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yellow · warm

#fcd87f

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

Token name suggestion: Meadow Citron

RGB
252, 216, 127
HSL
43°, 95%, 74%
CMYK
0, 14, 50, 1
Luminance
0.7134

#fcd87f is a light electric yellow, 43° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.27:1). As text it scores 1.38:1 on white — use #976C04 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(43 95% 74%)rgb(252 216 127)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fcd87f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fcd87f
Hue
43°
yellow
Saturation
95%
electric
Lightness
74%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7134
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.27:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 7.6
Chroma
48.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.894
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 11.4
Web-safe
#FFCC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue43° of 360°
Saturation95%
Lightness74%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fcd87f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red29%
Green69%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#fcd87f
HEX (8-digit)#fcd87fff
RGBrgb(252, 216, 127)
RGBArgba(252, 216, 127, 1)
HSLhsl(43, 95%, 74%)
HSV / HSBhsv(43, 50%, 99%)
HWBhwb(43 50% 1%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 50%, 1%)
LABlab(87.7 1.6 48.2)
LCHlch(87.7 48.3 88.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.894 0.116 88.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(68.53, 71.34, 30.24)
Decimal16570495
Display P3color(display-p3 0.988 0.847 0.498)
Web-safe#FFCC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fcd87f;
background-color: #fcd87f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fcd87f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fcd87f] bg-[#fcd87f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fcd87f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.988, green: 0.847, blue: 0.498)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.988, green: 0.847, blue: 0.498, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FCD87F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFCD87F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFCD87F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(127, 216, 252)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(252, 216, 127)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(252, 216, 127)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 252, 216, 127)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9882f, 0.8471f, 0.4980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{252,216,127}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fcd87f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fcd87f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7D5903, #EEE6D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fcd87f 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: #FDFAF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF5E4;
  --brand-200: #FAEAC2;
  --brand-300: #fcd87f;
  --brand-400: #FBCD5B;
  --brand-500: #FABC24;
  --brand-600: #EFAC06;
  --brand-700: #C78F05;
  --brand-800: #9F7304;
  --brand-900: #735407;
  --brand-950: #483405;
  --brand: #fcd87f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE0C0;
  --brand-hover: #FBCD5C;
  --brand-pressed: #FAC339;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE6D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDFAF1',
        100: '#FCF5E4',
        200: '#FAEAC2',
        300: '#fcd87f',
        400: '#FBCD5B',
        500: '#FABC24',
        600: '#EFAC06',
        700: '#C78F05',
        800: '#9F7304',
        900: '#735407',
        950: '#483405',
        DEFAULT: '#fcd87f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDFAF1,
  '100': #FCF5E4,
  '200': #FAEAC2,
  '300': #fcd87f,
  '400': #FBCD5B,
  '500': #FABC24,
  '600': #EFAC06,
  '700': #C78F05,
  '800': #9F7304,
  '900': #735407,
  '950': #483405,
);
$brand-base: #fcd87f;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDFAF1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCF5E4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FAEAC2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#fcd87f", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FBCD5B", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FABC24", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#EFAC06", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C78F05", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#9F7304", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#735407", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#483405", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fcd87f · 15.27:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.38:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.27:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fcd87f as text scores 1.38:1 on white and 15.27:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7D5903 at 4.62:1.

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
#976C04 · 4.71:1
AA on white−44% L
#976C04
The quick fox
#745303 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−51% L
#745303
The quick fox
#fcd87f · 15.27:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fcd87f
The quick fox
#fcd87f · 15.27:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fcd87f

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #BF8904 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
#fcd87f on white: 1.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fcd87f on black: 15.27:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fcd87f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fcd87f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.38:1AaAa
Slate 501.31:1AaAa
Slate 1001.26:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.86:1AaAa
Slate 5003.46:1AaAa
Slate 6005.51:1AaAa
Slate 7007.53:1AaAa
Slate 80010.64:1AaAa
Slate 90012.98:1AaAa
Black15.27:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #EBD678
deuteranopia · #F3E082
tritanopia · #FFCBC3

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. #fcd87f 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.

#FDFAF1
#FCF5E4
#FAEAC2
#fcd87f
#FBCD5B
#FABC24
#EFAC06
#C78F05
#9F7304
#735407
#483405
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FDFAF1Darkest = 950 · #483405Text step on white = 900
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 0.029 88.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.046 88.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.069 88.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.090 88.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.106 88.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.116 88.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.116 88.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.109 88.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.097 88.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.081 88.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.064 88.0);
}

Colors that work with #fcd87f

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#EDE0C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B844B
Captions on the surface
Accent#006DCC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D5903
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEF7E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#FBCD5C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FAC339
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F6F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFDF90
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 #fcd87f

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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #7D5903
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #BF8904

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight26/100
  • 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#7FA3FC
Analogous left#FC997F
Analogous right#E2FC7F
Split-complement 1#7FE2FC
Split-complement 2#997FFC
Triadic 1#7FFCD8
Triadic 2#D87FFC
Tetradic#7FFC99
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°43°

#fcd87f sits at 43°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red98.8%
Green84.7%
Blue49.8%
R · 0–255
252
0xfc
G · 0–255
216
0xd8
B · 0–255
127
0x7f

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta14.3%
Yellow49.6%
Key (black)1.2%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fcd87f text on a black background

contrast 15.27:1

Card sample

#fcd87f text on a white background

contrast 1.38:1

Card sample

#fcd87f on grey

1.26:1

#fcd87f on its own surface

1.30:1

#fcd87f on its dark surface

11.82:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fcd87f;
Background color
Panel with #fcd87f background
background-color: #fcd87f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fcd87f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(252, 216, 127, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(252, 216, 127, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fcd87f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fcd87f, #CDFC7F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fcd87f, #ADFC7F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fcd87f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fcd87f;
caret-color: #fcd87f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fcd87f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FEF7E6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fcd87f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fcd87f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fcd87f 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(252, 216, 127, 0.5)
rgb(252 216 127 / 50%)
#fcd87f80
hsl(43 95% 74% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fcd87f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fcd87f1a#FFFBF2
20%#fcd87f33#FEF7E5
40%#fcd87f66#FEEFCC
60%#fcd87f99#FDE8B2
80%#fcd87fcc#FDE099

Gradients from #fcd87f

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, #FDEABB, #fcd87f 45%, #7D5903);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fcd87f, #B4FB61);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fcd87f, #7FA3FC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FEF3D9 0%, #fcd87f 45%, #7D5903 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%, #FDBBB1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E0FD9D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7D5903 0%, transparent 65%), #fcd87f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fcd87f

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.

#fcd87f 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.

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 15.27:1.

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.

#fcd87f, answered

What color is #fcd87f?

#fcd87f is a light electric yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 7.6). It sits at 43° on the hue wheel with 95% saturation and 74% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fcd87f?

rgb(252, 216, 127) — 252 red, 216 green and 127 blue out of 255, or 98.8% / 84.7% / 49.8% by channel.

What is #fcd87f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(43, 95%, 74%) and hsv(43, 50%, 99%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fcd87f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7134 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.27:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fcd87f?

Black. It scores 15.27:1 against #fcd87f, versus 1.38:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fcd87f accessible on a white background?

#fcd87f on white scores 1.38:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #976C04 to reach 4.5:1, or #745303 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fcd87f?

#7FA3FC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #7FE2FC and #997FFC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fcd87f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE0C0 for borders, #9B844B for secondary text, #006DCC as an accent and #7D5903 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FC997F and #E2FC7F stays calm, while #7FA3FC is the loudest partner.

What is #fcd87f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 50%, 1%). 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 #fcd87f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FCC17F; nudged cooler, #F3FD7E.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fcd87f?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 11.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fcd87f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fcd87f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fcd87f] or text-[#fcd87f], 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 #fcd87f with 50% opacity?

rgba(252, 216, 127, 0.5), or #fcd87f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FEECBF; over black, #7E6C40.

Is #fcd87f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC66, ΔE2000 4.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fcd87f 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 #fcd87f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FDEABB, #fcd87f 45%, #7D5903). For more colour, a short hue run to #B4FB61 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fcd87f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fcd87f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.