Skip to content

#dfb910

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

RGB
223, 185, 16
HSL
49°, 87%, 47%
CMYK
0, 17, 93, 13
Luminance
0.5042

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfb910 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfb910
Hue
49°
yellow
Saturation
87%
electric
Lightness
47%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
73%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5042
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
16/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.08:1
Closest name
Goldenrod
ΔE2000 7.1
Where it sits
Hue49° of 360°
Saturation87%
Lightness47%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool16% cool

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

Every format

HEX#dfb910
RGBrgb(223, 185, 16)
HSLhsl(49, 87%, 47%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 17%, 93%, 13%)
LABlab(76.3 -0.1 76.5)
LCHlch(76.3 76.5 90.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.796 0.161 93.7)
Decimal14661904
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.725 0.063)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #dfb910;
background-color: #dfb910;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfb910] bg-[#dfb910]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfb910;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.725, blue: 0.063)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#dfb910")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFB910)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(16, 185, 223)

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 #dfb910 · 11.08:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.89:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfb910 as text scores 1.89:1 on white and 11.08:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#dfb910 on white: 1.89:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfb910 on black: 11.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #CFB600
deuteranopia · #D8C123
tritanopia · #F2A99E

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #dfb910 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
#F7EEC4
#F7E696
#F4D962
#F0CC2E
#dfb910
#BE9E0E
#987E0B
#6E5C0C
#453A08
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #FDFBF2Darkest = 950 · #453A08
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFBF2;
  --brand-100: #FAF6E5;
  --brand-200: #F7EEC4;
  --brand-300: #F7E696;
  --brand-400: #F4D962;
  --brand-500: #F0CC2E;
  --brand-600: #dfb910;
  --brand-700: #BE9E0E;
  --brand-800: #987E0B;
  --brand-900: #6E5C0C;
  --brand-950: #453A08;
  --brand: #dfb910;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #dfb910

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#9B8C4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0B69E4
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#776309
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDF9E7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #dfb910

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
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

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#1036DF
Analogous left#DF5210
Analogous right#9EDF10
Split-complement 1#109EDF
Split-complement 2#5210DF
Triadic 1#10DFB9
Triadic 2#B910DF
Tetradic#10DF52

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green72.5%
Blue6.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta17.0%
Yellow92.8%
Key (black)12.5%

Color previews

#dfb910 text on a black background

contrast 11.08:1

Card sample

#dfb910 text on a white background

contrast 1.89:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfb910;
Background color
Panel with #dfb910 background
background-color: #dfb910;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfb910;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 185, 16, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 185, 16, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfb910;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfb910, #7BDF10);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfb910

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#dfb910 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.

#dfb910, answered

What color is #dfb910?

#dfb910 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Goldenrod (ΔE2000 7.1). It sits at 49° on the hue wheel with 87% saturation and 47% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dfb910?

rgb(223, 185, 16) — 223 red, 185 green and 16 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 72.5% / 6.3% by channel.

Is #dfb910 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5042 and perceived brightness is 73%, so black text on it reaches 11.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfb910?

Black. It scores 11.08:1 against #dfb910, versus 1.89:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #dfb910?

#1036DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #109EDF and #5210DF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfb910?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE4C0 for borders, #9B8C4B for secondary text, #0B69E4 as an accent and #776309 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DF5210 and #9EDF10 stays calm, while #1036DF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfb910 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 17%, 93%, 13%). 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 #dfb910 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 16 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DF8E10; nudged cooler, #BBE20E.

Work with #dfb910 in the Color Lab