Skip to content

#fceba4

a light, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Pale Goldenrod

RGB
252, 235, 164
HSL
48°, 94%, 82%
CMYK
0, 7, 35, 1
Luminance
0.8279

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fceba4 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fceba4
Hue
48°
yellow
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
92%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8279
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.56:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.7
Where it sits
Hue48° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness82%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool15% 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#fceba4
RGBrgb(252, 235, 164)
HSLhsl(48, 94%, 82%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 35%, 1%)
LABlab(92.9 -4.3 36.6)
LCHlch(92.9 36.8 96.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.938 0.091 96.3)
Decimal16575396
Display P3color(display-p3 0.988 0.922 0.643)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fceba4;
background-color: #fceba4;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fceba4] bg-[#fceba4]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fceba4;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.988, green: 0.922, blue: 0.643)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fceba4")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFCEBA4)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(164, 235, 252)

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 #fceba4 · 17.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.20:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fceba4 as text scores 1.20:1 on white and 17.56:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fceba4 on white: 1.20:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fceba4 on black: 17.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #F9E79F
deuteranopia · #FEEDA6
tritanopia · #FFE1D9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fceba4 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.

#FDFBF2
#FBF7E4
#FAEFC2
#fceba4
#FADB5C
#F8CF26
#EDC108
#C5A107
#9E8005
#725E08
#473A05
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FDFBF2Darkest = 950 · #473A05
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFBF2;
  --brand-100: #FBF7E4;
  --brand-200: #FAEFC2;
  --brand-300: #fceba4;
  --brand-400: #FADB5C;
  --brand-500: #F8CF26;
  --brand-600: #EDC108;
  --brand-700: #C5A107;
  --brand-800: #9E8005;
  --brand-900: #725E08;
  --brand-950: #473A05;
  --brand: #fceba4;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fceba4

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#EDE4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#025BCA
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7B6404
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEFAE6
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 #fceba4

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#A4B5FC
Analogous left#FCBFA4
Analogous right#E1FCA4
Split-complement 1#A4E1FC
Split-complement 2#BFA4FC
Triadic 1#A4FCEB
Triadic 2#EBA4FC
Tetradic#A4FCBF

RGB percentages

Red98.8%
Green92.2%
Blue64.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta6.7%
Yellow34.9%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#fceba4 text on a black background

contrast 17.56:1

Card sample

#fceba4 text on a white background

contrast 1.20:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fceba4;
Background color
Panel with #fceba4 background
background-color: #fceba4;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fceba4;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(252, 235, 164, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(252, 235, 164, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fceba4;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fceba4, #D2FCA4);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fceba4

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.

#fceba4 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.

#fceba4, answered

What color is #fceba4?

#fceba4 is a light electric yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.7). It sits at 48° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fceba4?

rgb(252, 235, 164) — 252 red, 235 green and 164 blue out of 255, or 98.8% / 92.2% / 64.3% by channel.

Is #fceba4 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8279 and perceived brightness is 92%, so black text on it reaches 17.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fceba4?

Black. It scores 17.56:1 against #fceba4, versus 1.20:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fceba4?

#A4B5FC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A4E1FC and #BFA4FC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fceba4?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE4C0 for borders, #9B8B4B for secondary text, #025BCA as an accent and #7B6404 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FCBFA4 and #E1FCA4 stays calm, while #A4B5FC is the loudest partner.

What is #fceba4 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 35%, 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 #fceba4 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 15 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FCD3A4; nudged cooler, #EDFDA3.

Work with #fceba4 in the Color Lab