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#fad044

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

RGB
250, 208, 68
HSL
46°, 95%, 62%
CMYK
0, 17, 73, 2
Luminance
0.6585

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fad044 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fad044
Hue
46°
yellow
Saturation
95%
electric
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
83%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6585
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
14.17:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 4.1
Where it sits
Hue46° of 360°
Saturation95%
Lightness62%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool13% 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#fad044
RGBrgb(250, 208, 68)
HSLhsl(46, 95%, 62%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 17%, 73%, 2%)
LABlab(84.9 1.0 71.0)
LCHlch(84.9 71.0 89.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.871 0.157 91.6)
Decimal16437316
Display P3color(display-p3 0.980 0.816 0.267)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fad044;
background-color: #fad044;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fad044] bg-[#fad044]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fad044;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.980, green: 0.816, blue: 0.267)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fad044")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFAD044)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(68, 208, 250)

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 #fad044 · 14.17:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.17:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fad044 as text scores 1.48:1 on white and 14.17:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fad044 on white: 1.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fad044 on black: 14.17:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E7CD2D
deuteranopia · #F1D94C
tritanopia · #FFBFB4

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fad044 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.

#FDFBF1
#FBF6E4
#FAEDC2
#FCE492
#fad044
#F9C824
#EEB906
#C79A05
#9F7B04
#735A08
#483805
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FDFBF1Darkest = 950 · #483805
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFBF1;
  --brand-100: #FBF6E4;
  --brand-200: #FAEDC2;
  --brand-300: #FCE492;
  --brand-400: #fad044;
  --brand-500: #F9C824;
  --brand-600: #EEB906;
  --brand-700: #C79A05;
  --brand-800: #9F7B04;
  --brand-900: #735A08;
  --brand-950: #483805;
  --brand: #fad044;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fad044

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#EDE2C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B884B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0162CB
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7C6003
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEF9E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
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 #fad044

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
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

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#446EFA
Analogous left#FA7544
Analogous right#C9FA44
Split-complement 1#44C9FA
Split-complement 2#7544FA
Triadic 1#44FAD0
Triadic 2#D044FA
Tetradic#44FA75

RGB percentages

Red98.0%
Green81.6%
Blue26.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta16.8%
Yellow72.8%
Key (black)2.0%

Color previews

#fad044 text on a black background

contrast 14.17:1

Card sample

#fad044 text on a white background

contrast 1.48:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fad044;
Background color
Panel with #fad044 background
background-color: #fad044;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fad044;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(250, 208, 68, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(250, 208, 68, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fad044;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fad044, #ABFA44);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fad044

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.

#fad044 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.

#fad044, answered

What color is #fad044?

#fad044 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 46° on the hue wheel with 95% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fad044?

rgb(250, 208, 68) — 250 red, 208 green and 68 blue out of 255, or 98% / 81.6% / 26.7% by channel.

Is #fad044 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6585 and perceived brightness is 83%, so black text on it reaches 14.17:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fad044?

Black. It scores 14.17:1 against #fad044, versus 1.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fad044?

#446EFA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #44C9FA and #7544FA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fad044?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE2C0 for borders, #9B884B for secondary text, #0162CB as an accent and #7C6003 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FA7544 and #C9FA44 stays calm, while #446EFA is the loudest partner.

What is #fad044 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 17%, 73%, 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 #fad044 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 13 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FAAD44; nudged cooler, #E3FC42.

Work with #fad044 in the Color Lab