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yellow · warm

#cfbc8b

a light, soft yellow · warm · closest name: Tan

Token name suggestion: Meadow Citron

RGB
207, 188, 139
HSL
43°, 42%, 68%
CMYK
0, 9, 33, 19
Luminance
0.5110

#cfbc8b is a light soft yellow, 43° on the wheel and 11/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (11.22:1). As text it scores 1.87:1 on white — use #887238 instead. Nearest name is Tan, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(43 42% 68%)rgb(207 188 139)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #cfbc8b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#cfbc8b
Hue
43°
yellow
Saturation
42%
soft
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
74%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5110
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
11/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.22:1
Closest name
Tan
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
27.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.799
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 15.5
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue43° of 360°
Saturation42%
Lightness68%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #cfbc8b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool11% 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
Red26%
Green70%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#cfbc8b
HEX (8-digit)#cfbc8bff
RGBrgb(207, 188, 139)
RGBArgba(207, 188, 139, 1)
HSLhsl(43, 42%, 68%)
HSV / HSBhsv(43, 33%, 81%)
HWBhwb(43 55% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 9%, 33%, 19%)
LABlab(76.7 -0.5 27.3)
LCHlch(76.7 27.3 91.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.799 0.068 89.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(48.38, 51.10, 31.74)
Decimal13614219
Display P3color(display-p3 0.812 0.737 0.545)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #cfbc8b;
background-color: #cfbc8b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #cfbc8b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#cfbc8b] bg-[#cfbc8b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #cfbc8b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.812, green: 0.737, blue: 0.545)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.812, green: 0.737, blue: 0.545, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#CFBC8B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFCFBC8B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFCFBC8B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(139, 188, 207)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(207, 188, 139)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(207, 188, 139)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 207, 188, 139)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8118f, 0.7373f, 0.5451f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{207,188,139}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #cfbc8b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #cfbc8b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5A4B25, #EDE6D4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #cfbc8b 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: #FAF8F5;
  --brand-100: #F5F2EB;
  --brand-200: #EAE3D2;
  --brand-300: #DED1B0;
  --brand-400: #cfbc8b;
  --brand-500: #BDA360;
  --brand-600: #AD9148;
  --brand-700: #90793C;
  --brand-800: #736130;
  --brand-900: #554726;
  --brand-950: #352D18;
  --brand: #cfbc8b;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #E7DEC5;
  --brand-hover: #C5AD72;
  --brand-pressed: #BA9F58;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EDE6D4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAF8F5',
        100: '#F5F2EB',
        200: '#EAE3D2',
        300: '#DED1B0',
        400: '#cfbc8b',
        500: '#BDA360',
        600: '#AD9148',
        700: '#90793C',
        800: '#736130',
        900: '#554726',
        950: '#352D18',
        DEFAULT: '#cfbc8b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAF8F5,
  '100': #F5F2EB,
  '200': #EAE3D2,
  '300': #DED1B0,
  '400': #cfbc8b,
  '500': #BDA360,
  '600': #AD9148,
  '700': #90793C,
  '800': #736130,
  '900': #554726,
  '950': #352D18,
);
$brand-base: #cfbc8b;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAF8F5", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F5F2EB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EAE3D2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#DED1B0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#cfbc8b", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#BDA360", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#AD9148", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#90793C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#736130", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#554726", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#352D18", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #cfbc8b · 11.22:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.87:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.22:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #cfbc8b as text scores 1.87:1 on white and 11.22:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5A4B25 at 4.55:1.

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
#887238 · 4.66:1
AA on white−30% L
#887238
The quick fox
#68572B · 7.03:1
AAA on white−39% L
#68572B
The quick fox
#cfbc8b · 11.22:1
AA on blackalready passes
#cfbc8b
The quick fox
#cfbc8b · 11.22:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#cfbc8b

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #AC9047 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
#cfbc8b on white: 1.87:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#cfbc8b on black: 11.22:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #cfbc8b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #cfbc8b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.87:1AaAa
Slate 501.79:1AaAa
Slate 1001.71:1AaAa
Slate 2001.52:1AaAa
Slate 3001.26:1AaAa
Slate 4001.37:1AaAa
Slate 5002.54:1AaAa
Slate 6004.05:1AaAa
Slate 7005.53:1AaAa
Slate 8007.82:1AaAa
Slate 9009.54:1AaAa
Black11.22:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C7BA88
deuteranopia · #CCC08D
tritanopia · #DAB4AF

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. #cfbc8b 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.

#FAF8F5
#F5F2EB
#EAE3D2
#DED1B0
#cfbc8b
#BDA360
#AD9148
#90793C
#736130
#554726
#352D18
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FAF8F5Darkest = 950 · #352D18Text 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 0.017 89.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.027 89.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.041 89.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.053 89.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.063 89.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.068 89.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.068 89.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.064 89.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.057 89.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.048 89.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 89.3);
}

Colors that work with #cfbc8b

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#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#E7DEC5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B844B
Captions on the surface
Accent#386894
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5A4B25
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F8F5ED
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#C5AD72
One step down in lightness
Pressed#BA9F58
Two steps down
Disabled#EBE8DF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#DCC792
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 #cfbc8b

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary 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 #5A4B25
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #AC9047

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 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
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight32/100
  • 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#8B9ECF
Analogous left#CF9A8B
Analogous right#C0CF8B
Split-complement 1#8BC0CF
Split-complement 2#9A8BCF
Triadic 1#8BCFBC
Triadic 2#BC8BCF
Tetradic#8BCF9A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°43°

#cfbc8b sits at 43°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red81.2%
Green73.7%
Blue54.5%
R · 0–255
207
0xcf
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
139
0x8b

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta9.2%
Yellow32.9%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 61%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#cfbc8b text on a black background

contrast 11.22:1

Card sample

#cfbc8b text on a white background

contrast 1.87:1

Card sample

#cfbc8b on grey

1.71:1

#cfbc8b on its own surface

1.78:1

#cfbc8b on its dark surface

8.69:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #cfbc8b;
Background color
Panel with #cfbc8b background
background-color: #cfbc8b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #cfbc8b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(207, 188, 139, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(207, 188, 139, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #cfbc8b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #cfbc8b, #B5CF8B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfbc8b, #A4CF8B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #cfbc8b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #cfbc8b;
caret-color: #cfbc8b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #cfbc8b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F8F5ED;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #cfbc8b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#cfbc8b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #cfbc8b 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(207, 188, 139, 0.5)
rgb(207 188 139 / 50%)
#cfbc8b80
hsl(43 42% 68% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #cfbc8b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#cfbc8b1a#FAF8F3
20%#cfbc8b33#F5F2E8
40%#cfbc8b66#ECE4D1
60%#cfbc8b99#E2D7B9
80%#cfbc8bcc#D9C9A2

Gradients from #cfbc8b

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, #E1D5B6, #cfbc8b 45%, #5A4B25);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #cfbc8b, #A0C675);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #cfbc8b, #8B9ECF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #EAE1CC 0%, #cfbc8b 45%, #5A4B25 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #DEB5AF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C7D8A0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5A4B25 0%, transparent 65%), #cfbc8b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #cfbc8b

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.

#cfbc8b 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 11.22:1.

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.

#cfbc8b, answered

What color is #cfbc8b?

#cfbc8b is a light soft yellow, closest to Tan (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 43° on the hue wheel with 42% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #cfbc8b?

rgb(207, 188, 139) — 207 red, 188 green and 139 blue out of 255, or 81.2% / 73.7% / 54.5% by channel.

What is #cfbc8b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(43, 42%, 68%) and hsv(43, 33%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #cfbc8b a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5110 and perceived brightness is 74%, so black text on it reaches 11.22:1.

Should I use black or white text on #cfbc8b?

Black. It scores 11.22:1 against #cfbc8b, versus 1.87:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #cfbc8b accessible on a white background?

#cfbc8b on white scores 1.87:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #887238 to reach 4.5:1, or #68572B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #cfbc8b?

#8B9ECF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #8BC0CF and #9A8BCF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #cfbc8b?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #E7DEC5 for borders, #9B844B for secondary text, #386894 as an accent and #5A4B25 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #CF9A8B and #C0CF8B stays calm, while #8B9ECF is the loudest partner.

What is #cfbc8b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 9%, 33%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #cfbc8b warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 11 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #CFAC8B; nudged cooler, #CAD189.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #cfbc8b?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 15.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #cfbc8b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #cfbc8b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#cfbc8b] or text-[#cfbc8b], 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 #cfbc8b with 50% opacity?

rgba(207, 188, 139, 0.5), or #cfbc8b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #E7DEC5; over black, #685E46.

Is #cfbc8b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 7.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #cfbc8b 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 #cfbc8b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #E1D5B6, #cfbc8b 45%, #5A4B25). For more colour, a short hue run to #A0C675 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #cfbc8b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #cfbc8b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.