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yellow · warm

#cdcf48

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

Token name suggestion: True Brass

RGB
205, 207, 72
HSL
61°, 58%, 55%
CMYK
1, 0, 65, 19
Luminance
0.5807

#cdcf48 is a balanced vivid yellow, 61° on the wheel and 26/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (12.61:1). As text it scores 1.66:1 on white — use #777820 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is lime.

hsl(61 58% 55%)rgb(205 207 72)Base step 500AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cdcf48 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cdcf48
Hue
61°
yellow
Saturation
58%
vivid
Lightness
55%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
77%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5807
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
26/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
12.61:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
66.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.828
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
lime
500 · ΔE 12.8
Web-safe
#CCCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue61° of 360°
Saturation58%
Lightness55%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cdcf48.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool26% 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%
Green77%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#cdcf48
HEX (8-digit)#cdcf48ff
RGBrgb(205, 207, 72)
RGBArgba(205, 207, 72, 1)
HSLhsl(61, 58%, 55%)
HSV / HSBhsv(61, 65%, 81%)
HWBhwb(61 28% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(1%, 0%, 65%, 19%)
LABlab(80.8 -17.2 64.1)
LCHlch(80.8 66.3 105.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.828 0.154 110.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.66, 58.07, 14.78)
Decimal13487944
Display P3color(display-p3 0.804 0.812 0.282)
Web-safe#CCCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cdcf48;
background-color: #cdcf48;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cdcf48;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cdcf48] bg-[#cdcf48]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cdcf48;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.804, green: 0.812, blue: 0.282)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.804, green: 0.812, blue: 0.282, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CDCF48</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCDCF48)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCDCF48)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(72, 207, 205)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(205, 207, 72)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(205, 207, 72)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 205, 207, 72)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8039f, 0.8118f, 0.2824f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{205,207,72}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcf48 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cdcf48 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#64651B, #EEEED3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cdcf48 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: #FBFBF4;
  --brand-100: #F6F7E9;
  --brand-200: #EEEFCD;
  --brand-300: #E7E8A6;
  --brand-400: #DBDC7A;
  --brand-500: #cdcf48;
  --brand-600: #C0C233;
  --brand-700: #A0A22A;
  --brand-800: #808122;
  --brand-900: #5D5E1C;
  --brand-950: #3A3B12;
  --brand: #cdcf48;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #ECEDC0;
  --brand-hover: #BFC133;
  --brand-pressed: #A3A42B;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242414;
    --brand-ink: #EEEED3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBFBF4',
        100: '#F6F7E9',
        200: '#EEEFCD',
        300: '#E7E8A6',
        400: '#DBDC7A',
        500: '#cdcf48',
        600: '#C0C233',
        700: '#A0A22A',
        800: '#808122',
        900: '#5D5E1C',
        950: '#3A3B12',
        DEFAULT: '#cdcf48',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBFBF4,
  '100': #F6F7E9,
  '200': #EEEFCD,
  '300': #E7E8A6,
  '400': #DBDC7A,
  '500': #cdcf48,
  '600': #C0C233,
  '700': #A0A22A,
  '800': #808122,
  '900': #5D5E1C,
  '950': #3A3B12,
);
$brand-base: #cdcf48;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBFBF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F7E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EEEFCD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#E7E8A6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DBDC7A", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#cdcf48", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C0C233", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A0A22A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#808122", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5D5E1C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3A3B12", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cdcf48 · 12.61:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.66:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 12.61:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cdcf48 as text scores 1.66:1 on white and 12.61:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #64651B at 3.69:1.

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
#777820 · 4.68:1
AA on white−25% L
#777820
The quick fox
#5B5C18 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−32% L
#5B5C18
The quick fox
#cdcf48 · 12.61:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cdcf48
The quick fox
#cdcf48 · 12.61:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cdcf48

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #979828 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
#cdcf48 on white: 1.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cdcf48 on black: 12.61:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cdcf48 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cdcf48.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.66:1AaAa
Slate 501.59:1AaAa
Slate 1001.52:1AaAa
Slate 2001.35:1AaAa
Slate 3001.12:1AaAa
Slate 4001.54:1AaAa
Slate 5002.86:1AaAa
Slate 6004.55:1AaAa
Slate 7006.22:1AaAa
Slate 8008.79:1AaAa
Slate 90010.72:1AaAa
Black12.61:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #DFC635
deuteranopia · #E0CA51
tritanopia · #DBC2B4

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. #cdcf48 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.

#FBFBF4
#F6F7E9
#EEEFCD
#E7E8A6
#DBDC7A
#cdcf48
#C0C233
#A0A22A
#808122
#5D5E1C
#3A3B12
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FBFBF4Darkest = 950 · #3A3B12Text 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 0.038 110.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.061 110.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.092 110.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.120 110.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.141 110.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.154 110.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.154 110.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.144 110.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.129 110.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.108 110.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.085 110.2);
}

Colors that work with #cdcf48

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#ECEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9A9B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#4365D4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#64651B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9FAEB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
Dark-mode background
Hover#BFC133
One step down in lightness
Pressed#A3A42B
Two steps down
Disabled#D0D1B7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCDE4E
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 #cdcf48

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 #64651B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #979828

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
  • Weight45/100
  • 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#4A48CF
Analogous left#CF8E48
Analogous right#89CF48
Split-complement 1#4889CF
Split-complement 2#8E48CF
Triadic 1#48CDCF
Triadic 2#CF48CD
Tetradic#48CF8E
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°61°

#cdcf48 sits at 61°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red80.4%
Green81.2%
Blue28.2%
R · 0–255
205
0xcd
G · 0–255
207
0xcf
B · 0–255
72
0x48

CMYK percentages

Cyan1.0%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow65.2%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 85%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cdcf48 text on a black background

contrast 12.61:1

Card sample

#cdcf48 text on a white background

contrast 1.66:1

Card sample

#cdcf48 on grey

1.52:1

#cdcf48 on its own surface

1.59:1

#cdcf48 on its dark surface

9.43:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cdcf48;
Background color
Panel with #cdcf48 background
background-color: #cdcf48;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cdcf48;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(205, 207, 72, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(205, 207, 72, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cdcf48;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cdcf48, #73CF48);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcf48, #51CF48);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cdcf48;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cdcf48;
caret-color: #cdcf48;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cdcf48;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9FAEB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cdcf48;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cdcf48 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cdcf48 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, 207, 72, 0.5)
rgb(205 207 72 / 50%)
#cdcf4880
hsl(61 58% 55% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cdcf48 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cdcf481a#FAFAED
20%#cdcf4833#F5F5DA
40%#cdcf4866#EBECB6
60%#cdcf4899#E1E291
80%#cdcf48cc#D7D96D

Gradients from #cdcf48

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, #DADC78, #cdcf48 45%, #64651B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cdcf48, #56C534);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cdcf48, #4A48CF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #E1E291 0%, #cdcf48 45%, #64651B 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%, #DA9E70 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8FD560 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #64651B 0%, transparent 65%), #cdcf48;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cdcf48

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.

#cdcf48 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 12.61:1.

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.

#cdcf48, answered

What color is #cdcf48?

#cdcf48 is a balanced vivid yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 61° on the hue wheel with 58% saturation and 55% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cdcf48?

rgb(205, 207, 72) — 205 red, 207 green and 72 blue out of 255, or 80.4% / 81.2% / 28.2% by channel.

What is #cdcf48 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(61, 58%, 55%) and hsv(61, 65%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cdcf48 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5807 and perceived brightness is 77%, so black text on it reaches 12.61:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cdcf48?

Black. It scores 12.61:1 against #cdcf48, versus 1.66:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cdcf48 accessible on a white background?

#cdcf48 on white scores 1.66:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #777820 to reach 4.5:1, or #5B5C18 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cdcf48?

#4A48CF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #4889CF and #8E48CF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cdcf48?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #ECEDC0 for borders, #9A9B4B for secondary text, #4365D4 as an accent and #64651B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CF8E48 and #89CF48 stays calm, while #4A48CF is the loudest partner.

What is #cdcf48 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(1%, 0%, 65%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cdcf48 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 26 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CF9F48; nudged cooler, #9CD146.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cdcf48?

The lime family — its 500 step is #84cc16, ΔE2000 12.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cdcf48 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cdcf48 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cdcf48] or text-[#cdcf48], 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 #cdcf48 with 50% opacity?

rgba(205, 207, 72, 0.5), or #cdcf4880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E6E7A4; over black, #676824.

Is #cdcf48 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC33, ΔE2000 1.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cdcf48 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 #cdcf48?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #DADC78, #cdcf48 45%, #64651B). For more colour, a short hue run to #56C534 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cdcf48 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cdcf48 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.