#CDBE21

sRGB · 205 / 190 / 33

#CDBE21 belongs to the yellow family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 205 red, 190 green and 33 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 54.8° lands in the yellow region. Its 72.3% saturation makes it strong in color at this lightness. HSL lightness is 46.7% 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 (10.98:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 205, 190, 33
HSL: 54.77°, 72.27%, 46.67%
HSV / HSB: 54.77°, 83.90%, 80.39%
CMYK (approx.): 0.00%, 7.32%, 83.90%, 19.61%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 43.863, 49.917, 8.763
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 76.018, -10.239, 72.307
WCAG relative luminance: 0.49916
24-bit decimal: 13483553

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 #CDBE21 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 · 10.98:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

White text · 1.91:1

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

#2130CD sits half a turn (180°) from #CDBE21 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.

#CDBE21 #2130CD

Analogous

#CD6821 and #86CD21 sit 30° to either side of #CDBE21. 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.

#CD6821 #CDBE21 #86CD21

Triadic

#CDBE21, #21CDBE and #BE21CD are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#CDBE21 #21CDBE #BE21CD

Split complementary

Start at #CDBE21 and look across the wheel. #2186CD and #6821CD sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#CDBE21 #2186CD #6821CD

Square

Starting with #CDBE21, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #21CD68, #2130CD, then #CD2186. Across the square, #CDBE21 pairs with #2130CD, and #21CD68 with #CD2186.

#CDBE21 #21CD68 #2130CD #CD2186

Tetradic

#CDBE21 and #2130CD are opposites, as are #30CD21 and #BE21CD. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#CDBE21 #30CD21 #2130CD #BE21CD

Tints

Mixing #CDBE21 with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #D7CB4D, keeps 80% of the original. By #F5F2D3, the mixture is 80% white.

#CDBE21 #D7CB4D #E1D87A #EBE5A6 #F5F2D3 #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #CDBE21 with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #A4981A, keeps 80% of the original. By #292607, the mixture is 80% black.

#CDBE21 #A4981A #7B7214 #524C0D #292607 #000000

Tones

Mixing #CDBE21 with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #BEB234, keeps 80% of the original. By #8F8C6D, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#CDBE21 #BEB234 #AEA547 #9F995A #8F8C6D #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

#CDBE21

RGB

rgb(205 190 33)

HSL

hsl(54.767 72.269% 46.667%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #CDBE21;
  color: #000000;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#CDBE21 uses 205 red, 190 green and 33 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 80.4%

Green 74.5%

Blue 12.9%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #CDBE21 is 0.0% cyan, 7.3% magenta, 83.9% yellow and 19.6% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 0.0%

Magenta 7.3%

Yellow 83.9%

Black 19.6%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #CCBB22. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #CB2 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #CDBE21 when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #CCCC33, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand · #CCBB22 Nearest web-safe · #CCCC33

Gradient to complement

#CDBE21 #B0A63E #948F5A #777777 #5A5F94 #3E48B0 #2130CD

Color vision previews

Compare how #CDBE21 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.

#D0B700

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.

#D5BF30

Tritanopia

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

#DDB0A2

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.

#D0BA08

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.

#D2BE29

Tritanomaly (50%)

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

#D1BA6A

Grayscale (luminance)

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

#BBBBBB

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.

#C4BD8B

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 0.61050 G 0.51492 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 0.79389 G 0.74715 B 0.27520

Linear Display P3

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

R 0.59353 G 0.51809 B 0.06156

CIE xyY

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

x 0.428 y 0.487 Y 49.917

CMY

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

C % 19.608 M % 25.490 Y % 87.059

Binary RGB

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

11001101 10111110 00100001