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yellow · warm

#dfd9a1

a light, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Pale Goldenrod

Token name suggestion: Linen Straw

RGB
223, 217, 161
HSL
54°, 49%, 75%
CMYK
0, 3, 28, 13
Luminance
0.6789

#dfd9a1 is a light vivid yellow, 54° on the wheel and 20/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (14.58:1). As text it scores 1.44:1 on white — use #7F772B instead. Nearest name is Pale Goldenrod, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(54 49% 75%)rgb(223 217 161)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #dfd9a1 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#dfd9a1
Hue
54°
yellow
Saturation
49%
vivid
Lightness
75%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
84%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.6789
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
20/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
14.58:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 3.5
Chroma
29.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.877
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 18.9
Web-safe
#CCCC99
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue54° of 360°
Saturation49%
Lightness75%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #dfd9a1.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool20% 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%
Green73%
Blue4%

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

Every format

HEX#dfd9a1
HEX (8-digit)#dfd9a1ff
RGBrgb(223, 217, 161)
RGBArgba(223, 217, 161, 1)
HSLhsl(54, 49%, 75%)
HSV / HSBhsv(54, 28%, 87%)
HWBhwb(54 63% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 3%, 28%, 13%)
LABlab(86.0 -6.6 28.4)
LCHlch(86.0 29.1 103.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.877 0.073 102.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(61.68, 67.89, 43.57)
Decimal14670241
Display P3color(display-p3 0.875 0.851 0.631)
Web-safe#CCCC99

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #dfd9a1;
background-color: #dfd9a1;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #dfd9a1;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#dfd9a1] bg-[#dfd9a1]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #dfd9a1;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.875, green: 0.851, blue: 0.631)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.875, green: 0.851, blue: 0.631, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#DFD9A1</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFDFD9A1)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFDFD9A1)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(161, 217, 223)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(223, 217, 161)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(223, 217, 161)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 223, 217, 161)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.8745f, 0.8510f, 0.6314f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{223,217,161}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd9a1 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #dfd9a1 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#5F5920, #EEECD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #dfd9a1 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: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-100: #F6F4EA;
  --brand-200: #ECE9CF;
  --brand-300: #dfd9a1;
  --brand-400: #D4CC81;
  --brand-500: #C6BB58;
  --brand-600: #B7AB3E;
  --brand-700: #988E34;
  --brand-800: #7A7229;
  --brand-900: #595421;
  --brand-950: #383415;
  --brand: #dfd9a1;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EAE6C2;
  --brand-hover: #D6CE86;
  --brand-pressed: #CDC36C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EEECD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FAFAF4',
        100: '#F6F4EA',
        200: '#ECE9CF',
        300: '#dfd9a1',
        400: '#D4CC81',
        500: '#C6BB58',
        600: '#B7AB3E',
        700: '#988E34',
        800: '#7A7229',
        900: '#595421',
        950: '#383415',
        DEFAULT: '#dfd9a1',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FAFAF4,
  '100': #F6F4EA,
  '200': #ECE9CF,
  '300': #dfd9a1,
  '400': #D4CC81,
  '500': #C6BB58,
  '600': #B7AB3E,
  '700': #988E34,
  '800': #7A7229,
  '900': #595421,
  '950': #383415,
);
$brand-base: #dfd9a1;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FAFAF4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F6F4EA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#ECE9CF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#dfd9a1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#D4CC81", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#C6BB58", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#B7AB3E", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#988E34", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#7A7229", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#595421", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#383415", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #dfd9a1 · 14.58:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.44:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 14.58:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #dfd9a1 as text scores 1.44:1 on white and 14.58:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #5F5920 at 4.96:1.

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
#7F772B · 4.59:1
AA on white−42% L
#7F772B
The quick fox
#605A21 · 7.04:1
AAA on white−50% L
#605A21
The quick fox
#dfd9a1 · 14.58:1
AA on blackalready passes
#dfd9a1
The quick fox
#dfd9a1 · 14.58:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#dfd9a1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A19737 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
#dfd9a1 on white: 1.44:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#dfd9a1 on black: 14.58:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #dfd9a1 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #dfd9a1.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.44:1AaAa
Slate 501.38:1AaAa
Slate 1001.31:1AaAa
Slate 2001.17:1AaAa
Slate 3001.03:1AaAa
Slate 4001.78:1AaAa
Slate 5003.30:1AaAa
Slate 6005.26:1AaAa
Slate 7007.19:1AaAa
Slate 80010.15:1AaAa
Slate 90012.39:1AaAa
Black14.58:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E3D59D
deuteranopia · #E5D8A3
tritanopia · #E8D1CA

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. #dfd9a1 is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FAFAF4
#F6F4EA
#ECE9CF
#dfd9a1
#D4CC81
#C6BB58
#B7AB3E
#988E34
#7A7229
#595421
#383415
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FAFAF4Darkest = 950 · #383415Text 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 0.018 102.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.029 102.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.044 102.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.057 102.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.067 102.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.073 102.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.073 102.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.069 102.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.061 102.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.051 102.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.040 102.6);
}

Colors that work with #dfd9a1

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#EAE6C2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B934B
Captions on the surface
Accent#2F559D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#5F5920
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F9F7EC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#D6CE86
One step down in lightness
Pressed#CDC36C
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F7F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#E9E3AB
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 #dfd9a1

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • 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
  • 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 #5F5920
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A19737

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 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-high
  • Weight25/100
  • 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#A1A7DF
Analogous left#DFBAA1
Analogous right#C6DFA1
Split-complement 1#A1C6DF
Split-complement 2#BAA1DF
Triadic 1#A1DFD9
Triadic 2#D9A1DF
Tetradic#A1DFBA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°54°

#dfd9a1 sits at 54°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red87.5%
Green85.1%
Blue63.1%
R · 0–255
223
0xdf
G · 0–255
217
0xd9
B · 0–255
161
0xa1

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta2.7%
Yellow27.8%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 43%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#dfd9a1 text on a black background

contrast 14.58:1

Card sample

#dfd9a1 text on a white background

contrast 1.44:1

Card sample

#dfd9a1 on grey

1.31:1

#dfd9a1 on its own surface

1.38:1

#dfd9a1 on its dark surface

11.00:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #dfd9a1;
Background color
Panel with #dfd9a1 background
background-color: #dfd9a1;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #dfd9a1;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(223, 217, 161, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(223, 217, 161, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #dfd9a1;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #dfd9a1, #BCDFA1);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd9a1, #ACDFA1);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #dfd9a1;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #dfd9a1;
caret-color: #dfd9a1;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #dfd9a1;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F9F7EC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #dfd9a1;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#dfd9a1 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #dfd9a1 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(223, 217, 161, 0.5)
rgb(223 217 161 / 50%)
#dfd9a180
hsl(54 49% 75% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #dfd9a1 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#dfd9a11a#FCFBF6
20%#dfd9a133#F9F7EC
40%#dfd9a166#F2F0D9
60%#dfd9a199#ECE8C7
80%#dfd9a1cc#E5E1B4

Gradients from #dfd9a1

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, #EFEBCF, #dfd9a1 45%, #5F5920);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #dfd9a1, #A5D78A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #dfd9a1, #A1A7DF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #F6F5E6 0%, #dfd9a1 45%, #5F5920 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%, #ECD3C7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D0E7B8 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #5F5920 0%, transparent 65%), #dfd9a1;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #dfd9a1

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.

#dfd9a1 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 14.58:1.

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.

#dfd9a1, answered

What color is #dfd9a1?

#dfd9a1 is a light vivid yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 3.5). It sits at 54° on the hue wheel with 49% saturation and 75% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #dfd9a1?

rgb(223, 217, 161) — 223 red, 217 green and 161 blue out of 255, or 87.5% / 85.1% / 63.1% by channel.

What is #dfd9a1 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(54, 49%, 75%) and hsv(54, 28%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #dfd9a1 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.6789 and perceived brightness is 84%, so black text on it reaches 14.58:1.

Should I use black or white text on #dfd9a1?

Black. It scores 14.58:1 against #dfd9a1, versus 1.44:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #dfd9a1 accessible on a white background?

#dfd9a1 on white scores 1.44:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #7F772B to reach 4.5:1, or #605A21 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #dfd9a1?

#A1A7DF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A1C6DF and #BAA1DF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #dfd9a1?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EAE6C2 for borders, #9B934B for secondary text, #2F559D as an accent and #5F5920 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #DFBAA1 and #C6DFA1 stays calm, while #A1A7DF is the loudest partner.

What is #dfd9a1 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 3%, 28%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #dfd9a1 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 20 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #DFC2A1; nudged cooler, #CFE0A0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #dfd9a1?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 18.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #dfd9a1 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #dfd9a1 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#dfd9a1] or text-[#dfd9a1], 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 #dfd9a1 with 50% opacity?

rgba(223, 217, 161, 0.5), or #dfd9a180 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #EFECD0; over black, #706D51.

Is #dfd9a1 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #CCCC99, ΔE2000 4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #dfd9a1 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 #dfd9a1?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #EFEBCF, #dfd9a1 45%, #5F5920). For more colour, a short hue run to #A5D78A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #dfd9a1 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #dfd9a1 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.