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#e5ed21

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

RGB
229, 237, 33
HSL
62°, 85%, 53%
CMYK
3, 0, 86, 7
Luminance
0.7734

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #e5ed21 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#e5ed21
Hue
62°
yellow
Saturation
85%
electric
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
87%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7734
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
27/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
16.47:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 4.8
Where it sits
Hue62° of 360°
Saturation85%
Lightness53%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool27% 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#e5ed21
RGBrgb(229, 237, 33)
HSLhsl(62, 85%, 53%)
CMYKcmyk(3%, 0%, 86%, 7%)
LABlab(90.5 -23.3 85.0)
LCHlch(90.5 88.1 105.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.910 0.196 112.2)
Decimal15068449
Display P3color(display-p3 0.898 0.929 0.129)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #e5ed21;
background-color: #e5ed21;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#e5ed21] bg-[#e5ed21]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #e5ed21;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.898, green: 0.929, blue: 0.129)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#e5ed21")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFE5ED21)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(33, 237, 229)

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 #e5ed21 · 16.47:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.28:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 16.47:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #e5ed21 as text scores 1.28:1 on white and 16.47:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#e5ed21 on white: 1.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#e5ed21 on black: 16.47:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FFE200
deuteranopia · #FFE63A
tritanopia · #F5DECA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #e5ed21 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.

#FCFCF2
#F9FAE5
#F5F7C5
#F3F797
#EDF263
#e5ed21
#DAE212
#B6BD0F
#91970C
#696D0D
#424408
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCFCF2Darkest = 950 · #424408
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFCF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FAE5;
  --brand-200: #F5F7C5;
  --brand-300: #F3F797;
  --brand-400: #EDF263;
  --brand-500: #e5ed21;
  --brand-600: #DAE212;
  --brand-700: #B6BD0F;
  --brand-800: #91970C;
  --brand-900: #696D0D;
  --brand-950: #424408;
  --brand: #e5ed21;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #e5ed21

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#EBEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#989B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#1C49F2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#72760A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFDE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242414
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 #e5ed21

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#2921ED
Analogous left#ED8F21
Analogous right#7FED21
Split-complement 1#217FED
Split-complement 2#8F21ED
Triadic 1#21E5ED
Triadic 2#ED21E5
Tetradic#21ED8F

RGB percentages

Red89.8%
Green92.9%
Blue12.9%

CMYK percentages

Cyan3.4%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow86.1%
Key (black)7.1%

Color previews

#e5ed21 text on a black background

contrast 16.47:1

Card sample

#e5ed21 text on a white background

contrast 1.28:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #e5ed21;
Background color
Panel with #e5ed21 background
background-color: #e5ed21;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #e5ed21;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(229, 237, 33, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(229, 237, 33, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #e5ed21;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #e5ed21, #5DED21);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #e5ed21

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.

#e5ed21 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.

#e5ed21, answered

What color is #e5ed21?

#e5ed21 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 62° on the hue wheel with 85% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #e5ed21?

rgb(229, 237, 33) — 229 red, 237 green and 33 blue out of 255, or 89.8% / 92.9% / 12.9% by channel.

Is #e5ed21 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7734 and perceived brightness is 87%, so black text on it reaches 16.47:1.

Should I use black or white text on #e5ed21?

Black. It scores 16.47:1 against #e5ed21, versus 1.28:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #e5ed21?

#2921ED sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #217FED and #8F21ED, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #e5ed21?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EBEDC0 for borders, #989B4B for secondary text, #1C49F2 as an accent and #72760A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ED8F21 and #7FED21 stays calm, while #2921ED is the loudest partner.

What is #e5ed21 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(3%, 0%, 86%, 7%). 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 #e5ed21 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 27 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EDB121; nudged cooler, #9AEF1E.

Work with #e5ed21 in the Color Lab