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yellow · warm

#feef9c

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Brass

RGB
254, 239, 156
HSL
51°, 98%, 80%
CMYK
0, 6, 39, 0
Luminance
0.8520

#feef9c is a light electric yellow, 51° on the wheel and 17/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (18.04:1). As text it scores 1.16:1 on white — use #8A7501 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(51 98% 80%)rgb(254 239 156)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #feef9c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#feef9c
Hue
51°
yellow
Saturation
98%
electric
Lightness
80%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
92%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8520
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
17/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
18.04:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 2.9
Chroma
42.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.946
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 17.8
Web-safe
#FFFF99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue51° of 360°
Saturation98%
Lightness80%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #feef9c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool17% 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
Red25%
Green72%
Blue3%

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

Every format

HEX#feef9c
HEX (8-digit)#feef9cff
RGBrgb(254, 239, 156)
RGBArgba(254, 239, 156, 1)
HSLhsl(51, 98%, 80%)
HSV / HSBhsv(51, 39%, 100%)
HWBhwb(51 61% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 6%, 39%, 0%)
LABlab(94.0 -6.4 42.0)
LCHlch(94.0 42.5 98.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.946 0.104 99.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(77.74, 85.21, 43.80)
Decimal16707484
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.937 0.612)
Web-safe#FFFF99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #feef9c;
background-color: #feef9c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #feef9c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#feef9c] bg-[#feef9c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #feef9c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.937, blue: 0.612)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.996, green: 0.937, blue: 0.612, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FEEF9C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFEEF9C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFEEF9C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(156, 239, 254)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(254, 239, 156)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(254, 239, 156)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 239, 156)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9961f, 0.9373f, 0.6118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{254,239,156}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #feef9c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #feef9c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7E6B01, #EEEAD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #feef9c 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: #FDFCF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF8E3;
  --brand-200: #FBF2C1;
  --brand-300: #feef9c;
  --brand-400: #FDE458;
  --brand-500: #FDDB21;
  --brand-600: #F2CE02;
  --brand-700: #CAAB02;
  --brand-800: #A28902;
  --brand-900: #746306;
  --brand-950: #493E04;
  --brand: #feef9c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE6C0;
  --brand-hover: #FEE979;
  --brand-pressed: #FDE455;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242214;
    --brand-ink: #EEEAD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDFCF1',
        100: '#FCF8E3',
        200: '#FBF2C1',
        300: '#feef9c',
        400: '#FDE458',
        500: '#FDDB21',
        600: '#F2CE02',
        700: '#CAAB02',
        800: '#A28902',
        900: '#746306',
        950: '#493E04',
        DEFAULT: '#feef9c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDFCF1,
  '100': #FCF8E3,
  '200': #FBF2C1,
  '300': #feef9c,
  '400': #FDE458,
  '500': #FDDB21,
  '600': #F2CE02,
  '700': #CAAB02,
  '800': #A28902,
  '900': #746306,
  '950': #493E04,
);
$brand-base: #feef9c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDFCF1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCF8E3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FBF2C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#feef9c", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FDE458", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FDDB21", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F2CE02", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CAAB02", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A28902", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#746306", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#493E04", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #feef9c · 18.04:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.16:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 18.04:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #feef9c as text scores 1.16:1 on white and 18.04:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7E6B01 at 4.52:1.

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
#8A7501 · 4.54:1
AA on white−53% L
#8A7501
The quick fox
#675701 · 7.14:1
AAA on white−60% L
#675701
The quick fox
#feef9c · 18.04:1
AA on blackalready passes
#feef9c
The quick fox
#feef9c · 18.04:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#feef9c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AE9302 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
#feef9c on white: 1.16:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#feef9c on black: 18.04:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #feef9c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #feef9c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.16:1AaAa
Slate 501.11:1AaAa
Slate 1001.06:1AaAa
Slate 2001.06:1AaAa
Slate 3001.28:1AaAa
Slate 4002.20:1AaAa
Slate 5004.09:1AaAa
Slate 6006.51:1AaAa
Slate 7008.90:1AaAa
Slate 80012.57:1AaAa
Slate 90015.34:1AaAa
Black18.04:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FEEA96
deuteranopia · #FFF09F
tritanopia · #FFE4DA

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. #feef9c 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.

#FDFCF1
#FCF8E3
#FBF2C1
#feef9c
#FDE458
#FDDB21
#F2CE02
#CAAB02
#A28902
#746306
#493E04
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FDFCF1Darkest = 950 · #493E04Text 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 0.026 99.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.042 99.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.063 99.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.081 99.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.096 99.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.104 99.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.104 99.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.098 99.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.088 99.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.073 99.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.057 99.2);
}

Colors that work with #feef9c

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#EDE6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8F4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0052CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7E6B01
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFFBE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
Dark-mode background
Hover#FEE979
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FDE455
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F6F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFF3AF
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 #feef9c

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 #7E6B01
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AE9302

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
  • Weight20/100
  • 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#9CABFE
Analogous left#FEBE9C
Analogous right#DCFE9C
Split-complement 1#9CDCFE
Split-complement 2#BE9CFE
Triadic 1#9CFEEF
Triadic 2#EF9CFE
Tetradic#9CFEBE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°51°

#feef9c sits at 51°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green93.7%
Blue61.2%
R · 0–255
254
0xfe
G · 0–255
239
0xef
B · 0–255
156
0x9c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.9%
Yellow38.6%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 45%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#feef9c text on a black background

contrast 18.04:1

Card sample

#feef9c text on a white background

contrast 1.16:1

Card sample

#feef9c on grey

1.06:1

#feef9c on its own surface

1.10:1

#feef9c on its dark surface

13.73:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #feef9c;
Background color
Panel with #feef9c background
background-color: #feef9c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #feef9c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 239, 156, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 239, 156, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #feef9c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #feef9c, #CCFE9C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #feef9c, #B3FE9C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #feef9c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #feef9c;
caret-color: #feef9c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #feef9c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFFBE6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #feef9c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#feef9c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #feef9c 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(254, 239, 156, 0.5)
rgb(254 239 156 / 50%)
#feef9c80
hsl(51 98% 80% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #feef9c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#feef9c1a#FFFDF5
20%#feef9c33#FFFCEB
40%#feef9c66#FFF9D7
60%#feef9c99#FEF5C4
80%#feef9ccc#FEF2B0

Gradients from #feef9c

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, #FFF9D9, #feef9c 45%, #7E6B01);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #feef9c, #B1FE7E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #feef9c, #9CABFE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFFDF0 0%, #feef9c 45%, #7E6B01 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%, #FFDBCF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E1FEBA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7E6B01 0%, transparent 65%), #feef9c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #feef9c

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.

#feef9c 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

Very light values are indistinguishable from white on a dim phone screen outdoors. Give it a border if the boundary matters.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 18.04:1.

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.

#feef9c, answered

What color is #feef9c?

#feef9c is a light electric yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 2.9). It sits at 51° on the hue wheel with 98% saturation and 80% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #feef9c?

rgb(254, 239, 156) — 254 red, 239 green and 156 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 93.7% / 61.2% by channel.

What is #feef9c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(51, 98%, 80%) and hsv(51, 39%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #feef9c a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8520 and perceived brightness is 92%, so black text on it reaches 18.04:1.

Should I use black or white text on #feef9c?

Black. It scores 18.04:1 against #feef9c, versus 1.16:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #feef9c accessible on a white background?

#feef9c on white scores 1.16:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8A7501 to reach 4.5:1, or #675701 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #feef9c?

#9CABFE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9CDCFE and #BE9CFE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #feef9c?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE6C0 for borders, #9B8F4B for secondary text, #0052CC as an accent and #7E6B01 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FEBE9C and #DCFE9C stays calm, while #9CABFE is the loudest partner.

What is #feef9c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 6%, 39%, 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 #feef9c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 17 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FED29C; nudged cooler, #EAFF9B.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #feef9c?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 17.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #feef9c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #feef9c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#feef9c] or text-[#feef9c], 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 #feef9c with 50% opacity?

rgba(254, 239, 156, 0.5), or #feef9c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFF7CE; over black, #7F784E.

Is #feef9c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFFF99, ΔE2000 5.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #feef9c 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 #feef9c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FFF9D9, #feef9c 45%, #7E6B01). For more colour, a short hue run to #B1FE7E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #feef9c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #feef9c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.