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#feb40f

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

RGB
254, 180, 15
HSL
41°, 99%, 53%
CMYK
0, 29, 94, 0
Luminance
0.5375

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #feb40f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#feb40f
Hue
41°
yellow
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5375
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.75:1
Closest name
Orange
ΔE2000 5.3
Where it sits
Hue41° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness53%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool9% 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#feb40f
RGBrgb(254, 180, 15)
HSLhsl(41, 99%, 53%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 29%, 94%, 0%)
LABlab(78.3 15.8 79.5)
LCHlch(78.3 81.1 78.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.819 0.168 78.4)
Decimal16692239
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.706 0.059)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #feb40f;
background-color: #feb40f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#feb40f] bg-[#feb40f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #feb40f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.706, blue: 0.059)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#feb40f")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFEB40F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(15, 180, 254)

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 #feb40f · 11.75:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.79:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.75:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #feb40f as text scores 1.79:1 on white and 11.75:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#feb40f on white: 1.79:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#feb40f on black: 11.75:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #D0B700
deuteranopia · #E1C91D
tritanopia · #FF9F9A

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #feb40f 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.

#FEFAF1
#FCF4E3
#FBE9C0
#FFDC8F
#FECB57
#feb40f
#F4A901
#CB8C01
#A37001
#755205
#493403
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FEFAF1Darkest = 950 · #493403
:root {
  --brand-50: #FEFAF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF4E3;
  --brand-200: #FBE9C0;
  --brand-300: #FFDC8F;
  --brand-400: #FECB57;
  --brand-500: #feb40f;
  --brand-600: #F4A901;
  --brand-700: #CB8C01;
  --brand-800: #A37001;
  --brand-900: #755205;
  --brand-950: #493403;
  --brand: #feb40f;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #feb40f

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#EDDFC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B824B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0072CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7F5801
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF7E6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
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 #feb40f

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#0F59FE
Analogous left#FE3C0F
Analogous right#D1FE0F
Split-complement 1#0FD1FE
Split-complement 2#3C0FFE
Triadic 1#0FFEB4
Triadic 2#B40FFE
Tetradic#0FFE3C

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green70.6%
Blue5.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta29.1%
Yellow94.1%
Key (black)0.4%

Color previews

#feb40f text on a black background

contrast 11.75:1

Card sample

#feb40f text on a white background

contrast 1.79:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #feb40f;
Background color
Panel with #feb40f background
background-color: #feb40f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #feb40f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 180, 15, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 180, 15, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #feb40f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #feb40f, #A9FE0F);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #feb40f

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.

#feb40f 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.

#feb40f, answered

What color is #feb40f?

#feb40f is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Orange (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 41° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #feb40f?

rgb(254, 180, 15) — 254 red, 180 green and 15 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 70.6% / 5.9% by channel.

Is #feb40f a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5375 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 11.75:1.

Should I use black or white text on #feb40f?

Black. It scores 11.75:1 against #feb40f, versus 1.79:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #feb40f?

#0F59FE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0FD1FE and #3C0FFE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #feb40f?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDDFC0 for borders, #9B824B for secondary text, #0072CC as an accent and #7F5801 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FE3C0F and #D1FE0F stays calm, while #0F59FE is the loudest partner.

What is #feb40f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 29%, 94%, 0%). 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 #feb40f warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 9 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FE950F; nudged cooler, #F1FF0E.

Work with #feb40f in the Color Lab