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yellow · warm

#cdcb74

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

Token name suggestion: True Brass

RGB
205, 203, 116
HSL
59°, 47%, 63%
CMYK
0, 1, 43, 20
Luminance
0.5695

#cdcb74 is a balanced vivid yellow, 59° on the wheel and 24/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.39:1). As text it scores 1.69:1 on white — use #7B7A2C instead. Nearest name is Dark Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(59 47% 63%)rgb(205 203 116)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdcb74 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdcb74
Hue
59°
yellow
Saturation
47%
vivid
Lightness
63%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5695
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
24/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.39:1
Closest name
Dark Khaki
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
45.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.825
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 14.8
Web-safe
#CCCC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue59° of 360°
Saturation47%
Lightness63%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdcb74.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool24% 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
Red23%
Green75%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#cdcb74
HEX (8-digit)#cdcb74ff
RGBrgb(205, 203, 116)
RGBArgba(205, 203, 116, 1)
HSLhsl(59, 47%, 63%)
HSV / HSBhsv(59, 43%, 80%)
HWBhwb(59 45% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 1%, 43%, 20%)
LABlab(80.2 -11.7 43.5)
LCHlch(80.2 45.0 105.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.825 0.110 107.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(49.69, 56.95, 24.90)
Decimal13486964
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.796 0.455)
Web-safe#CCCC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdcb74;
background-color: #cdcb74;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdcb74;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdcb74] bg-[#cdcb74]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdcb74;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.796, blue: 0.455)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.796, blue: 0.455, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDCB74</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDCB74)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDCB74)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(116, 203, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 203, 116)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 203, 116)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 203, 116)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.7961f, 0.4549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,203,116}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcb74 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcb74 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5E5C22, #EEEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdcb74 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: #FAFAF5;
  --brand-100: #F5F5EA;
  --brand-200: #ECEBD0;
  --brand-300: #E1E0AC;
  --brand-400: #cdcb74;
  --brand-500: #C4C15A;
  --brand-600: #B4B241;
  --brand-700: #969436;
  --brand-800: #78762B;
  --brand-900: #585723;
  --brand-950: #373616;
  --brand: #cdcb74;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #E9E9C3;
  --brand-hover: #C4C15A;
  --brand-pressed: #B7B542;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EEEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFAF5',
        100: '#F5F5EA',
        200: '#ECEBD0',
        300: '#E1E0AC',
        400: '#cdcb74',
        500: '#C4C15A',
        600: '#B4B241',
        700: '#969436',
        800: '#78762B',
        900: '#585723',
        950: '#373616',
        DEFAULT: '#cdcb74',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFAF5,
  '100': #F5F5EA,
  '200': #ECEBD0,
  '300': #E1E0AC,
  '400': #cdcb74,
  '500': #C4C15A,
  '600': #B4B241,
  '700': #969436,
  '800': #78762B,
  '900': #585723,
  '950': #373616,
);
$brand-base: #cdcb74;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFAF5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F5EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECEBD0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E1E0AC", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cdcb74", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C4C15A", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B4B241", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#969436", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#78762B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#585723", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#373616", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdcb74 · 12.39:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.69:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.39:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdcb74 as text scores 1.69:1 on white and 12.39:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5E5C22 at 4.09:1.

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
#7B7A2C · 4.50:1
AA on white−30% L
#7B7A2C
The quick fox
#5A5820 · 7.36:1
AAA on white−39% L
#5A5820
The quick fox
#cdcb74 · 12.39:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdcb74
The quick fox
#cdcb74 · 12.39:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdcb74

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #999737 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
#cdcb74 on white: 1.69:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdcb74 on black: 12.39:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdcb74 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdcb74.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.69:1AaAa
Slate 501.62:1AaAa
Slate 1001.55:1AaAa
Slate 2001.37:1AaAa
Slate 3001.14:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5002.81:1AaAa
Slate 6004.47:1AaAa
Slate 7006.11:1AaAa
Slate 8008.63:1AaAa
Slate 90010.53:1AaAa
Black12.39:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #D8C56D
deuteranopia · #DAC978
tritanopia · #D8C1B6

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. #cdcb74 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.

#FAFAF5
#F5F5EA
#ECEBD0
#E1E0AC
#cdcb74
#C4C15A
#B4B241
#969436
#78762B
#585723
#373616
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAFAF5Darkest = 950 · #373616Text 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 0.027 107.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.044 107.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.066 107.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.086 107.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.101 107.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.110 107.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.110 107.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.103 107.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.092 107.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.077 107.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.060 107.4);
}

Colors that work with #cdcb74

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#E9E9C3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B994B
Captions on the surface
Accent#708AD1
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5E5C22
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F8EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#C4C15A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#B7B542
Two steps down
Disabled#E1E1D0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DBD97A
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 #cdcb74

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
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 #5E5C22
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #999737

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 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-high
  • Weight37/100
  • 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#7476CD
Analogous left#CD9E74
Analogous right#A2CD74
Split-complement 1#74A2CD
Split-complement 2#9E74CD
Triadic 1#74CDCB
Triadic 2#CB74CD
Tetradic#74CD9E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°59°

#cdcb74 sits at 59°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green79.6%
Blue45.5%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
203
0xcb
B · 0–255
116
0x74

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta1.0%
Yellow43.4%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 64%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdcb74 text on a black background

contrast 12.39:1

Card sample

#cdcb74 text on a white background

contrast 1.69:1

Card sample

#cdcb74 on grey

1.55:1

#cdcb74 on its own surface

1.62:1

#cdcb74 on its dark surface

9.26:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdcb74;
Background color
Panel with #cdcb74 background
background-color: #cdcb74;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdcb74;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 203, 116, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 203, 116, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdcb74;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdcb74, #93CD74);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcb74, #7DCD74);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdcb74;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdcb74;
caret-color: #cdcb74;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdcb74;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F8EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdcb74;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdcb74 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdcb74 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(205, 203, 116, 0.5)
rgb(205 203 116 / 50%)
#cdcb7480
hsl(59 47% 63% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdcb74 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdcb741a#FAFAF1
20%#cdcb7433#F5F5E3
40%#cdcb7466#EBEAC7
60%#cdcb7499#E1E0AC
80%#cdcb74cc#D7D590

Gradients from #cdcb74

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, #DDDCA1, #cdcb74 45%, #5E5C22);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdcb74, #79C55D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcb74, #7476CD);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E5E4B7 0%, #cdcb74 45%, #5E5C22 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%, #DAB399 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ABD58A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5E5C22 0%, transparent 65%), #cdcb74;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdcb74

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.

#cdcb74 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 12.39:1.

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.

#cdcb74, answered

What color is #cdcb74?

#cdcb74 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Dark Khaki (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 59° on the hue wheel with 47% saturation and 63% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdcb74?

rgb(205, 203, 116) — 205 red, 203 green and 116 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 79.6% / 45.5% by channel.

What is #cdcb74 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(59, 47%, 63%) and hsv(59, 43%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdcb74 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5695 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.39:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdcb74?

Black. It scores 12.39:1 against #cdcb74, versus 1.69:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdcb74 accessible on a white background?

#cdcb74 on white scores 1.69:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7B7A2C to reach 4.5:1, or #5A5820 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdcb74?

#7476CD sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #74A2CD and #9E74CD, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdcb74?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #E9E9C3 for borders, #9B994B for secondary text, #708AD1 as an accent and #5E5C22 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CD9E74 and #A2CD74 stays calm, while #7476CD is the loudest partner.

What is #cdcb74 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 1%, 43%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdcb74 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 24 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CDAA74; nudged cooler, #AFCF72.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdcb74?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 14.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdcb74 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdcb74 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdcb74] or text-[#cdcb74], 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 #cdcb74 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 203, 116, 0.5), or #cdcb7480 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6E5BA; over black, #67663A.

Is #cdcb74 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC66, ΔE2000 2.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdcb74 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 #cdcb74?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DDDCA1, #cdcb74 45%, #5E5C22). For more colour, a short hue run to #79C55D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdcb74 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdcb74 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.