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yellow · warm

#bbaf79

a balanced, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Dark Khaki

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
187, 175, 121
HSL
49°, 33%, 60%
CMYK
0, 6, 35, 27
Luminance
0.4261

#bbaf79 is a balanced soft yellow, 49° on the wheel and 18/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.52:1). As text it scores 2.21:1 on white — use #827642 instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(49 33% 60%)rgb(187 175 121)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #bbaf79 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#bbaf79
Hue
49°
yellow
Saturation
33%
soft
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4261
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.52:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 5
Chroma
29.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.751
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 16.3
Web-safe
#CC9966
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue49° of 360°
Saturation33%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #bbaf79.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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#bbaf79
HEX (8-digit)#bbaf79ff
RGBrgb(187, 175, 121)
RGBArgba(187, 175, 121, 1)
HSLhsl(49, 33%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(49, 35%, 73%)
HWBhwb(49 47% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 6%, 35%, 27%)
LABlab(71.3 -3.8 29.3)
LCHlch(71.3 29.5 97.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.751 0.073 97.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(39.28, 42.61, 24.24)
Decimal12300153
Display P3color(display-p3 0.733 0.686 0.475)
Web-safe#CC9966

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bbaf79;
background-color: #bbaf79;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bbaf79;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bbaf79] bg-[#bbaf79]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bbaf79;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.733, green: 0.686, blue: 0.475)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.733, green: 0.686, blue: 0.475, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BBAF79</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBBAF79)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBBAF79)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(121, 175, 187)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(187, 175, 121)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(187, 175, 121)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 187, 175, 121)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7333f, 0.6863f, 0.4745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{187,175,121}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bbaf79 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bbaf79 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#554D2B, #EAE7D6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bbaf79 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: #F9F9F5;
  --brand-100: #F4F2EC;
  --brand-200: #E7E4D4;
  --brand-300: #D9D3B5;
  --brand-400: #C6BC8F;
  --brand-500: #bbaf79;
  --brand-600: #A29452;
  --brand-700: #877B45;
  --brand-800: #6C6337;
  --brand-900: #50492B;
  --brand-950: #322E1B;
  --brand: #bbaf79;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F5;
  --brand-border: #E4DFC9;
  --brand-hover: #AFA161;
  --brand-pressed: #9D8F50;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EAE7D6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F9F9F5',
        100: '#F4F2EC',
        200: '#E7E4D4',
        300: '#D9D3B5',
        400: '#C6BC8F',
        500: '#bbaf79',
        600: '#A29452',
        700: '#877B45',
        800: '#6C6337',
        900: '#50492B',
        950: '#322E1B',
        DEFAULT: '#bbaf79',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F9F9F5,
  '100': #F4F2EC,
  '200': #E7E4D4,
  '300': #D9D3B5,
  '400': #C6BC8F,
  '500': #bbaf79,
  '600': #A29452,
  '700': #877B45,
  '800': #6C6337,
  '900': #50492B,
  '950': #322E1B,
);
$brand-base: #bbaf79;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F9F9F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F4F2EC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E7E4D4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#D9D3B5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#C6BC8F", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#bbaf79", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#A29452", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#877B45", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#6C6337", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#50492B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#322E1B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bbaf79 · 9.52:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.52:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bbaf79 as text scores 2.21:1 on white and 9.52:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #554D2B at 3.83:1.

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
#827642 · 4.55:1
AA on white−22% L
#827642
The quick fox
#605731 · 7.23:1
AAA on white−32% L
#605731
The quick fox
#bbaf79 · 9.52:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bbaf79
The quick fox
#bbaf79 · 9.52:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bbaf79

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A49553 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
#bbaf79 on white: 2.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bbaf79 on black: 9.52:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #bbaf79 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #bbaf79.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.21:1AaAa
Slate 502.11:1AaAa
Slate 1002.01:1AaAa
Slate 2001.79:1AaAa
Slate 3001.49:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5002.16:1AaAa
Slate 6003.44:1AaAa
Slate 7004.69:1AaAa
Slate 8006.63:1AaAa
Slate 9008.09:1AaAa
Black9.52:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #B9AC75
deuteranopia · #BDB07B
tritanopia · #C5A7A1

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. #bbaf79 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.

#F9F9F5
#F4F2EC
#E7E4D4
#D9D3B5
#C6BC8F
#bbaf79
#A29452
#877B45
#6C6337
#50492B
#322E1B
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F9F9F5Darkest = 950 · #322E1BText 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 0.018 97.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 97.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.044 97.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 97.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 97.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.073 97.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.073 97.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.069 97.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 97.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 97.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 97.1);
}

Colors that work with #bbaf79

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#FAF9F5
Tinted page background
Border#E4DFC9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#988B4D
Captions on the surface
Accent#41618B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#554D2B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F6F5EE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#AFA161
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9D8F50
Two steps down
Disabled#DCD8C8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CBBD7D
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 #bbaf79

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #554D2B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A49553

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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#7985BB
Analogous left#BB8E79
Analogous right#A6BB79
Split-complement 1#79A6BB
Split-complement 2#8E79BB
Triadic 1#79BBAF
Triadic 2#AF79BB
Tetradic#79BB8E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°49°

#bbaf79 sits at 49°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.3%
Green68.6%
Blue47.5%
R · 0–255
187
0xbb
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
121
0x79

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta6.4%
Yellow35.3%
Key (black)26.7%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bbaf79 text on a black background

contrast 9.52:1

Card sample

#bbaf79 text on a white background

contrast 2.21:1

Card sample

#bbaf79 on grey

2.01:1

#bbaf79 on its own surface

2.09:1

#bbaf79 on its dark surface

7.31:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #bbaf79;
Background color
Panel with #bbaf79 background
background-color: #bbaf79;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #bbaf79;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(187, 175, 121, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(187, 175, 121, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bbaf79;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bbaf79, #9BBB79);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbaf79, #8BBB79);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bbaf79;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bbaf79;
caret-color: #bbaf79;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bbaf79;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F6F5EE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bbaf79;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bbaf79 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bbaf79 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(187, 175, 121, 0.5)
rgb(187 175 121 / 50%)
#bbaf7980
hsl(49 33% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bbaf79 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bbaf791a#F8F7F2
20%#bbaf7933#F1EFE4
40%#bbaf7966#E4DFC9
60%#bbaf7999#D6CFAF
80%#bbaf79cc#C9BF94

Gradients from #bbaf79

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, #D0C7A2, #bbaf79 45%, #554D2B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bbaf79, #86B165);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bbaf79, #7985BB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #DAD3B6 0%, #bbaf79 45%, #554D2B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F5, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #CCA69B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #AFC58D 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #554D2B 0%, transparent 65%), #bbaf79;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bbaf79

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.

#bbaf79 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 9.52:1.

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.

#bbaf79, answered

What color is #bbaf79?

#bbaf79 is a balanced soft yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 5). It sits at 49° on the hue wheel with 33% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #bbaf79?

rgb(187, 175, 121) — 187 red, 175 green and 121 blue out of 255, or 73.3% / 68.6% / 47.5% by channel.

What is #bbaf79 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(49, 33%, 60%) and hsv(49, 35%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bbaf79 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4261 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.52:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bbaf79?

Black. It scores 9.52:1 against #bbaf79, versus 2.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bbaf79 accessible on a white background?

#bbaf79 on white scores 2.21:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #827642 to reach 4.5:1, or #605731 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bbaf79?

#7985BB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #79A6BB and #8E79BB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bbaf79?

For interface work: #FAF9F5 as the surface, #E4DFC9 for borders, #988B4D for secondary text, #41618B as an accent and #554D2B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BB8E79 and #A6BB79 stays calm, while #7985BB is the loudest partner.

What is #bbaf79 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 6%, 35%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bbaf79 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BB9B79; nudged cooler, #B0BD77.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bbaf79?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 16.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bbaf79 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bbaf79 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#bbaf79] or text-[#bbaf79], 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 #bbaf79 with 50% opacity?

rgba(187, 175, 121, 0.5), or #bbaf7980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DDD7BC; over black, #5E583D.

Is #bbaf79 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9966, ΔE2000 13.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bbaf79 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #bbaf79?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D0C7A2, #bbaf79 45%, #554D2B). For more colour, a short hue run to #86B165 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bbaf79 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #bbaf79 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.