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yellow · warm

#ecdbb5

a light, vivid yellow · warm · closest name: Wheat

Token name suggestion: Linen Brass

RGB
236, 219, 181
HSL
42°, 59%, 82%
CMYK
0, 7, 23, 8
Luminance
0.7183

#ecdbb5 is a light vivid yellow, 42° on the wheel and 10/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.37:1). As text it scores 1.37:1 on white — use #917025 instead. Nearest name is Wheat, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(42 59% 82%)rgb(236 219 181)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecdbb5 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecdbb5
Hue
42°
yellow
Saturation
59%
vivid
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7183
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
10/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
15.37:1
Closest name
Wheat
ΔE2000 2.4
Chroma
20.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.896
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 19.7
Web-safe
#FFCCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue42° of 360°
Saturation59%
Lightness82%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ecdbb5.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool10% 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
Red25%
Green71%
Blue5%

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

Every format

HEX#ecdbb5
HEX (8-digit)#ecdbb5ff
RGBrgb(236, 219, 181)
RGBArgba(236, 219, 181, 1)
HSLhsl(42, 59%, 82%)
HSV / HSBhsv(41, 23%, 93%)
HWBhwb(42 71% 7%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 7%, 23%, 8%)
LABlab(87.9 -0.0 20.8)
LCHlch(87.9 20.8 90.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.896 0.053 86.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(68.26, 71.83, 53.98)
Decimal15522741
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.859 0.710)
Web-safe#FFCCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ecdbb5;
background-color: #ecdbb5;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ecdbb5;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecdbb5] bg-[#ecdbb5]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecdbb5;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.859, blue: 0.710)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.925, green: 0.859, blue: 0.710, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#ECDBB5</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFECDBB5)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECDBB5)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(181, 219, 236)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(236, 219, 181)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(236, 219, 181)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 236, 219, 181)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9255f, 0.8588f, 0.7098f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{236,219,181}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ecdbb5 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ecdbb5 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#654E1A, #EEE6D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ecdbb5 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: #FBF9F4;
  --brand-100: #F7F2E9;
  --brand-200: #EFE4CD;
  --brand-300: #ecdbb5;
  --brand-400: #DDBE79;
  --brand-500: #D1A84C;
  --brand-600: #C39632;
  --brand-700: #A27D2A;
  --brand-800: #826421;
  --brand-900: #5E4A1C;
  --brand-950: #3B2E11;
  --brand: #ecdbb5;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDDFC0;
  --brand-hover: #E5CD99;
  --brand-pressed: #DDBF7C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #241F14;
    --brand-ink: #EEE6D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FBF9F4',
        100: '#F7F2E9',
        200: '#EFE4CD',
        300: '#ecdbb5',
        400: '#DDBE79',
        500: '#D1A84C',
        600: '#C39632',
        700: '#A27D2A',
        800: '#826421',
        900: '#5E4A1C',
        950: '#3B2E11',
        DEFAULT: '#ecdbb5',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FBF9F4,
  '100': #F7F2E9,
  '200': #EFE4CD,
  '300': #ecdbb5,
  '400': #DDBE79,
  '500': #D1A84C,
  '600': #C39632,
  '700': #A27D2A,
  '800': #826421,
  '900': #5E4A1C,
  '950': #3B2E11,
);
$brand-base: #ecdbb5;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FBF9F4", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#F7F2E9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#EFE4CD", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ecdbb5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#DDBE79", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#D1A84C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#C39632", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#A27D2A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#826421", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#5E4A1C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#3B2E11", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ecdbb5 · 15.37:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.37:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.37:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecdbb5 as text scores 1.37:1 on white and 15.37:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #654E1A at 5.78:1.

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
#917025 · 4.62:1
AA on white−46% L
#917025
The quick fox
#6D541C · 7.15:1
AAA on white−55% L
#6D541C
The quick fox
#ecdbb5 · 15.37:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ecdbb5
The quick fox
#ecdbb5 · 15.37:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ecdbb5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B68C2F 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
#ecdbb5 on white: 1.37:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecdbb5 on black: 15.37:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ecdbb5 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ecdbb5.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.37:1AaAa
Slate 501.31:1AaAa
Slate 1001.25:1AaAa
Slate 2001.11:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.88:1AaAa
Slate 5003.48:1AaAa
Slate 6005.54:1AaAa
Slate 7007.58:1AaAa
Slate 80010.70:1AaAa
Slate 90013.06:1AaAa
Black15.37:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #E4DAB3
deuteranopia · #E9DEB6
tritanopia · #F5D4D0

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. #ecdbb5 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.

#FBF9F4
#F7F2E9
#EFE4CD
#ecdbb5
#DDBE79
#D1A84C
#C39632
#A27D2A
#826421
#5E4A1C
#3B2E11
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FBF9F4Darkest = 950 · #3B2E11Text 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 0.013 86.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.021 86.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.032 86.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.042 86.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.049 86.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.053 86.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.053 86.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.050 86.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.045 86.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.037 86.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.029 86.8);
}

Colors that work with #ecdbb5

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#EDDFC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B824B
Captions on the surface
Accent#256EA7
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#654E1A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FAF5EB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#241F14
Dark-mode background
Hover#E5CD99
One step down in lightness
Pressed#DDBF7C
Two steps down
Disabled#F7F6F3
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#F4E4C2
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 #ecdbb5

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 #654E1A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B68C2F

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
  • Weight18/100
  • 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#B5C6EC
Analogous left#ECC0B5
Analogous right#E2ECB5
Split-complement 1#B5E2EC
Split-complement 2#C0B5EC
Triadic 1#B5ECDB
Triadic 2#DBB5EC
Tetradic#B5ECC0
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°42°

#ecdbb5 sits at 42°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green85.9%
Blue71.0%
R · 0–255
236
0xec
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
181
0xb5

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta7.2%
Yellow23.3%
Key (black)7.5%

Total ink coverage is 38%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ecdbb5 text on a black background

contrast 15.37:1

Card sample

#ecdbb5 text on a white background

contrast 1.37:1

Card sample

#ecdbb5 on grey

1.25:1

#ecdbb5 on its own surface

1.30:1

#ecdbb5 on its dark surface

11.99:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecdbb5;
Background color
Panel with #ecdbb5 background
background-color: #ecdbb5;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecdbb5;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 219, 181, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 219, 181, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecdbb5;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecdbb5, #D8ECB5);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecdbb5, #CBECB5);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ecdbb5;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ecdbb5;
caret-color: #ecdbb5;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ecdbb5;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FAF5EB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ecdbb5;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ecdbb5 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ecdbb5 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(236, 219, 181, 0.5)
rgb(236 219 181 / 50%)
#ecdbb580
hsl(42 59% 82% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ecdbb5 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ecdbb51a#FDFBF8
20%#ecdbb533#FBF8F0
40%#ecdbb566#F7F1E1
60%#ecdbb599#F4E9D3
80%#ecdbb5cc#F0E2C4

Gradients from #ecdbb5

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, #F9F3E6, #ecdbb5 45%, #654E1A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ecdbb5, #C6E69D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ecdbb5, #B5C6EC);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FCF9F3 0%, #ecdbb5 45%, #654E1A 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%, #F6E0DE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #E8F2CE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #654E1A 0%, transparent 65%), #ecdbb5;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecdbb5

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.

#ecdbb5 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 15.37:1.

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.

#ecdbb5, answered

What color is #ecdbb5?

#ecdbb5 is a light vivid yellow, closest to Wheat (ΔE2000 2.4). It sits at 42° on the hue wheel with 59% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecdbb5?

rgb(236, 219, 181) — 236 red, 219 green and 181 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 85.9% / 71% by channel.

What is #ecdbb5 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(42, 59%, 82%) and hsv(41, 23%, 93%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ecdbb5 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7183 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.37:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecdbb5?

Black. It scores 15.37:1 against #ecdbb5, versus 1.37:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ecdbb5 accessible on a white background?

#ecdbb5 on white scores 1.37:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #917025 to reach 4.5:1, or #6D541C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ecdbb5?

#B5C6EC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B5E2EC and #C0B5EC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecdbb5?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDDFC0 for borders, #9B824B for secondary text, #256EA7 as an accent and #654E1A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #ECC0B5 and #E2ECB5 stays calm, while #B5C6EC is the loudest partner.

What is #ecdbb5 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 7%, 23%, 8%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #ecdbb5 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 10 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #ECCFB5; nudged cooler, #EAEDB4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ecdbb5?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 19.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ecdbb5 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ecdbb5 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ecdbb5] or text-[#ecdbb5], 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 #ecdbb5 with 50% opacity?

rgba(236, 219, 181, 0.5), or #ecdbb580 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #F6EDDA; over black, #766E5B.

Is #ecdbb5 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCCCC, ΔE2000 22.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ecdbb5 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 #ecdbb5?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #F9F3E6, #ecdbb5 45%, #654E1A). For more colour, a short hue run to #C6E69D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ecdbb5 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ecdbb5 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.