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#f6ebaa

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

RGB
246, 235, 170
HSL
51°, 81%, 82%
CMYK
0, 5, 31, 4
Luminance
0.8191

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #f6ebaa is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#f6ebaa
Hue
51°
yellow
Saturation
81%
electric
Lightness
82%
light
Brightness
96%
HSV value
Perceived
91%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8191
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
18/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.38:1
Closest name
Pale Goldenrod
ΔE2000 1.8
Where it sits
Hue51° of 360°
Saturation81%
Lightness82%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool18% 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#f6ebaa
RGBrgb(246, 235, 170)
HSLhsl(51, 81%, 82%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 31%, 4%)
LABlab(92.5 -5.8 33.0)
LCHlch(92.5 33.5 100.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.934 0.084 99.7)
Decimal16182186
Display P3color(display-p3 0.965 0.922 0.667)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #f6ebaa;
background-color: #f6ebaa;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#f6ebaa] bg-[#f6ebaa]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #f6ebaa;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.965, green: 0.922, blue: 0.667)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#f6ebaa")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFF6EBAA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(170, 235, 246)

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 #f6ebaa · 17.38:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.21:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 17.38:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #f6ebaa as text scores 1.21:1 on white and 17.38:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#f6ebaa on white: 1.21:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#f6ebaa on black: 17.38:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #F7E7A6
deuteranopia · #FBECAC
tritanopia · #FFE2DA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #f6ebaa 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.

#FCFBF3
#F9F7E6
#F5EFC6
#f6ebaa
#EFDB67
#EACF34
#DDC117
#B9A113
#948010
#6B5E10
#433A0A
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FCFBF3Darkest = 950 · #433A0A
:root {
  --brand-50: #FCFBF3;
  --brand-100: #F9F7E6;
  --brand-200: #F5EFC6;
  --brand-300: #f6ebaa;
  --brand-400: #EFDB67;
  --brand-500: #EACF34;
  --brand-600: #DDC117;
  --brand-700: #B9A113;
  --brand-800: #948010;
  --brand-900: #6B5E10;
  --brand-950: #433A0A;
  --brand: #f6ebaa;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #f6ebaa

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#EDE6C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8F4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0F55BD
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#73640C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FDFAE8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242214
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 #f6ebaa

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#AAB5F6
Analogous left#F6C5AA
Analogous right#DBF6AA
Split-complement 1#AADBF6
Split-complement 2#C5AAF6
Triadic 1#AAF6EB
Triadic 2#EBAAF6
Tetradic#AAF6C5

RGB percentages

Red96.5%
Green92.2%
Blue66.7%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta4.5%
Yellow30.9%
Key (black)3.5%

Color previews

#f6ebaa text on a black background

contrast 17.38:1

Card sample

#f6ebaa text on a white background

contrast 1.21:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #f6ebaa;
Background color
Panel with #f6ebaa background
background-color: #f6ebaa;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #f6ebaa;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(246, 235, 170, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(246, 235, 170, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #f6ebaa;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #f6ebaa, #CEF6AA);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #f6ebaa

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.

#f6ebaa 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.

#f6ebaa, answered

What color is #f6ebaa?

#f6ebaa is a light electric yellow, closest to Pale Goldenrod (ΔE2000 1.8). It sits at 51° on the hue wheel with 81% saturation and 82% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #f6ebaa?

rgb(246, 235, 170) — 246 red, 235 green and 170 blue out of 255, or 96.5% / 92.2% / 66.7% by channel.

Is #f6ebaa a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8191 and perceived brightness is 91%, so black text on it reaches 17.38:1.

Should I use black or white text on #f6ebaa?

Black. It scores 17.38:1 against #f6ebaa, versus 1.21:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #f6ebaa?

#AAB5F6 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AADBF6 and #C5AAF6, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #f6ebaa?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE6C0 for borders, #9B8F4B for secondary text, #0F55BD as an accent and #73640C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #F6C5AA and #DBF6AA stays calm, while #AAB5F6 is the loudest partner.

What is #f6ebaa in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 31%, 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 #f6ebaa warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 18 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #F6D2AA; nudged cooler, #E6F7A9.

Work with #f6ebaa in the Color Lab