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yellow · warm

#a57a21

a dark, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Shadow Honey

RGB
165, 122, 33
HSL
41°, 67%, 39%
CMYK
0, 26, 80, 35
Luminance
0.2203

#a57a21 is a dark vivid yellow, 41° on the wheel and 9/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.41:1). As text it scores 3.88:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dark Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is amber.

hsl(41 67% 39%)rgb(165 122 33)Base step 700AA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #a57a21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#a57a21
Hue
41°
yellow
Saturation
67%
vivid
Lightness
39%
dark
Brightness
65%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2203
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
9/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.41:1
Closest name
Dark Goldenrod
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
52.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.607
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
amber
500 · ΔE 17.6
Web-safe
#996633
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue41° of 360°
Saturation67%
Lightness39%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #a57a21.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red36%
Green63%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#a57a21
HEX (8-digit)#a57a21ff
RGBrgb(165, 122, 33)
RGBArgba(165, 122, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(41, 67%, 39%)
HSV / HSBhsv(40, 80%, 65%)
HWBhwb(41 13% 35%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 26%, 80%, 35%)
LABlab(54.1 8.5 51.7)
LCHlch(54.1 52.4 80.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.607 0.114 80.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(22.75, 22.03, 4.49)
Decimal10844705
Display P3color(display-p3 0.647 0.478 0.129)
Web-safe#996633

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #a57a21;
background-color: #a57a21;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #a57a21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#a57a21] bg-[#a57a21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #a57a21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.647, green: 0.478, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.647, green: 0.478, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#A57A21</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFA57A21)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFA57A21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 122, 165)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(165, 122, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(165, 122, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 165, 122, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.6471f, 0.4784f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{165,122,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #a57a21 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #a57a21 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#6A4F15, #EEE5D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #a57a21 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: #FBF9F3;
  --brand-100: #F8F2E8;
  --brand-200: #F1E5CA;
  --brand-300: #ECD4A1;
  --brand-400: #E3BE73;
  --brand-500: #DAA944;
  --brand-600: #CC9729;
  --brand-700: #a57a21;
  --brand-800: #88651B;
  --brand-900: #634A18;
  --brand-950: #3E2E0F;
  --brand: #a57a21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF8F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDEC0;
  --brand-hover: #87641B;
  --brand-pressed: #694E15;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE5D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F3',
        100: '#F8F2E8',
        200: '#F1E5CA',
        300: '#ECD4A1',
        400: '#E3BE73',
        500: '#DAA944',
        600: '#CC9729',
        700: '#a57a21',
        800: '#88651B',
        900: '#634A18',
        950: '#3E2E0F',
        DEFAULT: '#a57a21',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F3,
  '100': #F8F2E8,
  '200': #F1E5CA,
  '300': #ECD4A1,
  '400': #E3BE73,
  '500': #DAA944,
  '600': #CC9729,
  '700': #a57a21,
  '800': #88651B,
  '900': #634A18,
  '950': #3E2E0F,
);
$brand-base: #a57a21;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F8F2E8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F1E5CA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ECD4A1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E3BE73", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#DAA944", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CC9729", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#a57a21", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#88651B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#634A18", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3E2E0F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #a57a21 · 5.41:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.88:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.41:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #a57a21 as text scores 3.88:1 on white and 5.41:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #6A4F15 at 1.97:1.

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
#946D1E · 4.70:1
AA on white−4% L
#946D1E
The quick fox
#725417 · 7.01:1
AAA on white−12% L
#725417
The quick fox
#a57a21 · 5.41:1
AA on blackalready passes
#a57a21
The quick fox
#BE8D26 · 7.03:1
AAA on black+6% L
#BE8D26

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A57A21 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
#a57a21 on white: 3.88:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#a57a21 on black: 5.41:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #a57a21 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #a57a21.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.88:1AaAa
Slate 503.71:1AaAa
Slate 1003.55:1AaAa
Slate 2003.15:1AaAa
Slate 3002.62:1AaAa
Slate 4001.52:1AaAa
Slate 5001.22:1AaAa
Slate 6001.95:1AaAa
Slate 7002.67:1AaAa
Slate 8003.77:1AaAa
Slate 9004.60:1AaAa
Black5.41:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8B7B10
deuteranopia · #958625
tritanopia · #B46D69

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. #a57a21 is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FBF9F3
#F8F2E8
#F1E5CA
#ECD4A1
#E3BE73
#DAA944
#CC9729
#a57a21
#88651B
#634A18
#3E2E0F
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F3Darkest = 950 · #3E2E0FText step on white = 800
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 0.028 80.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.045 80.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.068 80.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.089 80.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.105 80.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.114 80.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.114 80.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.107 80.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.096 80.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.080 80.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.063 80.8);
}

Colors that work with #a57a21

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#FAF8F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDDEC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B814B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D6DA9
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#6A4F15
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBF5EA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#87641B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#694E15
Two steps down
Disabled#B1A385
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#C18A19
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 #a57a21

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black 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
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #6A4F15
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight61/100
  • 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#214CA5
Analogous left#A53821
Analogous right#8EA521
Split-complement 1#218EA5
Split-complement 2#3821A5
Triadic 1#21A57A
Triadic 2#7A21A5
Tetradic#21A538
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°41°

#a57a21 sits at 41°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red64.7%
Green47.8%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
165
0xa5
G · 0–255
122
0x7a
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta26.1%
Yellow80.0%
Key (black)35.3%

Total ink coverage is 141%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#a57a21 text on a black background

contrast 5.41:1

Card sample

#a57a21 text on a white background

contrast 3.88:1

Card sample

#a57a21 on grey

3.55:1

#a57a21 on its own surface

3.66:1

#a57a21 on its dark surface

4.22:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #a57a21;
Background color
Panel with #a57a21 background
background-color: #a57a21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #a57a21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(165, 122, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(165, 122, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #a57a21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #a57a21, #78A521);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a57a21, #57A521);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #a57a21;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #a57a21;
caret-color: #a57a21;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #a57a21;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBF5EA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #a57a21;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#a57a21 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #a57a21 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(165, 122, 33, 0.5)
rgb(165 122 33 / 50%)
#a57a2180
hsl(41 67% 39% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #a57a21 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#a57a211a#F6F2E9
20%#a57a2133#EDE4D3
40%#a57a2166#DBCAA6
60%#a57a2199#C9AF7A
80%#a57a21cc#B7954D

Gradients from #a57a21

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, #D59F2E, #a57a21 45%, #6A4F15);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #a57a21, #5C8B1C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #a57a21, #214CA5);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DAAB47 0%, #a57a21 45%, #6A4F15 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF8F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CF3929 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #97BE26 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #6A4F15 0%, transparent 65%), #a57a21;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #a57a21

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.

#a57a21 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 5.41:1.

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.

#a57a21, answered

What color is #a57a21?

#a57a21 is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Dark Goldenrod (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 41° on the hue wheel with 67% saturation and 39% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #a57a21?

rgb(165, 122, 33) — 165 red, 122 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 64.7% / 47.8% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #a57a21 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(41, 67%, 39%) and hsv(40, 80%, 65%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #a57a21 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2203 and perceived brightness is 51%, so black text on it reaches 5.41:1.

Should I use black or white text on #a57a21?

Black. It scores 5.41:1 against #a57a21, versus 3.88:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #a57a21 accessible on a white background?

#a57a21 on white scores 3.88:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #946D1E to reach 4.5:1, or #725417 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #a57a21?

#214CA5 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #218EA5 and #3821A5, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #a57a21?

For interface work: #FAF8F4 as the surface, #EDDEC0 for borders, #9B814B for secondary text, #1D6DA9 as an accent and #6A4F15 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #A53821 and #8EA521 stays calm, while #214CA5 is the loudest partner.

What is #a57a21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 26%, 80%, 35%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #a57a21 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 #A56521; nudged cooler, #A1A71F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #a57a21?

The amber family — its 500 step is #f59e0b, ΔE2000 17.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #a57a21 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #a57a21 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#a57a21] or text-[#a57a21], 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 #a57a21 with 50% opacity?

rgba(165, 122, 33, 0.5), or #a57a2180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #D2BD90; over black, #533D11.

Is #a57a21 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #996633, ΔE2000 10.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #a57a21 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 #a57a21?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D59F2E, #a57a21 45%, #6A4F15). For more colour, a short hue run to #5C8B1C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #a57a21 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #a57a21 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.