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#fff5dd

a pale, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Corn Silk

RGB
255, 245, 221
HSL
42°, 100%, 93%
CMYK
0, 4, 13, 0
Luminance
0.9179

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fff5dd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fff5dd
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
93%
pale
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
96%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.9179
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
19.36:1
Closest name
Corn Silk
ΔE2000 2.3
Where it sits
Hue42° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness93%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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#fff5dd
RGBrgb(255, 245, 221)
HSLhsl(42, 100%, 93%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 4%, 13%, 0%)
LABlab(96.7 -0.6 12.8)
LCHlch(96.7 12.8 92.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.972 0.033 88.1)
Decimal16774621
Display P3color(display-p3 1.000 0.961 0.867)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fff5dd;
background-color: #fff5dd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fff5dd] bg-[#fff5dd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fff5dd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 1.000, green: 0.961, blue: 0.867)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fff5dd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFFF5DD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(221, 245, 255)

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 #fff5dd · 19.36:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.08:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 19.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fff5dd as text scores 1.08:1 on white and 19.36:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fff5dd on white: 1.08:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fff5dd on black: 19.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FBF4DC
deuteranopia · #FEF7DE
tritanopia · #FFF1EE

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fff5dd is pinned to step 100; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FEFAF1
#fff5dd
#FCEAC0
#FFDE8F
#FFCE57
#FFBD1F
#F5AD00
#CC9000
#A37300
#765405
#493503
Base = 100Lightest = 50 · #FEFAF1Darkest = 950 · #493503
:root {
  --brand-50: #FEFAF1;
  --brand-100: #fff5dd;
  --brand-200: #FCEAC0;
  --brand-300: #FFDE8F;
  --brand-400: #FFCE57;
  --brand-500: #FFBD1F;
  --brand-600: #F5AD00;
  --brand-700: #CC9000;
  --brand-800: #A37300;
  --brand-900: #765405;
  --brand-950: #493503;
  --brand: #fff5dd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fff5dd

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#9B834B
Captions on the surface
Accent#006CCC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#805A00
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF8E5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
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 #fff5dd

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#DDE7FF
Analogous left#FFE4DD
Analogous right#F8FFDD
Split-complement 1#DDF8FF
Split-complement 2#E4DDFF
Triadic 1#DDFFF5
Triadic 2#F5DDFF
Tetradic#DDFFE4

RGB percentages

Red100.0%
Green96.1%
Blue86.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta3.9%
Yellow13.3%
Key (black)0.0%

Color previews

#fff5dd text on a black background

contrast 19.36:1

Card sample

#fff5dd text on a white background

contrast 1.08:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fff5dd;
Background color
Panel with #fff5dd background
background-color: #fff5dd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fff5dd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(255, 245, 221, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(255, 245, 221, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fff5dd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fff5dd, #F2FFDD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fff5dd

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.

#fff5dd 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.

#fff5dd, answered

What color is #fff5dd?

#fff5dd is a pale electric yellow, closest to Corn Silk (ΔE2000 2.3). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 93% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fff5dd?

rgb(255, 245, 221) — 255 red, 245 green and 221 blue out of 255, or 100% / 96.1% / 86.7% by channel.

Is #fff5dd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.9179 and perceived brightness is 96%, so black text on it reaches 19.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fff5dd?

Black. It scores 19.36:1 against #fff5dd, versus 1.08:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fff5dd?

#DDE7FF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DDF8FF and #E4DDFF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fff5dd?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDDFC0 for borders, #9B834B for secondary text, #006CCC as an accent and #805A00 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FFE4DD and #F8FFDD stays calm, while #DDE7FF is the loudest partner.

What is #fff5dd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 4%, 13%, 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 #fff5dd warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FFEDDD; nudged cooler, #FCFFDD.

Work with #fff5dd in the Color Lab