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yellow · warm

#ffd85c

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Citron

RGB
255, 216, 92
HSL
46°, 100%, 68%
CMYK
0, 15, 64, 0
Luminance
0.7114

#ffd85c is a light electric yellow, 46° on the wheel and 13/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.23:1). As text it scores 1.38:1 on white — use #947000 instead. Nearest name is Gold, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(46 100% 68%)rgb(255 216 92)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ffd85c is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ffd85c
Hue
46°
yellow
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7114
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
13/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.23:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 5.3
Chroma
64.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.893
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 9.5
Web-safe
#FFCC66
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue46° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness68%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ffd85c.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool13% 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
Red30%
Green69%
Blue1%

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

Every format

HEX#ffd85c
HEX (8-digit)#ffd85cff
RGBrgb(255, 216, 92)
RGBArgba(255, 216, 92, 1)
HSLhsl(46, 100%, 68%)
HSV / HSBhsv(46, 64%, 100%)
HWBhwb(46 36% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 15%, 64%, 0%)
LABlab(87.6 0.2 64.3)
LCHlch(87.6 64.3 89.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.893 0.146 91.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(67.73, 71.15, 20.29)
Decimal16767068
Display P3color(display-p3 1.000 0.847 0.361)
Web-safe#FFCC66

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ffd85c;
background-color: #ffd85c;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ffd85c;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ffd85c] bg-[#ffd85c]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ffd85c;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 1.000, green: 0.847, blue: 0.361)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 1.000, green: 0.847, blue: 0.361, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FFD85C</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFFD85C)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFFD85C)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(92, 216, 255)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(255, 216, 92)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(255, 216, 92)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 216, 92)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(1.0000f, 0.8471f, 0.3608f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{255,216,92}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ffd85c 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ffd85c 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#806100, #EEE8D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ffd85c 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: #FEFBF1;
  --brand-100: #FCF6E3;
  --brand-200: #FCEDC0;
  --brand-300: #FFE48F;
  --brand-400: #ffd85c;
  --brand-500: #FFC91F;
  --brand-600: #F5BA00;
  --brand-700: #CC9B00;
  --brand-800: #A37C00;
  --brand-900: #765A05;
  --brand-950: #493903;
  --brand: #ffd85c;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE2C0;
  --brand-hover: #FFCF38;
  --brand-pressed: #FFC714;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242014;
    --brand-ink: #EEE8D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEFBF1',
        100: '#FCF6E3',
        200: '#FCEDC0',
        300: '#FFE48F',
        400: '#ffd85c',
        500: '#FFC91F',
        600: '#F5BA00',
        700: '#CC9B00',
        800: '#A37C00',
        900: '#765A05',
        950: '#493903',
        DEFAULT: '#ffd85c',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEFBF1,
  '100': #FCF6E3,
  '200': #FCEDC0,
  '300': #FFE48F,
  '400': #ffd85c,
  '500': #FFC91F,
  '600': #F5BA00,
  '700': #CC9B00,
  '800': #A37C00,
  '900': #765A05,
  '950': #493903,
);
$brand-base: #ffd85c;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#FEFBF1", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#FCF6E3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FCEDC0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FFE48F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ffd85c", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FFC91F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F5BA00", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CC9B00", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A37C00", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#765A05", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#493903", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ffd85c · 15.23:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.38:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.23:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ffd85c as text scores 1.38:1 on white and 15.23:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #806100 at 4.20:1.

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
#947000 · 4.59:1
AA on white−39% L
#947000
The quick fox
#705500 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−46% L
#705500
The quick fox
#ffd85c · 15.23:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ffd85c
The quick fox
#ffd85c · 15.23:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ffd85c

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B88C00 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
#ffd85c on white: 1.38:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ffd85c on black: 15.23:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ffd85c as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ffd85c.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.38:1AaAa
Slate 501.32:1AaAa
Slate 1001.26:1AaAa
Slate 2001.12:1AaAa
Slate 3001.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.86:1AaAa
Slate 5003.45:1AaAa
Slate 6005.50:1AaAa
Slate 7007.51:1AaAa
Slate 80010.61:1AaAa
Slate 90012.95:1AaAa
Black15.23:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #EED54E
deuteranopia · #F7E062
tritanopia · #FFC8BE

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. #ffd85c 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.

#FEFBF1
#FCF6E3
#FCEDC0
#FFE48F
#ffd85c
#FFC91F
#F5BA00
#CC9B00
#A37C00
#765A05
#493903
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FEFBF1Darkest = 950 · #493903Text 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 0.037 91.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.059 91.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.088 91.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.114 91.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.135 91.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.146 91.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.146 91.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.138 91.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.123 91.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.103 91.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.081 91.6);
}

Colors that work with #ffd85c

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#FAF9F4
Tinted page background
Border#EDE2C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B884B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0064CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#806100
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFF9E5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242014
Dark-mode background
Hover#FFCF38
One step down in lightness
Pressed#FFC714
Two steps down
Disabled#EBE8E0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFDD70
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 #ffd85c

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 #806100
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B88C00

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
  • Weight32/100
  • 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#5C83FF
Analogous left#FF865C
Analogous right#D5FF5C
Split-complement 1#5CD5FF
Split-complement 2#865CFF
Triadic 1#5CFFD8
Triadic 2#D85CFF
Tetradic#5CFF86
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°46°

#ffd85c sits at 46°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red100.0%
Green84.7%
Blue36.1%
R · 0–255
255
0xff
G · 0–255
216
0xd8
B · 0–255
92
0x5c

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta15.3%
Yellow63.9%
Key (black)0.0%

Total ink coverage is 79%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ffd85c text on a black background

contrast 15.23:1

Card sample

#ffd85c text on a white background

contrast 1.38:1

Card sample

#ffd85c on grey

1.26:1

#ffd85c on its own surface

1.31:1

#ffd85c on its dark surface

11.79:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ffd85c;
Background color
Panel with #ffd85c background
background-color: #ffd85c;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ffd85c;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(255, 216, 92, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(255, 216, 92, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ffd85c;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ffd85c, #B9FF5C);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffd85c, #91FF5C);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ffd85c;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ffd85c;
caret-color: #ffd85c;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ffd85c;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFF9E5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ffd85c;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ffd85c 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ffd85c 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(255, 216, 92, 0.5)
rgb(255 216 92 / 50%)
#ffd85c80
hsl(46 100% 68% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ffd85c 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ffd85c1a#FFFBEF
20%#ffd85c33#FFF7DE
40%#ffd85c66#FFEFBE
60%#ffd85c99#FFE89D
80%#ffd85ccc#FFE07D

Gradients from #ffd85c

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, #FFE799, #ffd85c 45%, #806100);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ffd85c, #9CFF3D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffd85c, #5C83FF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFEEB8 0%, #ffd85c 45%, #806100 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #FAF9F4, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #FFA38F 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #D1FF7A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #806100 0%, transparent 65%), #ffd85c;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ffd85c

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.

#ffd85c 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

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 15.23:1.

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.

#ffd85c, answered

What color is #ffd85c?

#ffd85c is a light electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 5.3). It sits at 46° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ffd85c?

rgb(255, 216, 92) — 255 red, 216 green and 92 blue out of 255, or 100% / 84.7% / 36.1% by channel.

What is #ffd85c in HSL and HSV?

hsl(46, 100%, 68%) and hsv(46, 64%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ffd85c a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7114 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.23:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ffd85c?

Black. It scores 15.23:1 against #ffd85c, versus 1.38:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ffd85c accessible on a white background?

#ffd85c on white scores 1.38:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #947000 to reach 4.5:1, or #705500 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ffd85c?

#5C83FF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #5CD5FF and #865CFF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ffd85c?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE2C0 for borders, #9B884B for secondary text, #0064CC as an accent and #806100 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FF865C and #D5FF5C stays calm, while #5C83FF is the loudest partner.

What is #ffd85c in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 15%, 64%, 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 #ffd85c warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 13 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FFB85C; nudged cooler, #EAFF5C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ffd85c?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 9.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ffd85c as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ffd85c in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ffd85c] or text-[#ffd85c], 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 #ffd85c with 50% opacity?

rgba(255, 216, 92, 0.5), or #ffd85c80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFECAE; over black, #806C2E.

Is #ffd85c a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC66, ΔE2000 5.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ffd85c 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 #ffd85c?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FFE799, #ffd85c 45%, #806100). For more colour, a short hue run to #9CFF3D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ffd85c in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ffd85c at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.