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yellow · neutral

#bcbeaf

a light, muted yellow · neutral · closest name: Silver

Token name suggestion: Meadow Honey

RGB
188, 190, 175
HSL
68°, 10%, 72%
CMYK
1, 0, 8, 26
Luminance
0.5061

#bcbeaf is a light muted yellow, 68° on the wheel and 45/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.12:1). As text it scores 1.89:1 on white — use #757861 instead. Nearest name is Silver, nearest Tailwind family is teal.

hsl(68 10% 72%)rgb(188 190 175)Base step 400AAA inkNeutral

At a glance

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

Hex
#bcbeaf
Hue
68°
yellow
Saturation
10%
muted
Lightness
72%
light
Brightness
75%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5061
WCAG relative
Temperature
Neutral
45/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
11.12:1
Closest name
Silver
ΔE2000 7.5
Chroma
8.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.796
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
teal
500 · ΔE 23.2
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue68° of 360°
Saturation10%
Lightness72%
Saturation × lightness field

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

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool45% cool

Reads neutral. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red21%
Green73%
Blue6%

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

Every format

HEX#bcbeaf
HEX (8-digit)#bcbeafff
RGBrgb(188, 190, 175)
RGBArgba(188, 190, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(68, 10%, 72%)
HSV / HSBhsv(68, 8%, 75%)
HWBhwb(68 69% 25%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 8%, 26%)
LABlab(76.4 -3.4 7.3)
LCHlch(76.4 8.1 114.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.796 0.021 113.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(46.89, 50.61, 47.85)
Decimal12369583
Display P3color(display-p3 0.737 0.745 0.686)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #bcbeaf;
background-color: #bcbeaf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #bcbeaf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#bcbeaf] bg-[#bcbeaf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #bcbeaf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.737, green: 0.745, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.737, green: 0.745, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#BCBEAF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFBCBEAF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFBCBEAF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 190, 188)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(188, 190, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(188, 190, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 188, 190, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.7373f, 0.7451f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{188,190,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #bcbeaf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #bcbeaf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#454639, #E3E4DD);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #bcbeaf 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: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-100: #F1F1EE;
  --brand-200: #E0E1DB;
  --brand-300: #CBCDC1;
  --brand-400: #bcbeaf;
  --brand-500: #979A83;
  --brand-600: #84876E;
  --brand-700: #6E715B;
  --brand-800: #585A49;
  --brand-900: #414337;
  --brand-950: #292A23;
  --brand: #bcbeaf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F8F8F7;
  --brand-border: #D9DAD2;
  --brand-hover: #ACAE9B;
  --brand-pressed: #9B9E88;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #1E1F19;
    --brand-ink: #E3E4DD;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F8F8F7',
        100: '#F1F1EE',
        200: '#E0E1DB',
        300: '#CBCDC1',
        400: '#bcbeaf',
        500: '#979A83',
        600: '#84876E',
        700: '#6E715B',
        800: '#585A49',
        900: '#414337',
        950: '#292A23',
        DEFAULT: '#bcbeaf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F8F8F7,
  '100': #F1F1EE,
  '200': #E0E1DB,
  '300': #CBCDC1,
  '400': #bcbeaf,
  '500': #979A83,
  '600': #84876E,
  '700': #6E715B,
  '800': #585A49,
  '900': #414337,
  '950': #292A23,
);
$brand-base: #bcbeaf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F8F8F7", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F1F1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#E0E1DB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#CBCDC1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#bcbeaf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#979A83", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#84876E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#6E715B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#585A49", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#414337", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#292A23", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #bcbeaf · 11.12:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.89:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.12:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #bcbeaf as text scores 1.89:1 on white and 11.12:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #454639 at 5.08:1.

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
#757861 · 4.55:1
AA on white−29% L
#757861
The quick fox
#575948 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−40% L
#575948
The quick fox
#bcbeaf · 11.12:1
AA on blackalready passes
#bcbeaf
The quick fox
#bcbeaf · 11.12:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#bcbeaf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #94977F 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
#bcbeaf on white: 1.89:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#bcbeaf on black: 11.12:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.89:1AaAa
Slate 501.80:1AaAa
Slate 1001.72:1AaAa
Slate 2001.53:1AaAa
Slate 3001.27:1AaAa
Slate 4001.36:1AaAa
Slate 5002.52:1AaAa
Slate 6004.01:1AaAa
Slate 7005.48:1AaAa
Slate 8007.75:1AaAa
Slate 9009.46:1AaAa
Black11.12:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C1BCAE
deuteranopia · #C0BDB0
tritanopia · #BEBCBA

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. #bcbeaf is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F8F8F7
#F1F1EE
#E0E1DB
#CBCDC1
#bcbeaf
#979A83
#84876E
#6E715B
#585A49
#414337
#292A23
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F8F8F7Darkest = 950 · #292A23Text step on white = 700
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 0.005 113.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.008 113.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.012 113.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.016 113.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.019 113.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.021 113.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.021 113.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.020 113.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.017 113.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.015 113.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.011 113.0);
}

Colors that work with #bcbeaf

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#F8F8F7
Tinted page background
Border#D9DAD2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#7B7F67
Captions on the surface
Accent#575B75
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#454639
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F3F4F1
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#1E1F19
Dark-mode background
Hover#ACAE9B
One step down in lightness
Pressed#9B9E88
Two steps down
Disabled#F0F0ED
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#CACDB4
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 #bcbeaf

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • White 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 #454639
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #94977F

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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight28/100
  • TemperatureNeutral
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#B1AFBE
Analogous left#BEB9AF
Analogous right#B5BEAF
Split-complement 1#AFB5BE
Split-complement 2#B9AFBE
Triadic 1#AFBCBE
Triadic 2#BEAFBC
Tetradic#AFBEB9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°68°

#bcbeaf sits at 68°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red73.7%
Green74.5%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
188
0xbc
G · 0–255
190
0xbe
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan1.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow7.9%
Key (black)25.5%

Total ink coverage is 35%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#bcbeaf text on a black background

contrast 11.12:1

Card sample

#bcbeaf text on a white background

contrast 1.89:1

Card sample

#bcbeaf on grey

1.72:1

#bcbeaf on its own surface

1.78:1

#bcbeaf on its dark surface

8.79:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(188, 190, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(188, 190, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #bcbeaf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #bcbeaf, #B2BEAF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcbeaf, #AFBEB0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #bcbeaf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #bcbeaf;
caret-color: #bcbeaf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #bcbeaf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F3F4F1;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #bcbeaf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#bcbeaf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #bcbeaf 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(188, 190, 175, 0.5)
rgb(188 190 175 / 50%)
#bcbeaf80
hsl(68 10% 72% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #bcbeaf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#bcbeaf1a#F8F9F7
20%#bcbeaf33#F2F2EF
40%#bcbeaf66#E4E5DF
60%#bcbeaf99#D7D8CF
80%#bcbeafcc#C9CBBF

Gradients from #bcbeaf

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, #D8D9D1, #bcbeaf 45%, #454639);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #bcbeaf, #A0B09E);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #bcbeaf, #B1AFBE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E6E7E2 0%, #bcbeaf 45%, #454639 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F8F8F7, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #D5D1CB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C3CCC0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #454639 0%, transparent 65%), #bcbeaf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #bcbeaf

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.

#bcbeaf 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 11.12:1.

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.

#bcbeaf, answered

What color is #bcbeaf?

#bcbeaf is a light muted yellow, closest to Silver (ΔE2000 7.5). It sits at 68° on the hue wheel with 10% saturation and 72% lightness, which reads as neutral.

What is the RGB value of #bcbeaf?

rgb(188, 190, 175) — 188 red, 190 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 73.7% / 74.5% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #bcbeaf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(68, 10%, 72%) and hsv(68, 8%, 75%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #bcbeaf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5061 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.12:1.

Should I use black or white text on #bcbeaf?

Black. It scores 11.12:1 against #bcbeaf, versus 1.89:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #bcbeaf accessible on a white background?

#bcbeaf on white scores 1.89:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #757861 to reach 4.5:1, or #575948 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #bcbeaf?

#B1AFBE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AFB5BE and #B9AFBE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #bcbeaf?

For interface work: #F8F8F7 as the surface, #D9DAD2 for borders, #7B7F67 for secondary text, #575B75 as an accent and #454639 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #BEB9AF and #B5BEAF stays calm, while #B1AFBE is the loudest partner.

What is #bcbeaf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 8%, 26%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #bcbeaf warm or cool?

Neutral — it scores 45 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #BEBBAF; nudged cooler, #B7BFAE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #bcbeaf?

The teal family — its 500 step is #14b8a6, ΔE2000 23.2 away. That is a visible difference, so define #bcbeaf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #bcbeaf in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(188, 190, 175, 0.5), or #bcbeaf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #DEDFD7; over black, #5E5F58.

Is #bcbeaf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 11.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #bcbeaf 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #bcbeaf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #D8D9D1, #bcbeaf 45%, #454639). For more colour, a short hue run to #A0B09E keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #bcbeaf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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