#BBBF46

sRGB: 187 / 191 / 70

#BBBF46 belongs to the yellow family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 187 red, 191 green and 70 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 62.0° lands in the yellow region. Its 48.6% saturation makes it partway between gray and the most vivid version of this hue at this lightness. HSL lightness is 51.2% 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 (10.65:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 187, 191, 70
HSL: 61.98°, 48.59%, 51.18%
HSV / HSB: 61.98°, 63.35%, 74.90%
CMYK (approx.): 2.09%, 0.00%, 63.35%, 25.10%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 40.228, 48.269, 12.992
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 74.994, -16.808, 58.431
WCAG relative luminance: 0.48269
24-bit decimal: 12304198

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 #BBBF46 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: 10.65:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text: 1.97:1

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.

Reference: 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

#4A46BF sits half a turn (180°) from #BBBF46 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.

#BBBF46 #4A46BF

Analogous

#BF8746 and #7EBF46 sit 30° to either side of #BBBF46. 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.

#BF8746 #BBBF46 #7EBF46

Triadic

#BBBF46, #46BBBF and #BF46BB are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#BBBF46 #46BBBF #BF46BB

Split complementary

Start at #BBBF46 and look across the wheel. #467EBF and #8746BF sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#BBBF46 #467EBF #8746BF

Square

Starting with #BBBF46, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #46BF87, #4A46BF, then #BF467E. Across the square, #BBBF46 pairs with #4A46BF, and #46BF87 with #BF467E.

#BBBF46 #46BF87 #4A46BF #BF467E

Tetradic

#BBBF46 and #4A46BF are opposites, as are #46BF4A and #BF46BB. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#BBBF46 #46BF4A #4A46BF #BF46BB

Tints

Mixing #BBBF46 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #C9CC6B, keeps 80% of the original. By #F1F2DA, the mixture is 80% white.

#BBBF46 #C9CC6B #D6D990 #E4E5B5 #F1F2DA #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #BBBF46 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #969938, keeps 80% of the original. By #25260E, the mixture is 80% black.

#BBBF46 #969938 #70732A #4B4C1C #25260E #000000

Tones

Mixing #BBBF46 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #AFB252, keeps 80% of the original. By #8C8D74, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#BBBF46 #AFB252 #A3A65D #989969 #8C8D74 #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

#BBBF46

RGB

rgb(187 191 70)

HSL

hsl(61.983 48.594% 51.176%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #BBBF46;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#BBBF46 uses 187 red, 191 green and 70 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 73.3%

Green 74.9%

Blue 27.5%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #BBBF46 is 2.1% cyan, 0.0% magenta, 63.4% yellow and 25.1% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 2.1%

Magenta 0.0%

Yellow 63.4%

Black 25.1%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #BBBB44. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #BB4 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #BBBF46 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCC33, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #BBBB44 Nearest web-safe: #CCCC33

Gradient to complement

#BBBF46 #A8AB5A #95976E #838383 #706E97 #5D5AAB #4A46BF

Color vision previews

Compare how #BBBF46 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.

#CDB736

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.

#CEBA4E

Tritanopia

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

#C7B4A6

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.

#C7BA3F

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.

#C8BB4A

Tritanomaly (50%)

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

#BEBB75

Grayscale (luminance)

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

#B9B9B9

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.

#BABC8E

Reference: National Eye Institute: Types of Color Vision Deficiency

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 0.52100 B 0.06125

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 0.73615 G 0.74851 B 0.35249

Linear Display P3

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

R 0.50121 G 0.52020 B 0.10197

CIE xyY

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

x 0.396 y 0.476 Y 48.269

CMY

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

C % 26.667 M % 25.098 Y % 72.549

Binary RGB

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

10111011 10111111 01000110