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yellow · warm

#b4b921

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

Token name suggestion: Shadow Straw

RGB
180, 185, 33
HSL
62°, 70%, 43%
CMYK
3, 0, 82, 28
Luminance
0.4451

#b4b921 is a dark vivid yellow, 62° on the wheel and 27/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.90:1). As text it scores 2.12:1 on white — use #757815 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(62 70% 43%)rgb(180 185 33)Base step 700AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b4b921 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b4b921
Hue
62°
yellow
Saturation
70%
vivid
Lightness
43%
dark
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4451
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
27/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.90:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 8.9
Chroma
71.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.757
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 12
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue62° of 360°
Saturation70%
Lightness43%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #b4b921.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool27% 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
Red22%
Green78%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#b4b921
HEX (8-digit)#b4b921ff
RGBrgb(180, 185, 33)
RGBArgba(180, 185, 33, 1)
HSLhsl(62, 70%, 43%)
HSV / HSBhsv(62, 82%, 73%)
HWBhwb(62 13% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 82%, 28%)
LABlab(72.6 -18.5 68.6)
LCHlch(72.6 71.0 105.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.757 0.159 111.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.45, 44.51, 8.11)
Decimal11843873
Display P3color(display-p3 0.706 0.725 0.129)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #b4b921;
background-color: #b4b921;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #b4b921;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b4b921] bg-[#b4b921]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b4b921;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.706, green: 0.725, blue: 0.129)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.706, green: 0.725, blue: 0.129, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#B4B921</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFB4B921)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB4B921)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 185, 180)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(180, 185, 33)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(180, 185, 33)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 180, 185, 33)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7059f, 0.7255f, 0.1294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{180,185,33}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #b4b921 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #b4b921 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#696C13, #EDEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #b4b921 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: #FBFCF3;
  --brand-100: #F7F8E7;
  --brand-200: #F1F2CA;
  --brand-300: #EBEEA0;
  --brand-400: #E2E670;
  --brand-500: #D8DD41;
  --brand-600: #CAD025;
  --brand-700: #b4b921;
  --brand-800: #878A19;
  --brand-900: #626416;
  --brand-950: #3D3F0E;
  --brand: #b4b921;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EBEDC0;
  --brand-hover: #969A1C;
  --brand-pressed: #797C16;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EDEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFCF3',
        100: '#F7F8E7',
        200: '#F1F2CA',
        300: '#EBEEA0',
        400: '#E2E670',
        500: '#D8DD41',
        600: '#CAD025',
        700: '#b4b921',
        800: '#878A19',
        900: '#626416',
        950: '#3D3F0E',
        DEFAULT: '#b4b921',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFCF3,
  '100': #F7F8E7,
  '200': #F1F2CA,
  '300': #EBEEA0,
  '400': #E2E670,
  '500': #D8DD41,
  '600': #CAD025,
  '700': #b4b921,
  '800': #878A19,
  '900': #626416,
  '950': #3D3F0E,
);
$brand-base: #b4b921;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F8E7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F1F2CA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#EBEEA0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#E2E670", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D8DD41", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#CAD025", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#b4b921", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#878A19", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#626416", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3D3F0E", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #b4b921 · 9.90:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.12:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.90:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b4b921 as text scores 2.12:1 on white and 9.90:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #696C13 at 2.64:1.

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
#757815 · 4.72:1
AA on white−15% L
#757815
The quick fox
#575A10 · 7.30:1
AAA on white−22% L
#575A10
The quick fox
#b4b921 · 9.90:1
AA on blackalready passes
#b4b921
The quick fox
#b4b921 · 9.90:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#b4b921

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #969A1C 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
#b4b921 on white: 2.12:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b4b921 on black: 9.90:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #b4b921 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #b4b921.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.12:1AaAa
Slate 502.03:1AaAa
Slate 1001.94:1AaAa
Slate 2001.72:1AaAa
Slate 3001.43:1AaAa
Slate 4001.21:1AaAa
Slate 5002.24:1AaAa
Slate 6003.57:1AaAa
Slate 7004.88:1AaAa
Slate 8006.90:1AaAa
Slate 9008.42:1AaAa
Black9.90:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C8B000
deuteranopia · #C9B431
tritanopia · #C1AD9E

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. #b4b921 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.

#FBFCF3
#F7F8E7
#F1F2CA
#EBEEA0
#E2E670
#D8DD41
#CAD025
#b4b921
#878A19
#626416
#3D3F0E
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #FBFCF3Darkest = 950 · #3D3F0EText 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 0.040 111.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.064 111.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.096 111.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.124 111.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.146 111.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.159 111.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.159 111.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.150 111.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.134 111.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.111 111.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.088 111.7);
}

Colors that work with #b4b921

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#FAFAF4
Tinted page background
Border#EBEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#989B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1D3FBD
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#696C13
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FBFBE9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#969A1C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#797C16
Two steps down
Disabled#B7B991
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#D0D618
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 #b4b921

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • 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
  • 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
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #696C13
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #969A1C

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
  • Weight57/100
  • 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#2621B9
Analogous left#B97221
Analogous right#68B921
Split-complement 1#2168B9
Split-complement 2#7221B9
Triadic 1#21B4B9
Triadic 2#B921B4
Tetradic#21B972
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°62°

#b4b921 sits at 62°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red70.6%
Green72.5%
Blue12.9%
R · 0–255
180
0xb4
G · 0–255
185
0xb9
B · 0–255
33
0x21

CMYK percentages

Cyan2.7%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow82.2%
Key (black)27.5%

Total ink coverage is 112%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#b4b921 text on a black background

contrast 9.90:1

Card sample

#b4b921 text on a white background

contrast 2.12:1

Card sample

#b4b921 on grey

1.94:1

#b4b921 on its own surface

2.02:1

#b4b921 on its dark surface

7.40:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b4b921;
Background color
Panel with #b4b921 background
background-color: #b4b921;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b4b921;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(180, 185, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(180, 185, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b4b921;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b4b921, #4FB921);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b4b921, #29B921);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #b4b921;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #b4b921;
caret-color: #b4b921;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #b4b921;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FBFBE9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #b4b921;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#b4b921 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #b4b921 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(180, 185, 33, 0.5)
rgb(180 185 33 / 50%)
#b4b92180
hsl(62 70% 43% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #b4b921 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#b4b9211a#F8F8E9
20%#b4b92133#F0F1D3
40%#b4b92166#E1E3A6
60%#b4b92199#D2D57A
80%#b4b921cc#C3C74D

Gradients from #b4b921

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, #D7DC3B, #b4b921 45%, #696C13);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #b4b921, #399F1C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #b4b921, #2621B9);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DCE155 0%, #b4b921 45%, #696C13 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DA7E32 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #68D326 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #696C13 0%, transparent 65%), #b4b921;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b4b921

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.

#b4b921 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 9.90:1.

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.

#b4b921, answered

What color is #b4b921?

#b4b921 is a dark vivid yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 8.9). It sits at 62° on the hue wheel with 70% saturation and 43% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b4b921?

rgb(180, 185, 33) — 180 red, 185 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 70.6% / 72.5% / 12.9% by channel.

What is #b4b921 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(62, 70%, 43%) and hsv(62, 82%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #b4b921 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4451 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.90:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b4b921?

Black. It scores 9.90:1 against #b4b921, versus 2.12:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #b4b921 accessible on a white background?

#b4b921 on white scores 2.12:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #757815 to reach 4.5:1, or #575A10 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #b4b921?

#2621B9 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2168B9 and #7221B9, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b4b921?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEDC0 for borders, #989B4B for secondary text, #1D3FBD as an accent and #696C13 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #B97221 and #68B921 stays calm, while #2621B9 is the loudest partner.

What is #b4b921 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 82%, 28%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #b4b921 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 27 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #B98621; nudged cooler, #7CBB1F.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #b4b921?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 12 away. That is a visible difference, so define #b4b921 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #b4b921 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#b4b921] or text-[#b4b921], 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 #b4b921 with 50% opacity?

rgba(180, 185, 33, 0.5), or #b4b92180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DADC90; over black, #5A5D11.

Is #b4b921 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 5.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #b4b921 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 #b4b921?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D7DC3B, #b4b921 45%, #696C13). For more colour, a short hue run to #399F1C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #b4b921 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #b4b921 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.