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#faed21

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

RGB
250, 237, 33
HSL
56°, 96%, 56%
CMYK
0, 5, 87, 2
Luminance
0.8100

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #faed21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#faed21
Hue
56°
yellow
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
89%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8100
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
22/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.20:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 4.3
Where it sits
Hue56° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness56%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool22% 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#faed21
RGBrgb(250, 237, 33)
HSLhsl(56, 96%, 56%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 87%, 2%)
LABlab(92.1 -14.6 87.0)
LCHlch(92.1 88.2 99.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.927 0.192 105.4)
Decimal16444705
Display P3color(display-p3 0.980 0.929 0.129)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #faed21;
background-color: #faed21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#faed21] bg-[#faed21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #faed21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.980, green: 0.929, blue: 0.129)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#faed21")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFAED21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 237, 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 #faed21 · 17.20:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.22:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.20:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #faed21 as text scores 1.22:1 on white and 17.20:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#faed21 on white: 1.22:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#faed21 on black: 17.20:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FFE400
deuteranopia · #FFEC38
tritanopia · #FFDCCB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #faed21 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.

#FDFDF1
#FCFAE4
#FAF7C1
#FDF691
#FBF25A
#faed21
#EFE105
#C8BC04
#A09604
#736D07
#484405
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDFDF1Darkest = 950 · #484405
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFDF1;
  --brand-100: #FCFAE4;
  --brand-200: #FAF7C1;
  --brand-300: #FDF691;
  --brand-400: #FBF25A;
  --brand-500: #faed21;
  --brand-600: #EFE105;
  --brand-700: #C8BC04;
  --brand-800: #A09604;
  --brand-900: #736D07;
  --brand-950: #484405;
  --brand: #faed21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #faed21

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#EDEAC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B964B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D63FF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D7503
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEFDE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
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 #faed21

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#212EFA
Analogous left#FA8121
Analogous right#9BFA21
Split-complement 1#219BFA
Split-complement 2#8121FA
Triadic 1#21FAED
Triadic 2#ED21FA
Tetradic#21FA81

RGB percentages

Red98.0%
Green92.9%
Blue12.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.2%
Yellow86.8%
Key (black)2.0%

Color previews

#faed21 text on a black background

contrast 17.20:1

Card sample

#faed21 text on a white background

contrast 1.22:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #faed21;
Background color
Panel with #faed21 background
background-color: #faed21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #faed21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(250, 237, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(250, 237, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #faed21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #faed21, #76FA21);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #faed21

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.

#faed21 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.

#faed21, answered

What color is #faed21?

#faed21 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 56° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #faed21?

rgb(250, 237, 33) — 250 red, 237 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 98% / 92.9% / 12.9% by channel.

Is #faed21 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8100 and perceived brightness is 89%, so black text on it reaches 17.20:1.

Should I use black or white text on #faed21?

Black. It scores 17.20:1 against #faed21, versus 1.22:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #faed21?

#212EFA sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #219BFA and #8121FA, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #faed21?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDEAC0 for borders, #9B964B for secondary text, #1D63FF as an accent and #7D7503 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FA8121 and #9BFA21 stays calm, while #212EFA is the loudest partner.

What is #faed21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 87%, 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 #faed21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 22 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FAB321; nudged cooler, #B8FC1F.

Work with #faed21 in the Color Lab