Skip to content

#fcf079

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

RGB
252, 240, 121
HSL
55°, 96%, 73%
CMYK
0, 5, 52, 1
Luminance
0.8440

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fcf079 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fcf079
Hue
55°
yellow
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
92%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8440
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
20/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
17.88:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 4.5
Where it sits
Hue55° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness73%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool20% 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#fcf079
RGBrgb(252, 240, 121)
HSLhsl(55, 96%, 73%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 52%, 1%)
LABlab(93.6 -11.0 58.2)
LCHlch(93.6 59.3 100.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.941 0.141 103.5)
Decimal16576633
Display P3color(display-p3 0.988 0.941 0.475)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #fcf079;
background-color: #fcf079;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fcf079] bg-[#fcf079]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fcf079;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.988, green: 0.941, blue: 0.475)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#fcf079")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFCF079)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(121, 240, 252)

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 #fcf079 · 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: #fcf079 as text scores 1.17:1 on white and 17.88:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#fcf079 on white: 1.17:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fcf079 on black: 17.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #FFE96E
deuteranopia · #FFF07F
tritanopia · #FFE2D5

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #fcf079 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.

#FDFCF1
#FCF9E4
#FAF5C1
#fcf079
#FBED5A
#FAE624
#EFDA05
#C8B604
#A09104
#736907
#484205
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FDFCF1Darkest = 950 · #484205
:root {
  --brand-50: #FDFCF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF9E4;
  --brand-200: #FAF5C1;
  --brand-300: #fcf079;
  --brand-400: #FBED5A;
  --brand-500: #FAE624;
  --brand-600: #EFDA05;
  --brand-700: #C8B604;
  --brand-800: #A09104;
  --brand-900: #736907;
  --brand-950: #484205;
  --brand: #fcf079;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #fcf079

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#9B944B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0046CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7D7203
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FEFCE6
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 #fcf079

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#7985FC
Analogous left#FCAE79
Analogous right#C6FC79
Split-complement 1#79C6FC
Split-complement 2#AE79FC
Triadic 1#79FCF0
Triadic 2#F079FC
Tetradic#79FCAE

RGB percentages

Red98.8%
Green94.1%
Blue47.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta4.8%
Yellow52.0%
Key (black)1.2%

Color previews

#fcf079 text on a black background

contrast 17.88:1

Card sample

#fcf079 text on a white background

contrast 1.17:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fcf079;
Background color
Panel with #fcf079 background
background-color: #fcf079;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fcf079;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(252, 240, 121, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(252, 240, 121, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fcf079;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fcf079, #B1FC79);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fcf079

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.

#fcf079 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.

#fcf079, answered

What color is #fcf079?

#fcf079 is a light electric yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 4.5). It sits at 55° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fcf079?

rgb(252, 240, 121) — 252 red, 240 green and 121 blue out of 255, or 98.8% / 94.1% / 47.5% by channel.

Is #fcf079 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8440 and perceived brightness is 92%, so black text on it reaches 17.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fcf079?

Black. It scores 17.88:1 against #fcf079, versus 1.17:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #fcf079?

#7985FC sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #79C6FC and #AE79FC, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fcf079?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE9C0 for borders, #9B944B for secondary text, #0046CC as an accent and #7D7203 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FCAE79 and #C6FC79 stays calm, while #7985FC is the loudest partner.

What is #fcf079 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 52%, 1%). 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 #fcf079 warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 20 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FCC879; nudged cooler, #D9FD77.

Work with #fcf079 in the Color Lab