#BBBB21

sRGB · 187 / 187 / 33

#BBBB21 belongs to the yellow family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 187 red, 187 green and 33 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 60.0° lands in the yellow region. Its 70.0% saturation makes it partway between gray and the most vivid version of this hue at this lightness. HSL lightness is 43.1% on a scale from black (0%) to white (100%). Of black and white lettering, black has the clearer light-to-dark separation on this background (10.24:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 187, 187, 33
HSL: 60.00°, 70.00%, 43.14%
HSV / HSB: 60.00°, 82.35%, 73.33%
CMYK (approx.): 0.00%, 0.00%, 82.35%, 26.67%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 38.537, 46.216, 8.329
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 73.685, -16.503, 69.734
WCAG relative luminance: 0.46215
24-bit decimal: 12303137

CMYK uses a profile-free approximation. Printed output depends on the press, ink and paper. Lab uses a D65 white point.

Text contrast

Contrast tells you how clearly lettering separates from #BBBB21 in light and dark. The ratio compares relative luminance, a measure of light weighted for human vision. Identical colors give 1:1 and black against white gives 21:1. A ratio of 2.99:1 falls just below the 3:1 AA minimum for large text. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 because its finer strokes are harder to distinguish.

Black text · 10.24:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text · 2.05:1

Normal text: Fail
Large text: Fail

AA and AAA are WCAG accessibility levels. AAA sets a higher bar: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Large text begins at 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold. Ratings use the unrounded ratio. WCAG text contrast guidance

Palettes & scales

Harmonies rotate the hue. Scales mix the starting color with white, black or middle gray in 20% steps in encoded sRGB.

Complementary

#2121BB sits half a turn (180°) from #BBBB21 on the HSL wheel. Keeping saturation and lightness steady while crossing to the opposite hue gives you a contrasting accent. Check text contrast separately before using the pair for lettering.

#BBBB21 #2121BB

Analogous

#BB6E21 and #6EBB21 sit 30° to either side of #BBBB21. The three hues are neighbors on the wheel, so you can change the color of a border or highlight while keeping it close to the original.

#BB6E21 #BBBB21 #6EBB21

Triadic

#BBBB21, #21BBBB and #BB21BB are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#BBBB21 #21BBBB #BB21BB

Split complementary

Start at #BBBB21 and look across the wheel. #216EBB and #6E21BB sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#BBBB21 #216EBB #6E21BB

Square

Starting with #BBBB21, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #21BB6E, #2121BB, then #BB216E. Across the square, #BBBB21 pairs with #2121BB, and #21BB6E with #BB216E.

#BBBB21 #21BB6E #2121BB #BB216E

Tetradic

#BBBB21 and #2121BB are opposites, as are #21BB21 and #BB21BB. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#BBBB21 #21BB21 #2121BB #BB21BB

Tints

Mixing #BBBB21 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #C9C94D, keeps 80% of the original. By #F1F1D3, the mixture is 80% white.

#BBBB21 #C9C94D #D6D67A #E4E4A6 #F1F1D3 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #BBBB21 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #96961A, keeps 80% of the original. By #252507, the mixture is 80% black.

#BBBB21 #96961A #707014 #4B4B0D #252507 #000000

Tones

Mixing #BBBB21 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #AFAF34, keeps 80% of the original. By #8C8C6D, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#BBBB21 #AFAF34 #A3A347 #98985A #8C8C6D #808080

Copy color codes

Hex, RGB and HSL are three ways to write this screen color. Paste any of them into a CSS color property.

Hex

#BBBB21

RGB

rgb(187 187 33)

HSL

hsl(60.000 70.000% 43.137%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #BBBB21;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#BBBB21 uses 187 red, 187 green and 33 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 73.3%

Green 73.3%

Blue 12.9%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #BBBB21 is 0.0% cyan, 0.0% magenta, 82.4% yellow and 26.7% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 0.0%

Magenta 0.0%

Yellow 82.4%

Black 26.7%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #BBBB22. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #BB2 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #BBBB21 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCC33, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand · #BBBB22 Nearest web-safe · #CCCC33

Gradient to complement

#BBBB21 #A1A13B #888854 #6E6E6E #545488 #3B3BA1 #2121BB

Color vision previews

Compare how #BBBB21 appears in each simulation. When two chart lines or status indicators become hard to tell apart, a label, shape or line pattern gives readers another way to distinguish them. Individual perception varies.

Protanopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from long-wavelength cones, some reds and greens can look alike, and reds can appear darker.

#CBB300

Deuteranopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from medium-wavelength cones, some greens can be difficult to distinguish from reds or browns.

#CCB731

Tritanopia

A blue–yellow color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from short-wavelength cones, blue can resemble green, and yellow can resemble pink.

#C9AEA0

Protanomaly (50%)

An altered long-wavelength cone response can make reds appear dimmer and harder to distinguish from greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#C6B60B

Deuteranomaly (50%)

An altered medium-wavelength cone response can reduce the visible difference between reds and greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#C7B82A

Tritanomaly (50%)

An altered short-wavelength cone response can make blue harder to distinguish from green. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#BFB768

Grayscale (luminance)

This design check removes hue and preserves relative luminance so you can compare light and dark areas.

#B5B5B5

Partial grayscale (50% blend)

This design check mixes the original color halfway toward its grayscale equivalent in linear light. Use it to see how a design holds up as color fades.

#B8B886

Technical reference

CAM16 and CIECAM02 below assume D65 white, an average surround, background Y of 20 against white at 100, and adapting luminance of 4.07 cd/m².

Linear sRGB

These channels scale with emitted light. Use them for lighting calculations and physically meaningful blends.

R 0.49693 G 0.49693 B 0.01521

Display P3

P3 displays can reproduce a wider range of reds and greens. These coordinates reproduce this same sRGB swatch on a color-managed P3 display.

R 0.73333 G 0.73333 B 0.26784

Linear Display P3

These P3 channels are proportional to light, before display encoding.

R 0.49693 G 0.49693 B 0.05831

CIE xyY

The x and y coordinates locate chromaticity on a diagram. Y gives relative luminance on a scale where white is 100.

x 0.414 y 0.497 Y 46.216

CMY

Ideal cyan, magenta and yellow are the complements of the encoded red, green and blue channels.

C % 26.667 M % 26.667 Y % 87.059

Binary RGB

Each eight-bit group represents one channel. Together they store the 24-bit hex color.

10111011 10111011 00100001