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#ecf656

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

RGB
236, 246, 86
HSL
64°, 90%, 65%
CMYK
4, 0, 65, 4
Luminance
0.8442

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ecf656 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ecf656
Hue
64°
yellow
Saturation
90%
electric
Lightness
65%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
90%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8442
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
28/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.88:1
Closest name
Yellow
ΔE2000 5.8
Where it sits
Hue64° of 360°
Saturation90%
Lightness65%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool28% 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#ecf656
RGBrgb(236, 246, 86)
HSLhsl(64, 90%, 65%)
CMYKcmyk(4%, 0%, 65%, 4%)
LABlab(93.6 -22.7 72.7)
LCHlch(93.6 76.1 107.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.937 0.178 112.8)
Decimal15529558
Display P3color(display-p3 0.925 0.965 0.337)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #ecf656;
background-color: #ecf656;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ecf656] bg-[#ecf656]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ecf656;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.925, green: 0.965, blue: 0.337)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#ecf656")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFECF656)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(86, 246, 236)

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 #ecf656 · 17.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.17:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ecf656 as text scores 1.17:1 on white and 17.88:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#ecf656 on white: 1.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ecf656 on black: 17.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FFEB3F
deuteranopia · #FFEF61
tritanopia · #FBE8D6

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #ecf656 is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#FCFDF2
#F9FBE5
#F5F8C3
#F3F994
#ecf656
#E7F42A
#DAE80C
#B6C20A
#929B08
#69700B
#424607
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FCFDF2Darkest = 950 · #424607
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFDF2;
  --brand-100: #F9FBE5;
  --brand-200: #F5F8C3;
  --brand-300: #F3F994;
  --brand-400: #ecf656;
  --brand-500: #E7F42A;
  --brand-600: #DAE80C;
  --brand-700: #B6C20A;
  --brand-800: #929B08;
  --brand-900: #69700B;
  --brand-950: #424607;
  --brand: #ecf656;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #ecf656

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#EAEDC0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#969B4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#5272FA
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#727906
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FCFEE7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#232414
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 #ecf656

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

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#6056F6
Analogous left#F6B056
Analogous right#9CF656
Split-complement 1#569CF6
Split-complement 2#B056F6
Triadic 1#56ECF6
Triadic 2#F656EC
Tetradic#56F6B0

RGB percentages

Red92.5%
Green96.5%
Blue33.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan4.1%
Magenta0.0%
Yellow65.0%
Key (black)3.5%

Color previews

#ecf656 text on a black background

contrast 17.88:1

Card sample

#ecf656 text on a white background

contrast 1.17:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ecf656;
Background color
Panel with #ecf656 background
background-color: #ecf656;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ecf656;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(236, 246, 86, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(236, 246, 86, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ecf656;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ecf656, #81F656);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ecf656

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.

#ecf656 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

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

#ecf656, answered

What color is #ecf656?

#ecf656 is a light electric yellow, closest to Yellow (ΔE2000 5.8). It sits at 64° on the hue wheel with 90% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ecf656?

rgb(236, 246, 86) — 236 red, 246 green and 86 blue out of 255, or 92.5% / 96.5% / 33.7% by channel.

Is #ecf656 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8442 and perceived brightness is 90%, so black text on it reaches 17.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ecf656?

Black. It scores 17.88:1 against #ecf656, versus 1.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #ecf656?

#6056F6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #569CF6 and #B056F6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ecf656?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EAEDC0 for borders, #969B4B for secondary text, #5272FA as an accent and #727906 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F6B056 and #9CF656 stays calm, while #6056F6 is the loudest partner.

What is #ecf656 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(4%, 0%, 65%, 4%). 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 #ecf656 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 28 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F6C556; nudged cooler, #B1F854.

Work with #ecf656 in the Color Lab