Skip to content
yellow · warm

#fef178

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Straw

RGB
254, 241, 120
HSL
54°, 99%, 73%
CMYK
0, 5, 53, 0
Luminance
0.8534

#fef178 is a light electric yellow, 54° on the wheel and 20/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (18.07:1). As text it scores 1.16:1 on white — use #807401 instead. Nearest name is Khaki, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(54 99% 73%)rgb(254 241 120)Base step 300AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #fef178 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#fef178
Hue
54°
yellow
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
73%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
92%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.8534
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
20/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
18.07:1
Closest name
Khaki
ΔE2000 4.8
Chroma
60.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.945
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 17.1
Web-safe
#FFFF66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue54° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness73%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #fef178.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red25%
Green74%
Blue2%

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

Every format

HEX#fef178
HEX (8-digit)#fef178ff
RGBrgb(254, 241, 120)
RGBArgba(254, 241, 120, 1)
HSLhsl(54, 99%, 73%)
HSV / HSBhsv(54, 53%, 100%)
HWBhwb(54 47% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 5%, 53%, 0%)
LABlab(94.0 -10.8 59.2)
LCHlch(94.0 60.2 100.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.945 0.143 103.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(75.72, 85.34, 30.25)
Decimal16707960
Display P3color(display-p3 0.996 0.945 0.471)
Web-safe#FFFF66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #fef178;
background-color: #fef178;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #fef178;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#fef178] bg-[#fef178]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #fef178;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.996, green: 0.945, blue: 0.471)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.996, green: 0.945, blue: 0.471, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FEF178</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFEF178)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFEF178)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(120, 241, 254)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(254, 241, 120)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(254, 241, 120)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 254, 241, 120)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.9961f, 0.9451f, 0.4706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{254,241,120}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #fef178 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #fef178 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#7F7201, #EEECD3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #fef178 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: #FEFCF1;
  --brand-100: #FCFAE3;
  --brand-200: #FBF6C1;
  --brand-300: #fef178;
  --brand-400: #FEEE58;
  --brand-500: #FDE820;
  --brand-600: #F3DC02;
  --brand-700: #CAB702;
  --brand-800: #A29201;
  --brand-900: #756A06;
  --brand-950: #494204;
  --brand: #fef178;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAFAF4;
  --brand-border: #EDE8C0;
  --brand-hover: #FEED54;
  --brand-pressed: #FDEA31;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242314;
    --brand-ink: #EEECD3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEFCF1',
        100: '#FCFAE3',
        200: '#FBF6C1',
        300: '#fef178',
        400: '#FEEE58',
        500: '#FDE820',
        600: '#F3DC02',
        700: '#CAB702',
        800: '#A29201',
        900: '#756A06',
        950: '#494204',
        DEFAULT: '#fef178',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEFCF1,
  '100': #FCFAE3,
  '200': #FBF6C1,
  '300': #fef178,
  '400': #FEEE58,
  '500': #FDE820,
  '600': #F3DC02,
  '700': #CAB702,
  '800': #A29201,
  '900': #756A06,
  '950': #494204,
);
$brand-base: #fef178;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FEFCF1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCFAE3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FBF6C1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#fef178", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#FEEE58", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FDE820", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F3DC02", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CAB702", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A29201", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#756A06", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#494204", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #fef178 · 18.07:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.16:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 18.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #fef178 as text scores 1.16:1 on white and 18.07:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #7F7201 at 4.19:1.

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
#807401 · 4.75:1
AA on white−48% L
#807401
The quick fox
#625801 · 7.20:1
AAA on white−54% L
#625801
The quick fox
#fef178 · 18.07:1
AA on blackalready passes
#fef178
The quick fox
#fef178 · 18.07:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#fef178

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #A39401 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
#fef178 on white: 1.16:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#fef178 on black: 18.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #fef178 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #fef178.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.16:1AaAa
Slate 501.11:1AaAa
Slate 1001.06:1AaAa
Slate 2001.06:1AaAa
Slate 3001.28:1AaAa
Slate 4002.21:1AaAa
Slate 5004.09:1AaAa
Slate 6006.52:1AaAa
Slate 7008.91:1AaAa
Slate 80012.59:1AaAa
Slate 90015.36:1AaAa
Black18.07:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #FFEA6C
deuteranopia · #FFF17E
tritanopia · #FFE3D6

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. #fef178 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.

#FEFCF1
#FCFAE3
#FBF6C1
#fef178
#FEEE58
#FDE820
#F3DC02
#CAB702
#A29201
#756A06
#494204
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #FEFCF1Darkest = 950 · #494204Text step on white = 900
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 0.036 103.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.057 103.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.086 103.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.111 103.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.131 103.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.143 103.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.143 103.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.134 103.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.120 103.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.100 103.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.078 103.2);
}

Colors that work with #fef178

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#EDE8C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B934B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0046CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#7F7201
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFFCE6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242314
Dark-mode background
Hover#FEED54
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FDEA31
Two steps down
Disabled#F6F5F0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFF48B
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 #fef178

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 #7F7201
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #A39401

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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. 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
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight27/100
  • 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#7885FE
Analogous left#FEAE78
Analogous right#C8FE78
Split-complement 1#78C8FE
Split-complement 2#AE78FE
Triadic 1#78FEF1
Triadic 2#F178FE
Tetradic#78FEAE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°54°

#fef178 sits at 54°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red99.6%
Green94.5%
Blue47.1%
R · 0–255
254
0xfe
G · 0–255
241
0xf1
B · 0–255
120
0x78

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta5.1%
Yellow52.8%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 58%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#fef178 text on a black background

contrast 18.07:1

Card sample

#fef178 text on a white background

contrast 1.16:1

Card sample

#fef178 on grey

1.06:1

#fef178 on its own surface

1.11:1

#fef178 on its dark surface

13.63:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #fef178;
Background color
Panel with #fef178 background
background-color: #fef178;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #fef178;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(254, 241, 120, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(254, 241, 120, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #fef178;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #fef178, #B2FE78);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fef178, #90FE78);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #fef178;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #fef178;
caret-color: #fef178;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #fef178;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFFCE6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #fef178;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#fef178 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #fef178 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(254, 241, 120, 0.5)
rgb(254 241 120 / 50%)
#fef17880
hsl(54 99% 73% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #fef178 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#fef1781a#FFFEF2
20%#fef17833#FFFCE4
40%#fef17866#FFF9C9
60%#fef17899#FEF7AE
80%#fef178cc#FEF493

Gradients from #fef178

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, #FEF7B5, #fef178 45%, #7F7201);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #fef178, #92FE59);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #fef178, #7885FE);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFFAD3 0%, #fef178 45%, #7F7201 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAFAF4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FEC5AA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #CCFE96 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #7F7201 0%, transparent 65%), #fef178;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #fef178

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.

#fef178 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.

On screens

Very light values are indistinguishable from white on a dim phone screen outdoors. Give it a border if the boundary matters.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 18.07:1.

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.

#fef178, answered

What color is #fef178?

#fef178 is a light electric yellow, closest to Khaki (ΔE2000 4.8). It sits at 54° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 73% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #fef178?

rgb(254, 241, 120) — 254 red, 241 green and 120 blue out of 255, or 99.6% / 94.5% / 47.1% by channel.

What is #fef178 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(54, 99%, 73%) and hsv(54, 53%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #fef178 a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.8534 and perceived brightness is 92%, so black text on it reaches 18.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #fef178?

Black. It scores 18.07:1 against #fef178, versus 1.16:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #fef178 accessible on a white background?

#fef178 on white scores 1.16:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #807401 to reach 4.5:1, or #625801 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #fef178?

#7885FE sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #78C8FE and #AE78FE, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #fef178?

For interface work: #FAFAF4 as the surface, #EDE8C0 for borders, #9B934B for secondary text, #0046CC as an accent and #7F7201 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FEAE78 and #C8FE78 stays calm, while #7885FE is the loudest partner.

What is #fef178 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 5%, 53%, 0%). 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 #fef178 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 #FEC878; nudged cooler, #DAFF77.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #fef178?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 17.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #fef178 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #fef178 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#fef178] or text-[#fef178], 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 #fef178 with 50% opacity?

rgba(254, 241, 120, 0.5), or #fef17880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFF8BC; over black, #7F793C.

Is #fef178 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFFF66, ΔE2000 4.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #fef178 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 #fef178?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FEF7B5, #fef178 45%, #7F7201). For more colour, a short hue run to #92FE59 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #fef178 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #fef178 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.