6%, 47%, 2%)
LABlab(92.2 -8.7 51.4)
LCHlch(92.2 52.1 99.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.930 0.125 101.6)
Decimal16378756
Display P3color(display-p3 0.976 0.922 0.518)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #f9eb84;
background-color: #f9eb84;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f9eb84] bg-[#f9eb84]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f9eb84;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.976, green: 0.922, blue: 0.518)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#f9eb84")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF9EB84)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(132, 235, 249)

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 #f9eb84 · 17.24:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.22:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.24:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #f9eb84 as text scores 1.22:1 on white and 17.24:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#f9eb84 on white: 1.22:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f9eb84 on black: 17.24:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FCE57B
deuteranopia · #FFEC88
tritanopia · #FFDED3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #f9eb84 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDFCF2
#FBF8E5
#F9F2C3
#f9eb84
#F7E55F
#F5DC29
#E9CF0B
#C3AC09
#9C8A08
#70640A
#463F06
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FDFCF2Darkest = 950 · #463F06
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFCF2;
  --brand-100: #FBF8E5;
  --brand-200: #F9F2C3;
  --brand-300: #f9eb84;
  --brand-400: #F7E55F;
  --brand-500: #F5DC29;
  --brand-600: #E9CF0B;
  --brand-700: #C3AC09;
  --brand-800: #9C8A08;
  --brand-900: #70640A;
  --brand-950: #463F06;
  --brand: #f9eb84;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #f9eb84

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#EDE7C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B914B
Captions on the surface
Accent#054DC7
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7A6C06
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEFBE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #f9eb84

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

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#8492F9
Analogous left#F9B084
Analogous right#CDF984
Split-complement 1#84CDF9
Split-complement 2#B084F9
Triadic 1#84F9EB
Triadic 2#EB84F9
Tetradic#84F9B0

RGB percentages

Red97.6%
Green92.2%
Blue51.8%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.6%
Yellow47.0%
Key (black)2.4%

Color previews

#f9eb84 text on a black background

contrast 17.24:1

Card sample

#f9eb84 text on a white background

contrast 1.22:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f9eb84;
Background color
Panel with #f9eb84 background
background-color: #f9eb84;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f9eb84;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(249, 235, 132, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(249, 235, 132, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f9eb84;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f9eb84, #B9F984);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f9eb84

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#f9eb84 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.

#f9eb84, answered

What color is #f9eb84?

#f9eb84 is a light electric yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 2.5). It sits at 53° on the hue wheel with 91% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #f9eb84?

rgb(249, 235, 132) — 249 red, 235 green and 132 blue out of 255, or 97.6% / 92.2% / 51.8% by channel.

Is #f9eb84 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8122 and perceived brightness is 90%, so black text on it reaches 17.24:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f9eb84?

Black. It scores 17.24:1 against #f9eb84, versus 1.22:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #f9eb84?

#8492F9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #84CDF9 and #B084F9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f9eb84?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE7C0 for borders, #9B914B for secondary text, #054DC7 as an accent and #7A6C06 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F9B084 and #CDF984 stays calm, while #8492F9 is the loudest partner.

What is #f9eb84 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 6%, 47%, 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 #f9eb84 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 19 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F9C884; nudged cooler, #DDFA83.

Work with #f9eb84 in the Color Lab