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#b5ee21

a balanced, electric green · warm · closest name: Green Yellow

RGB
181, 238, 33
HSL
77°, 86%, 53%
CMYK
24, 0, 86, 7
Luminance
0.7108

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #b5ee21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#b5ee21
Hue
77°
green
Saturation
86%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
81%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7108
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
39/100 cool
Color family
Green
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.22:1
Closest name
Green Yellow
ΔE2000 4.3
Where it sits
Hue77° of 360°
Saturation86%
Lightness53%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool39% 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#b5ee21
RGBrgb(181, 238, 33)
HSLhsl(77, 86%, 53%)
CMYKcmyk(24%, 0%, 86%, 7%)
LABlab(87.5 -42.9 81.2)
LCHlch(87.5 91.8 117.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.878 0.215 125.6)
Decimal11922977
Display P3color(display-p3 0.710 0.933 0.129)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #b5ee21;
background-color: #b5ee21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#b5ee21] bg-[#b5ee21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #b5ee21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.710, green: 0.933, blue: 0.129)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#b5ee21")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFB5EE21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 238, 181)

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 #b5ee21 · 15.22:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.38:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #b5ee21 as text scores 1.38:1 on white and 15.22:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#b5ee21 on white: 1.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#b5ee21 on black: 15.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FBDD00
deuteranopia · #F4DB3D
tritanopia · #BDE2CB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #b5ee21 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.

#FAFDF2
#F4FAE5
#E9F7C5
#DCF797
#CBF363
#b5ee21
#A9E311
#8DBE0E
#71980C
#536E0D
#344408
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FAFDF2Darkest = 950 · #344408
:root {
  --brand-50: #FAFDF2;
  --brand-100: #F4FAE5;
  --brand-200: #E9F7C5;
  --brand-300: #DCF797;
  --brand-400: #CBF363;
  --brand-500: #b5ee21;
  --brand-600: #A9E311;
  --brand-700: #8DBE0E;
  --brand-800: #71980C;
  --brand-900: #536E0D;
  --brand-950: #344408;
  --brand: #b5ee21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #b5ee21

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#F9FAF4
Tinted page background
Border#E0EDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#859B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#221CF3
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#587609
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F7FDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#202414
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 #b5ee21

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
  • 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#5A21EE
Analogous left#EEC121
Analogous right#4EEE21
Split-complement 1#214EEE
Split-complement 2#C121EE
Triadic 1#21B5EE
Triadic 2#EE21B5
Tetradic#21EEC1

RGB percentages

Red71.0%
Green93.3%
Blue12.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan23.9%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow86.1%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#b5ee21 text on a black background

contrast 15.22:1

Card sample

#b5ee21 text on a white background

contrast 1.38:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #b5ee21;
Background color
Panel with #b5ee21 background
background-color: #b5ee21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #b5ee21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(181, 238, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(181, 238, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #b5ee21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #b5ee21, #2CEE21);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #b5ee21

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.

#b5ee21 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
SustainabilityFinanceHealth and wellnessAgriculture
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#b5ee21, answered

What color is #b5ee21?

#b5ee21 is a balanced electric green, closest to Green Yellow (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 77° on the hue wheel with 86% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #b5ee21?

rgb(181, 238, 33) — 181 red, 238 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 71% / 93.3% / 12.9% by channel.

Is #b5ee21 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7108 and perceived brightness is 81%, so black text on it reaches 15.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #b5ee21?

Black. It scores 15.22:1 against #b5ee21, versus 1.38:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #b5ee21?

#5A21EE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #214EEE and #C121EE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #b5ee21?

For interface work: #F9FAF4 as the surface, #E0EDC0 for borders, #859B4B for secondary text, #221CF3 as an accent and #587609 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EEC121 and #4EEE21 stays calm, while #5A21EE is the loudest partner.

What is #b5ee21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(24%, 0%, 86%, 7%). 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 #b5ee21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 39 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EEDC21; nudged cooler, #69F01E.

Work with #b5ee21 in the Color Lab