Skip to content
yellow · warm

#dbb20e

a balanced, electric yellow · warm · closest name: Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Signal Honey

RGB
219, 178, 14
HSL
48°, 88%, 46%
CMYK
0, 19, 94, 14
Luminance
0.4693

#dbb20e is a balanced electric yellow, 48° on the wheel and 15/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (10.39:1). As text it scores 2.02:1 on white — use #8E7409 instead. Nearest name is Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(48 88% 46%)rgb(219 178 14)Base step 600AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dbb20e is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dbb20e
Hue
48°
yellow
Saturation
88%
electric
Lightness
46%
balanced
Brightness
86%
HSV value
Perceived
71%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4693
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
15/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
10.39:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 5.2
Chroma
75.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.778
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 3.7
Web-safe
#CC9900
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue48° of 360°
Saturation88%
Lightness46%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dbb20e.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool15% 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
Red32%
Green68%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#dbb20e
HEX (8-digit)#dbb20eff
RGBrgb(219, 178, 14)
RGBArgba(219, 178, 14, 1)
HSLhsl(48, 88%, 46%)
HSV / HSBhsv(48, 94%, 86%)
HWBhwb(48 5% 14%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 19%, 94%, 14%)
LABlab(74.2 1.8 75.0)
LCHlch(74.2 75.0 88.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.778 0.157 91.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(45.22, 46.94, 7.09)
Decimal14397966
Display P3color(display-p3 0.859 0.698 0.055)
Web-safe#CC9900

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dbb20e;
background-color: #dbb20e;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dbb20e;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dbb20e] bg-[#dbb20e]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dbb20e;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.859, green: 0.698, blue: 0.055)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.859, green: 0.698, blue: 0.055, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DBB20E</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDBB20E)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDBB20E)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(14, 178, 219)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(219, 178, 14)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(219, 178, 14)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 219, 178, 14)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8588f, 0.6980f, 0.0549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{219,178,14}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dbb20e 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dbb20e 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#786108, #EEE9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dbb20e 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: #FDFBF2;
  --brand-100: #FAF6E5;
  --brand-200: #F8EDC4;
  --brand-300: #F8E596;
  --brand-400: #F5D761;
  --brand-500: #F2CA2C;
  --brand-600: #dbb20e;
  --brand-700: #C09C0C;
  --brand-800: #997D0A;
  --brand-900: #6F5B0C;
  --brand-950: #453907;
  --brand: #dbb20e;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE4C0;
  --brand-hover: #BA970C;
  --brand-pressed: #987C0A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FDFBF2',
        100: '#FAF6E5',
        200: '#F8EDC4',
        300: '#F8E596',
        400: '#F5D761',
        500: '#F2CA2C',
        600: '#dbb20e',
        700: '#C09C0C',
        800: '#997D0A',
        900: '#6F5B0C',
        950: '#453907',
        DEFAULT: '#dbb20e',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FDFBF2,
  '100': #FAF6E5,
  '200': #F8EDC4,
  '300': #F8E596,
  '400': #F5D761,
  '500': #F2CA2C,
  '600': #dbb20e,
  '700': #C09C0C,
  '800': #997D0A,
  '900': #6F5B0C,
  '950': #453907,
);
$brand-base: #dbb20e;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FDFBF2", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FAF6E5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#F8EDC4", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#F8E596", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#F5D761", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#F2CA2C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#dbb20e", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#C09C0C", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#997D0A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#6F5B0C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#453907", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dbb20e · 10.39:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.02:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 10.39:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dbb20e as text scores 2.02:1 on white and 10.39:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #786108 at 2.96:1.

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
#8E7409 · 4.51:1
AA on white−16% L
#8E7409
The quick fox
#685507 · 7.26:1
AAA on white−24% L
#685507
The quick fox
#dbb20e · 10.39:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dbb20e
The quick fox
#dbb20e · 10.39:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dbb20e

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B08F0B 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
#dbb20e on white: 2.02:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dbb20e on black: 10.39:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dbb20e as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dbb20e.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.02:1AaAa
Slate 501.93:1AaAa
Slate 1001.85:1AaAa
Slate 2001.64:1AaAa
Slate 3001.36:1AaAa
Slate 4001.27:1AaAa
Slate 5002.35:1AaAa
Slate 6003.75:1AaAa
Slate 7005.12:1AaAa
Slate 8007.24:1AaAa
Slate 9008.83:1AaAa
Black10.39:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #C8B000
deuteranopia · #D2BB21
tritanopia · #EEA298

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. #dbb20e is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FDFBF2
#FAF6E5
#F8EDC4
#F8E596
#F5D761
#F2CA2C
#dbb20e
#C09C0C
#997D0A
#6F5B0C
#453907
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FDFBF2Darkest = 950 · #453907Text 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 0.039 91.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.063 91.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.094 91.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.122 91.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.144 91.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.157 91.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.157 91.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.148 91.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.132 91.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.110 91.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.086 91.8);
}

Colors that work with #dbb20e

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#EDE4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#096AE0
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#786108
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDF9E7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#BA970C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#987C0A
Two steps down
Disabled#BFB89B
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FBC903
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 #dbb20e

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 #786108
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B08F0B

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight54/100
  • 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#0E37DB
Analogous left#DB4C0E
Analogous right#9EDB0E
Split-complement 1#0E9EDB
Split-complement 2#4C0EDB
Triadic 1#0EDBB2
Triadic 2#B20EDB
Tetradic#0EDB4C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°48°

#dbb20e sits at 48°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red85.9%
Green69.8%
Blue5.5%
R · 0–255
219
0xdb
G · 0–255
178
0xb2
B · 0–255
14
0x0e

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta18.7%
Yellow93.6%
Key (black)14.1%

Total ink coverage is 126%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dbb20e text on a black background

contrast 10.39:1

Card sample

#dbb20e text on a white background

contrast 2.02:1

Card sample

#dbb20e on grey

1.85:1

#dbb20e on its own surface

1.92:1

#dbb20e on its dark surface

7.97:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dbb20e;
Background color
Panel with #dbb20e background
background-color: #dbb20e;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dbb20e;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(219, 178, 14, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(219, 178, 14, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dbb20e;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dbb20e, #7BDB0E);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbb20e, #48DB0E);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dbb20e;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dbb20e;
caret-color: #dbb20e;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dbb20e;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FDF9E7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dbb20e;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dbb20e 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dbb20e 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(219, 178, 14, 0.5)
rgb(219 178 14 / 50%)
#dbb20e80
hsl(48 88% 46% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dbb20e 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dbb20e1a#FBF7E7
20%#dbb20e33#F8F0CF
40%#dbb20e66#F1E09F
60%#dbb20e99#E9D16E
80%#dbb20ecc#E2C13E

Gradients from #dbb20e

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, #F2CC34, #dbb20e 45%, #786108);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dbb20e, #5CBE0C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dbb20e, #0E37DB);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F4D351 0%, #dbb20e 45%, #786108 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%, #F1562B 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9DF017 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #786108 0%, transparent 65%), #dbb20e;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dbb20e

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.

#dbb20e 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

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 10.39:1.

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.

#dbb20e, answered

What color is #dbb20e?

#dbb20e is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 5.2). It sits at 48° on the hue wheel with 88% saturation and 46% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dbb20e?

rgb(219, 178, 14) — 219 red, 178 green and 14 blue out of 255, or 85.9% / 69.8% / 5.5% by channel.

What is #dbb20e in HSL and HSV?

hsl(48, 88%, 46%) and hsv(48, 94%, 86%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dbb20e a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4693 and perceived brightness is 71%, so black text on it reaches 10.39:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dbb20e?

Black. It scores 10.39:1 against #dbb20e, versus 2.02:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dbb20e accessible on a white background?

#dbb20e on white scores 2.02:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8E7409 to reach 4.5:1, or #685507 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dbb20e?

#0E37DB sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #0E9EDB and #4C0EDB, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dbb20e?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE4C0 for borders, #9B8B4B for secondary text, #096AE0 as an accent and #786108 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DB4C0E and #9EDB0E stays calm, while #0E37DB is the loudest partner.

What is #dbb20e in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 19%, 94%, 14%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #dbb20e warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 15 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DB890E; nudged cooler, #BADD0C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dbb20e?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 3.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dbb20e as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dbb20e in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dbb20e] or text-[#dbb20e], 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 #dbb20e with 50% opacity?

rgba(219, 178, 14, 0.5), or #dbb20e80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EDD987; over black, #6E5907.

Is #dbb20e a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CC9900, ΔE2000 7.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dbb20e 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 #dbb20e?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F2CC34, #dbb20e 45%, #786108). For more colour, a short hue run to #5CBE0C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dbb20e in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dbb20e at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.