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#fbc90f

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

RGB
251, 201, 15
HSL
47°, 97%, 52%
CMYK
0, 20, 94, 2
Luminance
0.6232

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fbc90f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fbc90f
Hue
47°
yellow
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
98%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6232
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
14/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
13.46:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 4.1
Where it sits
Hue47° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness52%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool14% 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#fbc90f
RGBrgb(251, 201, 15)
HSLhsl(47, 97%, 52%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 20%, 94%, 2%)
LABlab(83.1 3.6 82.8)
LCHlch(83.1 82.9 87.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.856 0.173 90.3)
Decimal16501007
Display P3color(display-p3 0.984 0.788 0.059)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fbc90f;
background-color: #fbc90f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fbc90f] bg-[#fbc90f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fbc90f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.984, green: 0.788, blue: 0.059)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fbc90f")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFBC90F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(15, 201, 251)

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 #fbc90f · 13.46:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.56:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 13.46:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fbc90f as text scores 1.56:1 on white and 13.46:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fbc90f on white: 1.56:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fbc90f on black: 13.46:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #E2C700
deuteranopia · #EED525
tritanopia · #FFB6AB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fbc90f 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.

#FDFBF1
#FCF7E4
#FBEEC1
#FDE691
#FCDA59
#fbc90f
#F1BF04
#C99F03
#A17F03
#745D07
#483A04
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FDFBF1Darkest = 950 · #483A04
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFBF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF7E4;
  --brand-200: #FBEEC1;
  --brand-300: #FDE691;
  --brand-400: #FCDA59;
  --brand-500: #fbc90f;
  --brand-600: #F1BF04;
  --brand-700: #C99F03;
  --brand-800: #A17F03;
  --brand-900: #745D07;
  --brand-950: #483A04;
  --brand: #fbc90f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fbc90f

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#EDE3C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8A4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0B7CFF
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D6302
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF9E6
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 #fbc90f

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#0F41FB
Analogous left#FB530F
Analogous right#B7FB0F
Split-complement 1#0FB7FB
Split-complement 2#530FFB
Triadic 1#0FFBC9
Triadic 2#C90FFB
Tetradic#0FFB53

RGB percentages

Red98.4%
Green78.8%
Blue5.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta19.9%
Yellow94.0%
Key (black)1.6%

Color previews

#fbc90f text on a black background

contrast 13.46:1

Card sample

#fbc90f text on a white background

contrast 1.56:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fbc90f;
Background color
Panel with #fbc90f background
background-color: #fbc90f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fbc90f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(251, 201, 15, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(251, 201, 15, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fbc90f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fbc90f, #90FB0F);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fbc90f

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.

#fbc90f 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.

#fbc90f, answered

What color is #fbc90f?

#fbc90f is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 4.1). It sits at 47° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fbc90f?

rgb(251, 201, 15) — 251 red, 201 green and 15 blue out of 255, or 98.4% / 78.8% / 5.9% by channel.

Is #fbc90f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6232 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 13.46:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fbc90f?

Black. It scores 13.46:1 against #fbc90f, versus 1.56:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fbc90f?

#0F41FB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0FB7FB and #530FFB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fbc90f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE3C0 for borders, #9B8A4B for secondary text, #0B7CFF as an accent and #7D6302 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FB530F and #B7FB0F stays calm, while #0F41FB is the loudest partner.

What is #fbc90f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 20%, 94%, 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 #fbc90f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 14 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FB9F0F; nudged cooler, #D8FD0D.

Work with #fbc90f in the Color Lab