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#eee039

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

RGB
238, 224, 57
HSL
55°, 84%, 58%
CMYK
0, 6, 76, 7
Luminance
0.7178

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #eee039 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#eee039
Hue
55°
yellow
Saturation
84%
electric
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
85%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7178
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
21/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.36:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 6.6
Where it sits
Hue55° of 360°
Saturation84%
Lightness58%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool21% 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#eee039
RGBrgb(238, 224, 57)
HSLhsl(55, 84%, 58%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 6%, 76%, 7%)
LABlab(87.9 -12.5 77.1)
LCHlch(87.9 78.1 99.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.891 0.174 104.4)
Decimal15654969
Display P3color(display-p3 0.933 0.878 0.224)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #eee039;
background-color: #eee039;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#eee039] bg-[#eee039]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #eee039;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.933, green: 0.878, blue: 0.224)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#eee039")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFEEE039)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(57, 224, 238)

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 #eee039 · 15.36:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.37:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #eee039 as text scores 1.37:1 on white and 15.36:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#eee039 on white: 1.37:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#eee039 on black: 15.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #F4D80D
deuteranopia · #F9E046
tritanopia · #FFD0C1

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #eee039 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
#FAF8E6
#F6F3C5
#F6EF98
#F2E764
#eee039
#E1D213
#BCAF10
#968C0D
#6D650E
#443F09
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #FCFCF2Darkest = 950 · #443F09
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFCF2;
  --brand-100: #FAF8E6;
  --brand-200: #F6F3C5;
  --brand-300: #F6EF98;
  --brand-400: #F2E764;
  --brand-500: #eee039;
  --brand-600: #E1D213;
  --brand-700: #BCAF10;
  --brand-800: #968C0D;
  --brand-900: #6D650E;
  --brand-950: #443F09;
  --brand: #eee039;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #eee039

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#EDE9C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B954B
Captions on the surface
Accent#3472F2
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#756D0A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDFBE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
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 #eee039

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#3947EE
Analogous left#EE8539
Analogous right#A1EE39
Split-complement 1#39A1EE
Split-complement 2#8539EE
Triadic 1#39EEE0
Triadic 2#E039EE
Tetradic#39EE85

RGB percentages

Red93.3%
Green87.8%
Blue22.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.9%
Yellow76.1%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#eee039 text on a black background

contrast 15.36:1

Card sample

#eee039 text on a white background

contrast 1.37:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #eee039;
Background color
Panel with #eee039 background
background-color: #eee039;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #eee039;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(238, 224, 57, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(238, 224, 57, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #eee039;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #eee039, #83EE39);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #eee039

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.

#eee039 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.

#eee039, answered

What color is #eee039?

#eee039 is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 6.6). It sits at 55° on the hue wheel with 84% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #eee039?

rgb(238, 224, 57) — 238 red, 224 green and 57 blue out of 255, or 93.3% / 87.8% / 22.4% by channel.

Is #eee039 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7178 and perceived brightness is 85%, so black text on it reaches 15.36:1.

Should I use black or white text on #eee039?

Black. It scores 15.36:1 against #eee039, versus 1.37:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #eee039?

#3947EE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #39A1EE and #8539EE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #eee039?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE9C0 for borders, #9B954B for secondary text, #3472F2 as an accent and #756D0A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #EE8539 and #A1EE39 stays calm, while #3947EE is the loudest partner.

What is #eee039 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 6%, 76%, 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 #eee039 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 21 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #EEAD39; nudged cooler, #BAF037.

Work with #eee039 in the Color Lab