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yellow · warm

#ffdb3d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Brass

RGB
255, 219, 61
HSL
49°, 100%, 62%
CMYK
0, 14, 76, 0
Luminance
0.7226

#ffdb3d is a balanced electric yellow, 49° on the wheel and 16/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (15.45:1). As text it scores 1.36:1 on white — use #8F7400 instead. Nearest name is Gold, nearest Tailwind family is yellow.

hsl(49 100% 62%)rgb(255 219 61)Base step 400AAA inkWarm

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #ffdb3d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#ffdb3d
Hue
49°
yellow
Saturation
100%
electric
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
86%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.7226
WCAG relative
Temperature
Warm
16/100 cool
Color family
Yellow
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
15.45:1
Closest name
Gold
ΔE2000 2.4
Chroma
76.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.896
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
yellow
500 · ΔE 10.3
Web-safe
#FFCC33
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue49° of 360°
Saturation100%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #ffdb3d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool16% 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
Red29%
Green70%
Blue0%

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

Every format

HEX#ffdb3d
HEX (8-digit)#ffdb3dff
RGBrgb(255, 219, 61)
RGBArgba(255, 219, 61, 1)
HSLhsl(49, 100%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(49, 76%, 100%)
HWBhwb(49 24% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 14%, 76%, 0%)
LABlab(88.1 -2.8 76.6)
LCHlch(88.1 76.7 92.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.896 0.168 95.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(67.42, 72.26, 14.81)
Decimal16767805
Display P3color(display-p3 1.000 0.859 0.239)
Web-safe#FFCC33

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #ffdb3d;
background-color: #ffdb3d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #ffdb3d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#ffdb3d] bg-[#ffdb3d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #ffdb3d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 1.000, green: 0.859, blue: 0.239)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 1.000, green: 0.859, blue: 0.239, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#FFDB3D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFFFFDB3D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFFFFDB3D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(61, 219, 255)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(255, 219, 61)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(255, 219, 61)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 219, 61)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(1.0000f, 0.8588f, 0.2392f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{255,219,61}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #ffdb3d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #ffdb3d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#806800, #EEE9D3);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #ffdb3d 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: #FCF8E3;
  --brand-200: #FCF1C0;
  --brand-300: #FFEA8F;
  --brand-400: #ffdb3d;
  --brand-500: #FFD51F;
  --brand-600: #F5C800;
  --brand-700: #CCA600;
  --brand-800: #A38500;
  --brand-900: #766105;
  --brand-950: #493C03;
  --brand: #ffdb3d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #FAF9F4;
  --brand-border: #EDE4C0;
  --brand-hover: #FFD51A;
  --brand-pressed: #F5C800;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #242114;
    --brand-ink: #EEE9D3;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#FEFBF1',
        100: '#FCF8E3',
        200: '#FCF1C0',
        300: '#FFEA8F',
        400: '#ffdb3d',
        500: '#FFD51F',
        600: '#F5C800',
        700: '#CCA600',
        800: '#A38500',
        900: '#766105',
        950: '#493C03',
        DEFAULT: '#ffdb3d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #FEFBF1,
  '100': #FCF8E3,
  '200': #FCF1C0,
  '300': #FFEA8F,
  '400': #ffdb3d,
  '500': #FFD51F,
  '600': #F5C800,
  '700': #CCA600,
  '800': #A38500,
  '900': #766105,
  '950': #493C03,
);
$brand-base: #ffdb3d;
$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": "#FCF8E3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#FCF1C0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#FFEA8F", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#ffdb3d", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#FFD51F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#F5C800", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#CCA600", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#A38500", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#766105", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#493C03", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #ffdb3d · 15.45:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 1.36:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 15.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #ffdb3d as text scores 1.36:1 on white and 15.45:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #806800 at 3.96:1.

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
#8F7400 · 4.50:1
AA on white−34% L
#8F7400
The quick fox
#6B5700 · 7.03:1
AAA on white−41% L
#6B5700
The quick fox
#ffdb3d · 15.45:1
AA on blackalready passes
#ffdb3d
The quick fox
#ffdb3d · 15.45:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#ffdb3d

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #B39100 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
#ffdb3d on white: 1.36:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#ffdb3d on black: 15.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #ffdb3d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #ffdb3d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White1.36:1AaAa
Slate 501.30:1AaAa
Slate 1001.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.10:1AaAa
Slate 3001.09:1AaAa
Slate 4001.89:1AaAa
Slate 5003.50:1AaAa
Slate 6005.58:1AaAa
Slate 7007.62:1AaAa
Slate 80010.76:1AaAa
Slate 90013.14:1AaAa
Black15.45:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #F2D71B
deuteranopia · #FBE247
tritanopia · #FFCABD

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. #ffdb3d 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
#FCF8E3
#FCF1C0
#FFEA8F
#ffdb3d
#FFD51F
#F5C800
#CCA600
#A38500
#766105
#493C03
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #FEFBF1Darkest = 950 · #493C03Text 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 0.042 95.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 95.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.101 95.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.131 95.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.154 95.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.168 95.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.168 95.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.158 95.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.141 95.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.118 95.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.092 95.5);
}

Colors that work with #ffdb3d

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#EDE4C0
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#9B8C4B
Captions on the surface
Accent#0059CC
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#806800
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#FFFAE5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#242114
Dark-mode background
Hover#FFD51A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#F5C800
Two steps down
Disabled#DFDCCD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#FFDF52
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 #ffdb3d

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #806800
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #B39100

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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

Almost never passes contrast against white. Treat it as a surface or a marker, not as text.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#3D61FF
Analogous left#FF7A3D
Analogous right#C2FF3D
Split-complement 1#3DC2FF
Split-complement 2#7A3DFF
Triadic 1#3DFFDB
Triadic 2#DB3DFF
Tetradic#3DFF7A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°49°

#ffdb3d sits at 49°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red100.0%
Green85.9%
Blue23.9%
R · 0–255
255
0xff
G · 0–255
219
0xdb
B · 0–255
61
0x3d

CMYK percentages

Cyan0.0%
Magenta14.1%
Yellow76.1%
Key (black)0.0%

Total ink coverage is 90%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#ffdb3d text on a black background

contrast 15.45:1

Card sample

#ffdb3d text on a white background

contrast 1.36:1

Card sample

#ffdb3d on grey

1.24:1

#ffdb3d on its own surface

1.29:1

#ffdb3d on its dark surface

11.86:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #ffdb3d;
Background color
Panel with #ffdb3d background
background-color: #ffdb3d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #ffdb3d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(255, 219, 61, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(255, 219, 61, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #ffdb3d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #ffdb3d, #A2FF3D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffdb3d, #71FF3D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #ffdb3d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #ffdb3d;
caret-color: #ffdb3d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #ffdb3d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #FFFAE5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #ffdb3d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#ffdb3d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #ffdb3d 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, 219, 61, 0.5)
rgb(255 219 61 / 50%)
#ffdb3d80
hsl(49 100% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #ffdb3d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#ffdb3d1a#FFFBEC
20%#ffdb3d33#FFF8D8
40%#ffdb3d66#FFF1B1
60%#ffdb3d99#FFE98B
80%#ffdb3dcc#FFE264

Gradients from #ffdb3d

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, #FFE67A, #ffdb3d 45%, #806800);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #ffdb3d, #80FF1F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #ffdb3d, #3D61FF);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #FFEC99 0%, #ffdb3d 45%, #806800 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%, #FF9170 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #BEFF5C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #806800 0%, transparent 65%), #ffdb3d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #ffdb3d

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.

#ffdb3d 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.

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 15.45:1.

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.

#ffdb3d, answered

What color is #ffdb3d?

#ffdb3d is a balanced electric yellow, closest to Gold (ΔE2000 2.4). It sits at 49° on the hue wheel with 100% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as warm.

What is the RGB value of #ffdb3d?

rgb(255, 219, 61) — 255 red, 219 green and 61 blue out of 255, or 100% / 85.9% / 23.9% by channel.

What is #ffdb3d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(49, 100%, 62%) and hsv(49, 76%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #ffdb3d a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.7226 and perceived brightness is 86%, so black text on it reaches 15.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #ffdb3d?

Black. It scores 15.45:1 against #ffdb3d, versus 1.36:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #ffdb3d accessible on a white background?

#ffdb3d on white scores 1.36:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #8F7400 to reach 4.5:1, or #6B5700 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #ffdb3d?

#3D61FF sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #3DC2FF and #7A3DFF, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #ffdb3d?

For interface work: #FAF9F4 as the surface, #EDE4C0 for borders, #9B8C4B for secondary text, #0059CC as an accent and #806800 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #FF7A3D and #C2FF3D stays calm, while #3D61FF is the loudest partner.

What is #ffdb3d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(0%, 14%, 76%, 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 #ffdb3d warm or cool?

Warm — it scores 16 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #FFB23D; nudged cooler, #DCFF3D.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #ffdb3d?

The yellow family — its 500 step is #eab308, ΔE2000 10.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #ffdb3d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #ffdb3d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#ffdb3d] or text-[#ffdb3d], 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 #ffdb3d with 50% opacity?

rgba(255, 219, 61, 0.5), or #ffdb3d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #FFED9E; over black, #806E1F.

Is #ffdb3d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #FFCC33, ΔE2000 4.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #ffdb3d 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 #ffdb3d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #FFE67A, #ffdb3d 45%, #806800). For more colour, a short hue run to #80FF1F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #ffdb3d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #ffdb3d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.